Witnesses tell investigators Secret Service agent shot by suspect

WASHINGTON – A federal review of witness and agent statements about last weekend’s shootout at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner is consistent with the suspected gunman being the one who shot a Secret Service agent, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation.

Evidence thus far, the official said, indicates the only Secret Service agent who actually fired their weapon was the one who was injured as he tried to prevent what prosecutors say was an attempt to assassinate President Donald Trump and other administration officials.

That agent, who has not been identified, fired five times while trying to stop suspect Cole Tomas Allen after he breached an initial security barrier at the event at the Washington Hilton hotel, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said at an April 27 news briefing.

The weapons of all of the other Secret Service agents at the scene were checked and were never fired, according to the law enforcement source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation that is being conducted by the FBI and Secret Service.

The findings appear to undercut recent speculation by online observers who have pored over video of the shootout and saw numerous agents training their weapons on Allen from different angles. The law enforcement official said that based on the information gathered to date, Secret Service officials have largely ruled out friendly fire as the cause of the agent's potential injuries, although he cautioned that an FBI ballistics and forensic investigation is still underway.

When asked whose bullets hit the agent at a news conference on April 27, Blanche said, "We want to get that right, so we're still looking at that."

Allen, Blanche told reporters, "ran through the magnetometer, holding a long gun. As he did so, U.S. Secret Service personnel assigned to the checkpoint heard a loud gunshot. One Secret Service officer was shot in the chest, but was wearing a ballistic vest that worked."

"This heroic officer, who was hit, fired five times at Allen, who was not shot but fell to the ground and was promptly arrested," Blanche said.

A check of Allen's shotgun showed that he discharged the weapon, Blanche said.

On April 29, the Department of Justice filed a motion in support of detaining Allen until trial that contained new information about who fired their weapons and where they were.

The DOJ alleges that after sprinting through a security checkpoint and running toward stairs leading down to the ballroom, Allen "held a shotgun in both hands in a raised position parallel to the ground."

A Secret Service, or USSS, officer saw Allen fire the shotgun toward the stairs. He and others heard the gunshot. The officer then "drew his service weapon and fired five times at the defendant."

The ballroom where the 2,500-person event was underway is one floor below where the incident occurred at about 8:30 p.m. on April 25.

MS NOW reported on April 26 that the FBI, which is the lead investigative agency on the shooting, has not found the fragment that authorities have said hit the Secret Service officer's bulletproof vest, "leaving investigators unable to say for certain whether the armed attacker shot the officer or how he was injured," citing two people briefed on the probe.

The FBI is conducting its own investigation into the shooting to gather evidence about Allen, who was charged on April 27 with attempting to assassinate the president. That probe includes not only the ballistics and forensic analysis to determine who shot the agent, but also whether the agent’s discharge of his own weapon during the incident was done according to policy, the law enforcement official familiar with the probes told USA TODAY.

Kate Schweit, a 20-year FBI agent, prosecutor and "active shooter" expert, told USA TODAY on April 29 that there are often conflicting accounts of what happened in such incidents.

Schweit said the ballistics and forensic evidence should help resolve who fired the round that struck the Secret Service agent because Allen was allegedly using a shotgun that produces buckshot while Secret Service agents and other law enforcement on scene fired bullets ‒ likely .45 caliber from their service weapons.

"As the evidence comes in, the challenge we always have, as a former prosecutor, is that witness statements can be inconsistent and they can be false memories," Schweit said. "So it is important to get the evidence determinations from the laboratory."

Schweit did say she was puzzled by the new DOJ reference to the suspect firing down the hallway away from where the Secret Service agent who fired back at him was apparently standing.

"Right now, she said, "it seems that there's inconsistent information that still needs to be cleared up" to determine whether Allen or a law enforcement official fired the round that struck the agent − or if he was somehow struck by something else.

Trump, in remarks to reporters after the dinner, said the suspect shot one Secret Service agent at close range and that the agent was saved by a bulletproof vest. Trump said he spoke to the officer, who was in "high spirits," and told the man, "we love him and respect him."

Jeffery Carroll, the interim Washington, DC, police chief, said the night of the dinner that the Secret Service agent was transported to the hospital after he "took a round" to his bulletproof vest.

This story has been updated with additional information.