Court document reveals new details about correspondents' dinner shooting

Washington — Cole Allen , the man charged with attempting to assassinate President Trump at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday, allegedly purchased the firearms used in the attack in 2023 and 2025, and traveled by train from the West Coast to Washington, according to newly unsealed court filings. The filings — a criminal complaint charging Allen with three offenses, and a seven-page affidavit by an FBI agent — were unsealed Monday after the suspected gunman appeared in federal court for an initial appearance. He is charged with discharging a firearm during a violent crime, transporting a firearm in interstate commerce with intent to commit a felony and attempting to assassinate the president. According to the affidavit, Allen made a reservation on April 6 for three nights at the Washington Hilton, the site of the annual press gala, which brings together more than 2,500 members of the capital's journalistic and political community. Prosecutors said Allen likely knew Mr. Trump would be at the event , since the president wrote on Truth Social in March that he had accepted an invitation to attend. On April 21, Allen left Los Angeles by train and arrived in Chicago two days later, the FBI agent said. There, he boarded a train bound for Washington, D.C. He arrived on Friday at around 1 p.m. and checked in to the Hilton, the agent said. …