Investigators Say Shotgun Blast at Correspondents' Dinner May Have Struck Officer's Cellphone Inside Vest

Investigators believe a shotgun blast fired by suspect Cole Tomas Allen at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on April 25 may have struck a cellphone stored inside a Secret Service officer's bulletproof vest pocket — though ballistics testing remains underway and the finding has not been confirmed, CBS News reported Monday. Allen, a 31-year-old California man, faces federal charges including attempted assassination of the president after opening fire at the Washington Hilton, where President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, and more than 2,000 journalists and guests were gathered for the annual event.

The Details

According to CBS News, investigators are pursuing a theory that the shotgun round fired by Allen struck a cellphone inside the officer's vest rather than the protective material itself. Ballistics testing was still underway as of CBS's April 28 report, and the finding has not been independently corroborated by other outlets. The account should be treated as an emerging investigative line, not a forensic conclusion.

The officer's condition was not in doubt. Reuters, the Associated Press, and Politico all independently reported that a Secret Service or law-enforcement officer was struck in a bullet-resistant vest during the incident and was expected to recover. President Trump, speaking after the shooting, described the officer as "saved by the fact that he was wearing a obviously a very good bulletproof vest," according to Politico.

CBS reported that six shots were fired in total during the incident: one from Allen's shotgun and five from the Secret Service officer who engaged him. CNN reported that Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said it was not yet conclusively established whether the attacker's round struck the officer, adding another layer of uncertainty to the ballistics picture. CBS and CNN's accounts are not mutually exclusive but reflect differing degrees of investigative confidence at the time of publication.

Officials told CBS News that Allen booked a room at the Washington Hilton and used an unguarded back stairwell from an upper floor to move closer to the event area before sprinting past magnetometers. He was identified as a 31-year-old from California. He has been charged with attempting to assassinate the president and additional firearms-related offenses, according to CBS News.

Acting Attorney General Blanche offered the government's preliminary read on motive in comments reported by Reuters. "It does appear that he, he did, in fact, set out to target folks that work in the administration, likely including the president," Blanche said. Reuters and Politico both reported that law enforcement believed Allen was likely targeting administration officials, possibly including Trump himself.

Context

The White House Correspondents' Association dinner is an annual Washington tradition that brings together the press corps, administration officials, lawmakers, and senior guests. This year's event at the Washington Hilton was attended by President Trump, first lady Melania Trump, senior administration officials, lawmakers, and more than 2,000 journalists and guests when the shooting occurred, according to CBS News.

The cellphone detail, reported exclusively by CBS News as of Monday, represents one of several open investigative threads three days after the incident. The broader shooting sequence — including the number of shots fired and the access path Allen allegedly used — also rests primarily on CBS's reporting, with Reuters, AP, and Politico confirming only the fact of the officer being struck and the suspect's identity and charges.

What's Next

Ballistics testing is ongoing, according to CBS News as of April 28. The results are expected to resolve whether the suspect's shotgun blast struck the officer's vest directly, struck the cellphone stored inside it, or whether the officer was hit by law-enforcement crossfire — a possibility that CNN reported Blanche acknowledged had not been ruled out. No timeline for those results was given in available reporting.

Allen faces federal charges including attempting to assassinate the president and firearms-related offenses. The case is proceeding through the federal court system, according to CBS News and Reuters, but no scheduled hearing dates appeared in the sources available at the time of this report.