Grace Eliza Goodwin
Reporting from New York

A lot has happened today in the aftermath of Saturday's shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

The suspected gunman, Cole Tomas Allen, appeared in court for the first time as Trump administration officials tried to paint a clearer picture of what allegedly happened at the Hilton hotel that night.

Here are a few key takeaways from the day:

• The 31-year-old suspect appeared before a judge in a Washington DC federal court
• He faces three charges, the most serious of which is attempting to assassinate the president. It could carry a life sentence if he is convicted.
• Allen did not enter a plea today, and his next appearance is on Thursday

• More charges may be coming, officials said
• Justice Department leaders spoke about Allen's alleged plans for the shooting, including photos of knives and guns they say Allen carried with him and an email they describe as a "manifesto"
• But they say a more specific motive is not clear yet
• Officials have also stressed that security protocols at the event worked, but the White House said today they are not ruling out changes to the president's security
• Meanwhile, both the president and Melania Trump have taken aim at Jimmy Kimmel for a joke he made last week, calling the first lady an "expectant widow"

We're ending our live coverage on this page now, but you can stay up to date with our news story here.

BBC World Service

There has been a series of high-profile acts of politically motivated violence in recent years, including the killing of Democratic Minnesota State representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, and the killing of conservative activist and media personality Charlie Kirk.

Our White House reporter Bernd Debusmann tells BBC's Global News Podcast that there is a clear feeling in the US that politically-motivated violence is on the rise - and that many people blame the increasing polarisation of American politics.

Watch that conversation on our YouTube channel here: Why is US political violence on the rise?, external

The Secret Service, the agency responsible for protecting the president and other US polticial leaders, says enhancements will be made to bolster security at future events.

Spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi tells the BBC's US partner CBS News that the security setup at the press dinner was effective, but improvements should be expected "at every level".

"Every protective decision is driven by intelligence amid a dynamic and currently elevated threat environment," Guglielmi says. "We are actively focused on identifying the trigger for this incident and fully understanding the factors that led to it."

Regan Morris
Reporting from Los Angeles, Califonia

When Cole Allen studied at the prestigious California Institute of Technology, he worshipped at the nearby Pasadena United Reformed Church. The pastor there, Movses Janbazian, said he remember Allen from ten years ago.

“It was very sad to hear,” Janbazian told the BBC after Saturday's shooting.

He said Allen was quiet, coming for church services and going back to university.

“CalTech is very competitive. He was studying a lot,” he said. “He would come and go.”

Janbazian said he didn’t want to talk about politics and that he didn’t know what political leanings Allen had. He also said he was unsure if Allen continued to go to church after he graduated and moved away from the area.

“I knew him casually,” he said. “I don’t have a lot to add.”

Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu
Reporting from court in Washington

The charges against the suspect have now been unsealed, meaning we can see extra specific details from the allegations against Cole Tomas Allen.

The document is seven pages. Here are some of the key details:

• Prosecutors allege that Allen ran through a magnetometer holding a long gun at a security checkpoint in the hotel. They say a Secret Service agent identified as Officer V.G. was shot once in the chest, but that he was wearing a ballistic vest at the time. It is not yet clear who shot the officer
• The officer fired back at Allen, who fell but ultimately was not hit by any of the shots, the document says
• The document also details a timeline of Allen's movements, including a train trip that departed Los Angeles on 21 April, passed through Chicago and arrived in Washington on 24 April
• Court documents also contain an email that Allen had allegedly scheduled to send to his family and employer, which detailed who at the event were targets

US President Donald Trump and other high profile guests at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner were already seated in the Hilton's basement ballroom when the suspect allegedly tried to force his way into the event.

CCTV footage from the hotel's terrace level appears to show the alleged gunman coming out of a doorway next to a set of lifts and stairs. He rushes past at least ten people at the security checkpoint - including several armed officers.

Some members of the security detail are seen drawing their weapons and then moving in on the suspect, who is now somewhere off camera. He was reported to have been brought down before he reached the open stairs to the lower concourse level, where the event was being held.

Metal detectors and other security checks are reported to have been in place before guests could enter the International Ballroom itself.

The BBC Visual Journalism team has mapped out where the suspect was intercepted.

Check out our post showing where the ballroom itself was located in relation to the building.

Democrats and Republicans spar over who is responsible for political violencepublished at 21:28 BST 27 April

21:28 BST 27 April

Daniel Bush
Washington correspondent

President Donald Trump said the alleged assassination attempt against him on Saturday created a spirit of “national unity” immediately after the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

Less than 48 hours later, however, the conversation in Washington is devolving into a partisan fight over political violence. It’s being fuelled in part by Trump and a White House that frequently blames Democrats and the media while glossing over political violence from the right.

