Correspondents' dinner shooting prompts alarm about threat posed by attackers crossing state lines
Following the alleged assassination attempt on President Donald Trump and members of his cabinet at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, federal officials issued a warning to anyone contemplating travel to the nation's capital to cause mayhem.
Since being appointed U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia in May 2025, Jeanine Pirro said her office has now investigated three incidents involving suspects who allegedly trekked long distances and across state lines by car or train to the nation's capital to commit politically motivated violence.
Authorities say the latest incident occurred Saturday night at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton hotel, which was attended by Trump, the first lady and members of his Cabinet.
The suspect, 31-year-old Cole Allen, traveled from Southern California to Washington, D.C., by Amtrak train, allegedly with an arsenal of weapons packed in his luggage, investigators said. Cole was arrested after he allegedly charged through a Secret Service checkpoint just outside the Washington Hilton's International Ballroom, firing "in the direction of the stairs leading down to the ballroom," investigators said in the criminal complaint.
"Let this be a message to anyone who thinks that Washington, D.C., is a place to act out political violence," Pirro said at a news conference this week. "And if you are willing to do so, with a firearm and cross state lines, we will find you, we will track your steps from the inception of your plan, and we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law."
Why do suspects take the risk?
"When you look at recent mass shootings, where it appears that the suspect or defendant either traveled by bus, train, or by car, I think primarily there are two reasons that occurs: One, it's a lot easier to transport weapons, guns or anything else illegal, or your own writings, things you want to keep private for now," said retired FBI agent Brad Garrett.
Garrett, an ABC News contributor, added, "The other is that it gives them time to think, to build up the courage to do what they are about to do."
It's not just Washington, D.C., that has drawn suspected attackers, Garrett noted.
He said the suspect in the Jan. 1, 2025, terrorist attack on New Orleans' French Quarter that killed 14 people and injured dozens more, drove from his Houston area home to New Orleans in a rental truck loaded with weapons and improvised explosives.
The suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, an Army veteran and U.S.-born citizen, had proclaimed his support for the terror group ISIS in social media posts ahead of the attack and an ISIS flag was recovered from the back of the pickup truck he used to mow down victims on Bourbon Street, according to court records obtained by ABC News.
Jabbar was killed in a gunfight with police officers, ending an attack that federal officials called "an act of terrorism."
Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the Dec. 4, 2024, fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, had been living in San Francisco and allegedly traveled by bus from Atlanta to New York City, where prosecutors said he allegedly stalked his victim before shooting him outside the New York Hilton Midtown hotel. Mangione was traveling with a 3D-printed pistol, a 3D-printed suppressor and fake identification, authorities said.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a forged instrument. He has also pleaded not guilty to federal charges of murder through the use of a firearm. He is scheduled to go on trial in January 2027.
Garrett also mentioned the July 28, 2025, mass shooting at an office tower in Midtown Manhattan. The suspect, 27-year-old Shane Devon Tamura, was allegedly armed with an AR-15 rifle investigators suspect he brought with him on his drive from Las Vegas. He was wearing body armor when he allegedly charged into the Park Avenue building, killing four people, officials said.
Investigators said Tamura's alleged intended target in the building was the offices of the National Football League. In a note found in his pocket after he died by suicide. Tamura, a former high school football player, claimed he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and partly blamed the NFL for it.
"Again, he had the weapons in the car, he had other stuff that could be potentially incriminating in the car, knowing that it would be safe if he were driving, versus trying to get on a plane or any place where he would have to go through security," Garrett said.
He added that all of the recent attacks allegedly committed by suspects who had traveled long distances were "not impulsive events."
"They are planned for weeks, months, sometimes even years. But they're not spur-of-the-moment behavior," Garrett said.
Garrett added, "If you look at the most recent attack at the Hilton hotel during the correspondents' dinner, law enforcement has reported that he used a train to get here. He booked a hotel room in advance. In other words, the whole point being, to a large extent, it's premeditated, it's thought out."
In a statement to ABC News on Wednesday, an Amtrak spokesperson said, "We are working with the United States Secret Service and Federal Bureau of Investigation to provide travel and other information on this active investigation."
Other recent attacks by suspects who traveled to the nation's capital
Pirro noted in her Monday news conference that since May 2025, two other deadly attacks in the nation's capital were allegedly perpetrated by suspects with political grievances who traveled long distances.
On May 21, 2025, Elias Rodriguez, 31, of Chicago, allegedly shot and killed two Israeli Embassy staff members outside the Capital Jewish Museum. According to a federal indictment, Rodriguez made multiple statements before the killings of 30-year-old Yaron Lischinsky and 26-year-old Sarah Lynn Milgrim in which he allegedly advocated for violence against Israelis.
Rodriguez, according to investigators, drove from his suburban Chicago home to Washington, D.C., to allegedly commit the attacks. He has been charged with the murder of a foreign official, causing death through the use of a firearm, and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. In addition, he was charged with two counts of first-degree murder under the D.C. criminal code.
The indictment against Rodriguez also includes two federal counts of hate crime resulting in death and two local counts of assault with intent to kill while armed. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
On Nov. 26, 2025, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, allegedly committed the ambush-style shootings of two West Virginia National Guardsmen assigned to help fight crime in Washington, D.C., killing Sarah Beckstrom and seriously wounding Andrew Wolfe. Pirro said Lakanwal drove cross-country from his home in Bellingham, Washington, to allegedly commit the attacks, officials said.
The suspect previously worked with the U.S. government, including the CIA, as a member of a partner force in Kandahar, "which ended in 2021 following the withdrawal from Afghanistan," according to CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
Lakanwal has pleaded not guilty to nine charges, including first-degree murder, assault with intent to kill and illegal possession of a firearm.
'They are on a mission'
Retired FBI agent Rich Frankel said it appears that most of the suspects who traveled long distances to allegedly commit attacks were driven by a sense of being on a "mission."
"It's not just going out to your local 7/11 and blowing somebody away. They are on a mission and this is all part of 'getting their tactical on,'" Frankel, an ABC News contributor, said.
"They don't think it's a risk. They're not flying, right? You can travel with a weapon in your car or on a train," Frankel said.
Referring to the correspondents' dinner suspect, Frankel said, "He came by train. No one apparently searched his bags. He went to the hotel and no one searched his bags. Now, how he knew that no one would search his bags, I'm not sure. But if he saw that they had magnetometers out in front of the hotel, he might have gone to a different hotel."
Frankel also noted that most of the suspects in the recent attacks in Washington, D.C., and New York were "lone wolves" with no criminal backgrounds, making it difficult for law enforcement to catch them before they acted.
Frankel said the correspondents' dinner suspect, who was highly educated and had no criminal record, had sent a letter explaining his actions to family members, who immediately contacted police.
