From left, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro and FBI Director Kash Patel hold a news conference at the Justice Department regarding Cole Tomas Allen, the suspect in the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, Monday, April 27, 2026.
Tom Williams | Cq-roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
United States Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said on Sunday that the alleged White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner shooter, Cole Tomas Allenshot and killed a Secret Service agent as he attempted to storm the Washington Hilton ballroom last weekend.
Pirro, speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” said new ballistics evidence showed the agent’s protective vest contained a buckshot bullet from the Mossberg shotgun Allen allegedly carried the night of the shooting.
Allen was charged by federal prosecutors with attempting to assassinate the president. Donald Trump in the shooting that left a Secret Service agent shot but unharmed. Prosecutors also accused Allen of firing a gun during a crime of violence, but until Pirro’s comments, law enforcement officials had not revealed which bullet struck the officer.
Read more about CNBC’s politics coverage“It’s definitely his ball,” Pirro said. “He intended to kill him and anyone who stood in his way of killing the President of the United States.”
It is unclear so far whether the determination that Allen was allegedly the person who shot the officer will result in additional charges. Prosecutors have warned that more charges could be filed in the case.
The shooting at the annual press dinner — that Trump, vice president J.D. Vance and many senior administration officials were present – this was the third assassination attempt on the president since 2024.
Allen, 31, of California, has been in custody since the night of the shooting. He renounced his right to challenge his detention on Thursday.
Video still showing Cole Tomas Allen walking through security at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
Courtesy: USAttyPirro
However, on Saturday, Allen’s lawyers, in a court filing asked the court to protect him from any measure of suicide during his incarceration.
Allen’s lawyers said they “did not see, and therefore do not dispute, that there is an expression
intention to punish Mr. Allen.
“Nevertheless, his placement on suicide precaution amounts to punishment when, as here, he showed no signs of suicide,” they wrote.
They argued that his placement on “suicide watch and suicide precautions amounted to violations of his rights under the Due Process Clause of the U.S. Constitution.”
On Sunday, the court scheduled a hearing for Monday at noon on the emergency motion requesting that Allen be removed from suicide precautions.
Allen’s attorneys said he was evaluated May 1 and a prison nurse determined he needed to be removed from suicide monitoring and precaution protocols. They reported that he was still taking suicide precautions during a visit that day and that they believed he was still following such precautions.
The defense said Allen’s presence as part of suicide precautions limits his ability to mount a defense and deprives him of his due process rights. A person placed on suicide watch or subject to precautionary protocols “is not allowed to interact with other people inside the facility, receive visitors, make phone calls, or access the police station or resources such as the law library or prison tablets.”
“Continuing housing under suicide precaution is unnecessary and violates Mr. Allen’s due process rights by depriving him of his dignity and access to resources inside the prison,” they wrote.
