President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance were evacuated from the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington Saturday after shots were fired at the hotel where the event was taking place.
Trump, who left the hotel in northwest Washington to return to the White House, said he will hold a press conference shortly. The president said Vance, First Lady Melania Trump and members of his cabinet attending the dinner “are in perfect condition.”
“The shooter has been apprehended,” Trump said in a separate Truth Social post.
The dinner was canceled, with Trump saying it would be rescheduled within 30 days.
A witness said they heard security yell outside in the corridor at an individual to stop before a commotion and series of gunshots. Secret Service said the alleged shooter is in custody, according to a White House pool report.
Attendees hid below their tables and Secret Service agents evacuated Trump, Vance and other top government officials at the time of the shooting.
US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said that Secret Service has assumed control of the hotel. She added that DC Mayor Muriel Bowser is en route to the scene, along with Interim Metropolitan Police Chief Jeffery W. Carroll, who will take command upon arrival.
Rudy Sahay, managing partner of Aquarian Holdings, said he’d just stepped out of the room and was headed up a staircase when the event unfolded.
“We took a few steps up and we heard ‘Stop stop stop,’ a boom and then pop pop pop,” he said.
John Lambert, a dinner attendee and the president of Boat Evolution Inc., said he was walking toward the bathroom and saw a man sprinting past security to the stairs down to the ballroom. Several security officers immediately chased him and many shots — perhaps as many as 20 — were fired at the person running toward the stairs, he said. Lambert said he was immediately ushered into the mens’ restroom.
Trump’s presence at the dinner is unusual for him. While US presidents have historically attended the event, Trump has skipped most of them since his 2016 presidential election victory. He became the first president to avoid the dinner since Jimmy Carter, who did not attend in 1978 and 1980.
The dinner is a fundraiser with proceeds going in part to scholarships for journalism students. But the affair has also been a magnet for celebrities who mingle with politicians and members of the press. As it’s grown in size and attention, the event has been criticized as illustrating a too-cozy relationship between journalists and the people they cover.
No further details about the shooting are known, including how many shots were fired or whether anyone attending the event was injured.
The Washington Hilton was also the site of an assassination attempt in 1981, when then-president Ronald Reagan was shot and seriously injured by gunman John Hinckley Jr. as he was leaving the hotel.
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