US President Donald Trump and other attendees were evacuated Saturday night after gunshots were fired at a glitzy media gala in Washington.

As details continue to emerge and investigations are underway, here is what we know about the shooting.

How it unfolded

Shots were heard after the welcoming speech at the annual dinner of the White House Correspondents' Association at the Washington Hilton Hotel.

Tactical security teams with guns drawn took positions on the stage where Trump was seated alongside his wife Melania, Vice President JD Vance and other officials, who were swiftly evacuated.

Video footage of the event shows Trump and Melania sitting at a banquet table on stage in conversation with someone when a commotion at the rear of the ballroom – caused by the noise of gunshots – triggers a ripple of gasps through the room.

People started screaming "Get down, get down!"

Many of the 2,600 attendees dressed in tuxedos and ball gowns took cover under tables as security personnel drew their weapons, with some pushing cabinet secretaries to the floor and covering them with their bodies while others formed a protective cordon.

Security personnel in combat fatigues stormed the stage, pointing rifles into the ballroom as Trump, his wife and Vance were evacuated. Cabinet members who had been sitting at tables dotted around the vast room were escorted out by their security details one by one.

While most guests huddled under tables, some people began chanting "USA, USA."

Authorities said no dignitaries or gala guests were hurt.

Trump speaks at the White House

Afterward, Trump addressed reporters, many still in evening attire, in an extraordinary late-night press conference in the White House briefing room, flanked by members of his cabinet and Vance.

His wife Melania looked on from the sidelines and demurred when he asked her whether she wanted to talk about the events of the evening.

"My impression is he was a lone wolf," Trump said, adding that the suspect's motivation was not yet clear but he believed the gunman was "sick."

"I ask respectfully, why do you think this keeps happening to you?" a reporter asked Trump after the chaotic incident.

Trump had a ready answer, and it was about the 79-year-old's own position in the pantheon of US presidents.

"Well, you know, I've studied assassinations," Trump said. "And I must tell you the most impactful people, the people that do the most – you take a look at Abraham Lincoln ... the people that make the biggest impact, they're the ones that they go after."

"I hate to say I'm honored by that, but I've done a lot," Trump added. "We've changed this country, and there are a lot of people that are not happy about that. So I think that's the answer."

Trump, who survived an assassination attempt at an election rally in 2024, added that "I lead a pretty normal life, considering, you know, it's a dangerous life."

"A lot of other people, you know, you read stories where they become basket cases. To be honest, I'm not a basket case."

Trump meanwhile took a measured tone towards the press – despite previously calling it the "enemy of the people" – saying there was "a tremendous amount of love and coming together" after the incident.

It was the first time Trump was attending the event as president after boycotting it in previous years.

He said he had been ready to give the "most inappropriate speech ever made" but would now be "very boring" when the dinner was rescheduled.

The shooting on Saturday, which Trump blamed on a "would-be assassin," also caused him to riff on one of his favorite topics – the huge $400 million ballroom he is building at the White House.

Trump said the venue for the correspondents' dinner, the Washington Hilton, was "not particularly secure" and showed the need for the construction of the new ballroom.

Suspect armed with 'multiple weapons'

Trump shared footage on his Truth Social platform that appeared to show the suspect charging at the checkpoint before being swarmed by officers. The photo shows the suspected shooter shirtless and in handcuffs, facedown on a carpeted floor in what appears to be the Hilton lobby.

"He was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives," Metropolitan Police Department interim chief Jeffery Carroll told reporters. Law enforcement exchanged gunfire with the suspect and "intercepted that individual."

A uniformed Secret Service officer was "struck in his vest" and taken to a hospital, but was doing well, Carroll said. The suspect was not hit by gunfire but was taken to a hospital to be evaluated. He was in custody and due to be arraigned on Monday in a federal court.

A long gun and shell casings were found at the scene, FBI Director Kash Patel said, adding that the agency was carrying out witness interviews as part of its investigation.

Authorities have yet to publicly confirm his identity, but US media reported that the suspect was a 31-year-old named Cole Tomas Allen from Torrance, California.

Based on preliminary information, "we do believe he was a guest here at the hotel," Carroll told reporters.

The detained man is believed to be the only suspect in the case, officials said.

He is currently being charged with two counts: using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said.

Other charges could still be brought as the investigation proceeds.

Security questioned

Questions swirled regarding security at the reception and how a gun was brought into the hotel.

Attendees pointed out that there was a magnetometer placed outside the ballroom, but there was no such screening before that or at the entrance to the hotel itself.

Trump initially said it was "not a particularly secure building," but later said the ballroom where the event was being held was not breached by the gunman and was "very, very secure."

The checkpoint that the suspect tried to charge past was "right outside the ballroom," authorities said.

"Because that checkpoint worked, there was no one who was injured," Pirro said. "We'll go through video across the hotel to figure out how the gun got in, how it got down here," Carroll added.

According to Trump, the security services did a "much better job than Butler," where he was the target of an assassination attempt in 2024 during a campaign rally in the state of Pennsylvania.

Following Saturday's incident, Trump stayed backstage for about one hour after being hustled from the stage, a source told Reuters. He later said he had not wanted to leave the event, a remark that echoed images of him defiantly pumping his fist after narrowly escaping the 2024 assassination attempt.

In that attempt, Trump was shot and wounded in his upper ear by a 20-year-old gunman, who was shot dead by security personnel.

Just over two months after the Butler shooting, Secret Service agents spotted a man wielding a gun and hiding in bushes at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, while Trump was on the course. It was deemed an assassination attempt and the suspect was sentenced to life in prison in February.

(With input from agencies)