A chaotic White House Correspondents' Dinner, as told by NPR reporters in the room

Politics A chaotic White House Correspondents' Dinner, as told by NPR reporters in the room April 26, 20263:52 PM ET By  Rachel Treisman Attendees hid in and then fled from the Washington Hilton after shots were fired at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner on Saturday night. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images The White House Correspondents' Dinner, an annual event that brings together top government officials and the journalists who cover them, descended into chaos on Saturday after shots rang out at the Washington Hilton. Just minutes into the dinner, guests heard muffled popping sounds as a gunman attempted to charge past a security checkpoint. President Trump — who was attending the event for the first time since taking office — was rushed out of the building by Secret Service agents, as were First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance and a slew of cabinet officials. The night ended with a suspect apprehended, a law enforcement officer injured and a press conference at the White House, where Trump promised the dinner would be rescheduled. Sponsor Message Politics Details emerge of alleged shooter at White House correspondents' dinner Hundreds of attendees, many of them reporters and lawmakers, took shelter beneath their tables amidst the chaos, before evacuating the hotel and — in many cases — shifting back into work more. Several NPR journalists were among them, and quickly jumped on the air to share their experiences and observations. Here's how the night unfolded, according to NPR journalists in the room. Shots rang out toward the end of the first course  Less than an hour into dinner, around 8:30 p.m. ET, attendees heard what sounded like gunshots coming from the back of the room. "People were just finishing up their … salads, and plates were being cleared, when we heard this 'bang, bang, bang,'" said White House Correspondent Franco Ordoñez. "And then, just, crash." Everyth...