A gunman opened fire near the security screening area of the Washington Hilton on Saturday evening, sending President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and dozens of senior administration officials scrambling out of the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner in what became one of the most dramatic security breaches at a presidential event in decades.
The shooting occurred at approximately 8:40 p.m. EDT, as dinner was being served inside the main ballroom. A source briefed by Secret Service after the incident told CNBC that a man carrying a shotgun had approached the metal detectors and was shot by agents before being taken away in handcuffs.
One Secret Service agent was struck in a bullet-resistant vest and was expected to recover. No other injuries were reported. Trump later confirmed the agent’s condition, saying: “I just spoke to the officer… he’s in great shape.”
CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, who was near the lobby at the time, described being just feet away from the gunman as shots rang out. “All the sudden a guy with a weapon, it was a very, very serious weapon, it starts shooting, and I happened to have been a few feet away from him as he was shooting,” Blitzer said on air.
Inside the ballroom, the reaction was swift and chaotic. Deadline’s Ted Johnson, who was seated near the hall adjacent to the ballroom, said he heard what sounded like four shots. Secret Service agents flooded the main aisle within minutes, and guests were told to get down.
The 2026 dinner was notable as the first White House Correspondents’ event Trump attended as a sitting president — he had declined to attend throughout his first term. He had arrived only minutes before the shots were fired, and was seated at the head table in conversation with the evening’s celebrity performer, mentalist Oz Pearlman, when the incident unfolded.
Trump posted on Truth Social that law enforcement had requested all attendees leave the premises “consistent with protocol,” and confirmed that the first lady, vice president, and all Cabinet members were “in perfect condition.”
The FBI confirmed that a suspect was in custody but offered no further details. It remained unclear how the suspect had passed through the secured portion of the venue, beyond the magnetometer checkpoints.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, speaking on video from inside the hotel, said: “I have been taken out of the ballroom after the sound of the shots fired. The Secret Service is now in charge of this building, this hotel. I just spoke to Mayor Murial Bowser. She is on her way and (Police) Chief Jeffery Carroll is on his way. He will be in charge as soon as he gets here.”
The event drew roughly 2,600 attendees, including FBI Director Kash Patel, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. Security analysts had already flagged the dinner as an unusually high-risk gathering, with CNN Senior Law Enforcement Analyst Andrew McCabe describing the level of preparation as “almost on the level of a national security event,” given the volume of senior government figures under one roof.
The Washington Hilton, where the dinner has been held for years, remains open to regular hotel guests during the event — a longstanding arrangement that has typically left the lobby and other public spaces with limited screening for non-dinner attendees.
White House Correspondents’ Association president Weijia Jiang announced from the stage that Trump planned to hold a briefing at the White House, and that the dinner would be rescheduled within 30 days. Trump posted on Truth Social shortly after the evacuation: “Quite an evening in D.C. Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job. They acted quickly and bravely.”
