Meet Cole Allen, Caltech graduate, teacher identified as a suspect in the White House Correspondents’ dinner shooting probe
Cole Tomas Allen, a 31 year old man from the Los Angeles area, has been identified by a law enforcement official as the suspect arrested in connection with the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner security checkpoint.
Cole Tomas Allen, a 31 year old man from the Los Angeles area, has been identified by a law enforcement official as the suspect arrested in connection with the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner security checkpoint.
Allen, a resident of Torrance in California’s South Bay region near Los Angeles, is believed by investigators to have been a guest at the Washington Hilton hotel where the annual event was held. The information has not yet been formally confirmed by authorities, and no motive has been established, according to Reuters.
The suspect was taken into custody after opening fire with a shotgun at a Secret Service agent stationed outside the ballroom area of the hotel, where President Donald Trump, his wife Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance and several cabinet officials were present, according to the Secret Service as reported by Reuters.
A law enforcement official told Reuters that Allen appears to have an academic and professional background in engineering, education and game development.
Social media profiles linked to his name suggest he was a Caltech graduate and had worked as a part time teacher and independent game developer. A LinkedIn profile described him as a “mechanical engineer and computer scientist by degree, independent game developer by experience, teacher by birth,” according to details reviewed from the account.
The profile also states that Allen earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in 2017 and later completed a master’s degree in computer science from California State University at Dominguez Hills in 2025. Caltech said in a statement that a person with that name graduated in 2017, Reuters reported.
His work history, as described in the profile, includes several years as a part time instructor at C2 Education, a private tutoring company, alongside work as a self employed game developer. He is also said to have previously worked as a mechanical engineer at IJK Controls in South Pasadena and served as a teaching assistant at Caltech.
Online posts linked to his name also reference a recognition award as “Teacher of the Month” in December 2024 from a Torrance office of C2 Education.
Authorities have not yet confirmed any motive behind the incident. The investigation is ongoing, according to officials cited by Reuters.
