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Security personnel on guard at the stage where US President Donald Trump was rushed off following a shooting at the lobby of the White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington, DC on April 26, 2026. Photo: Diyar Kurda / Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A man armed with guns and knives rushed the lobby of a high-profile journalists’ dinner attended by United States President Donald Trump and senior officials on Sunday, triggering a swift response from security forces.
"A man charged a security checkpoint armed with multiple weapons, and he was taken down by some very brave members of the Secret Service," Trump said at a White House press conference after the incident.
The incident occurred during the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC. Attendees dove under tables as Secret Service personnel swarmed the venue.
Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, and cabinet members present at the event were all safe.
The US president said in a post on X that Secret Service and law enforcement “acted quickly and bravely,” adding that “the shooter has been apprehended.”
Closed-circuit TV footage shared by Trump on Truth Social showed an individual running through a security checkpoint, briefly catching personnel off guard before officers drew their weapons.
He added that one officer was shot at close range but did not appear to be critically injured.
The suspect, believed to have opened fire on Saturday night, worked as a teacher and video game developer from Southern California, according to public records.
The assailant will be charged with using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon, US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro told reporters during a press conference.
The incident follows two assassination attempts targeting Trump in 2024 while he was campaigning for reelection after leaving the White House in 2021. The first occurred during a rally in Pennsylvania, where a gunman fired multiple shots, killing one attendee and wounding Trump in the ear. Months later, another suspect was arrested after a Secret Service agent spotted the barrel of a rifle protruding from bushes near a golf course where Trump was playing in West Palm Beach, Florida.
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