Trump evacuated after shots fired at White House correspondents’ dinner – what we know
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.”
The Guardian’s David Smith, who was one of four Guardian journalists in the room at the Washington Hilton when the president was evacuated, stopped Jamie Raskin for his reaction.
Raskin, a Democratic congressman from Maryland, said: “I didn’t see anything in terms of the shooter, except I just entered the room about five minutes ago and I was talking to people from the Boston Globe and my old friend Kerry Kennedy and then I think a Secret Service agent threw me to the ground and on top of some other people and people were screaming and yelling. Apparently there was a shooter in the lobby and, at least the rumor is, that the shooter has been killed and is dead in the lobby and that’s really all I know. I was just trying to get over to the NBC table – these people had invited me and I never even made it to the table, so I felt bad.”
Raskin added: “I heard some loud noises but I don’t know if that was people reacting or if that was something outside, it was hard to know, but people very quickly were saying that was a shot, that was the gunshot. People were terrified; people seem to be relieved now.”
The Guardian’s Rachel Leingang was seated at the table alongside colleagues and guests when someone yelled that shots had been fired. Guests began diving under the tables. She recalls Secret Service agents running in and moving chairs of the way as they raced down the aisles. “Everyone kind of stayed under the tables for a little while, until people started like popping back up and then everyone tried to figure out what was going on – they were talking to each other like: ‘What happened? What happened?’”
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 okay, now.”
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