Allen was armed with a shotgun, a handgun, and several knives. Although there were no injuries, one uniformed division officer was reportedly struck in his bulletproof vest. He has no criminal record. Trump said that Allen was a 'lone wolf' shooter.
He is a graduate of the California Institute of Technology in mechanical engineering and has a Master's degree in Computer Science. He was associated with Caltech's robotic vehicle design in 2016. He participated in a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which has led to descriptions of him as a "NASA fellow" in some reports. Social media profiles indicate that he is a mechanical engineer, computer scientist, indie game developer, and part-time teacher based in Los Angeles.

Allen contributed $25 to a Democratic Party political action committee in support of Kamala Harris for president in 2024, according to federal campaign finance records.

Social media is buzzing about the shooting and several curious circumstances and reactions to it, including UFC founder Dana White and Erika Kirk.

Security footage posted by Trump shows a man sprinting through the metal detectors and past law enforcement, who turn toward him with guns raised. Officers then swarm toward the man off-screen. Some attendees criticized the porous security.

Internet sleuths say this video is made by artificial intelligence (AI) because in the upper left corner, there is a "CapCutAI" stamp. The second problem is that Allen appears to be carrying a white piece of cardboard that disappears, and the officer on the left disappears at the 11-second mark.

James Li gives proposed that the shooting may have been staged as Karoline Levitt made this comment before the show: "it'll be funny, it'll be entertaining, there will be some shots fired tonight…" Some critics said Erika Kirk had a studied reaction. Dana White, CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship organization, reacted with gusto. And Li says there was a coordinated influencer campaign featuring Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch, Jack Posobiec, Libs of TikTok and Wall Street Mav supporting Trump's controversial ballroom. James Li characterized it as the BA'AL room.

A Fox newscast was cut off just as Karoline Levitt's husband was warning Fox News Aishah Hasnie and said, "I watched you on TV, you did a great job, you need to be safe" before the attempted shooting.

Internet detectives found that Israel and Iran searched Google for the name Cole Allen before the event.

From News18:

NASA Fellow, Highly Educated Tutor: All About Cole Thomas Allen, Trump's White House Dinner Shooter

White House Correspondents' Dinner Shooting: The man suspected of opening fire at officers during the White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington DC, attended by US President Donald Trump and the first lady, has been identified as 31-year-old Cole Thomas Allen of California's Torrance.