Secret Service says US president and first lady are safe and suspect is in custody after shooting incident in DC
The White House correspondents’ dinner on Saturday night was upended by gunshots, prompting the immediate evacuation of Donald Trump and Melania Trump.
Journalists and guests at the Washington Hilton ballroom hid under tables while the US Secret Service had guns drawn as they rushed White House pool reporters out of the room and mentioned “shots fired”.
Anthony Guglielmi, a Secret Service spokesperson, said in a statement that the agency was investigating a “shooting incident near the main magnetometer screening area at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner”. “The president and the first lady are safe,” he said, along with everyone who was at the dinner and in the protection of Secret Service. “One individual is in custody. The condition of those involved is not yet known, and law enforcement is actively assessing the situation.”
A law enforcement official told the Associated Press that an officer was shot in a bullet-resistant vest, but is expected to be OK.
Trump rescheduled the dinner, posting on Truth Social later on Saturday: “The First Lady, plus the Vice President, and all Cabinet members, are in perfect condition. We will be speaking to you in a half an hour. I have spoken with all the representatives in charge of the event, and we will be rescheduling within 30 days.”
CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer said he was within a few feet of the shooter, and called into CNN to describe his observations. Blitzer said he saw “a very, very serious weapon. He starts shooting, and I happened to have been a few feet away from him. As he was shooting, of course, the first thing that went through my mind: is he trying to shoot me? And I don’t think he was trying to shoot me, but I was very close to him as the gunshots were fired and he was very very scary. But I’m OK, now.”