In a CBS 60 Minutes interview on Sunday where Trump said the shooting brought the “whole country” together, he also blamed Democrats for the recent rise in political violence.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt echoed Trump today, saying that commentators, Democrats and some in the media were responsible for the rise in “systemic violence” targeting Trump.

Trump and his top advisers made similar comments after the assassination attempt against him in Butler, Pennsylvania in 2024, and after law enforcement foiled an assassination attempt outside of the president’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

The president rarely acknowledges acts of political violence targeting Democrats, such as the 2025 assassination of a Minnesota Democratic lawmaker and her husband, or the attack three years earlier on former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband. Trump also pardoned the supporters who stormed the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 in an attempt to overturn his election defeat.

Where the debate goes from here is unclear. Right now, the focus remains on security protocol around the president in general and at the Correspondents' Dinner in particular.

But the larger partisan fight about political violence is already underway, suggesting the nation is far more divided than Trump claimed.

Image source, Department of Justice

Earlier during the Department of Justice press conference, the officials showed three photos of guns, knives, and other items that were allegedly in Cole Tomas Allen's possession at the hotel.

Attorney General Todd Blanche pointed to the photo of the long gun, saying that was the weapon Allen discharged during the time of the shooting.

He says from what he understands, the shell casing was still inside the gun, meaning it was only fired once and not reloaded.

Image source, Department of Justice

Image source, Department of Justice

Blanche is asked if investigators have identified a particular motive for Allen's alleged targeting of President Trump.

He says right now, they just have the manifesto, which Allen allegedly sent around to members of his family.

"What is clear from the complaint and what we have so far is he was targeting President Trump," he says. "As far as understanding additional motivation, that's for the FBI and law enforcement."

With that, the briefing ends.

Asked why the suspect was not charged with shooting an officer, Blanche says authorities are still looking into that.

The US attorney's team and the FBI are still examining evidence and may have an update in the coming days, he adds.

FBI Director Kash Patel is asked if there are any other threats to Washington right now, including to King Charles.

Patel says the FBI is constantly evaluating evidence, and that Washington has a historically low crime rate.

He says that federal law enforcement agencies constantly relay info to the White House, and does not comment specifically on the King's visit.

Todd Blanche is asked who's bullet hit the Secret Service agent.

The acting attorney general answers that it appears law enforcement fired five shots, but adds that it is still under investigation.

Blanche says authorities do believe the suspect fired his shotgun, but he won't get into ballistics details today.

Image source, US Department of Justice

We're now hearing from FBI Director Kash Patel, who was present at Saturday night's event.

"This one hits differently," Patel says.

He says federal agents stopped a "massive attack" from becoming "even worse".

Starting that night, investigators have been working to collect evidence, conduct interviews, and analyse the events leading up to the shooting, he adds.

Image source, Reuters

Pirro next refers to the document written by the suspect, which some in the US are referring to as a manifesto.

She notes a line in the document, in which he allegedly writes that he "would not hesitate to engage with anyone who gets between him and the president".

She goes on to say that nobody should ever come to Washington to commit violence against politicians, and "this is anti-democratic at its core".

Image source, Reuters

Washington DC US Attorney Jeannine Pirro says the suspect checked into the Washington Hilton hotel on the 24th - a day before the dinner - around 15:00 ET, and stayed overnight.

At the dinner, the suspect was "very much aware" the president and first lady were in the ballroom, Pirro says.

He then made the decision "to rush the ballroom", where Secret Service stopped him, she says, adding he had no injury other than a scrape on his knee.

US Attorney Jeanine Pirro is now speaking.

She says there will be additional charges as the investigation unfolds.

"This was an attempted assassination attempt of the president of the United States," she says, adding that it was suspect Cole Allen's intent to bring down as many high-ranking cabinet members as he could.

Image source, Reuters

On 21 April, the suspect left his home in LA by train, travelling to Chicago, says Blanche.

On 24 April, he left Chicago and checked into the Washington Hilton hotel after arriving in DC.

On 25 April, he approached a security checkpoint at the event, and "ran through while holding a long gun".

Secret Service then "heard a loud gunshot", he says, adding one agent "was shot in the chest but wore a ballistic vest which worked".

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is speaking now.

He begins by praising law enforcement, especially the officer who was hurt in the attack.

"One brave officer was injured, is receiving care, and has been released from hospital," he says.

Blanche adds that one thing should be "clear" - that the gunman was one floor away, "with hundreds of federal agents between him and the President of the United States".

"Law enforcement did not fail," he says, emphatically.

He goes on to recall the timeline of events, and list the charges against the defendant.

Image source, US Pool

US Attorney General Todd Blanche is now talking to the media.

You can watch live at the top of this page.

In a few minutes, we're expecting a briefing from officials in Washington about Saturday's shooting.

US Attorney General Todd Blanche, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Washington DC's US Attorney Jeanine Pirro will be present at the briefing.

You can follow along for the key lines here and watch live at the top of this page.