Eerie new footage shows WHCD gunman casing hotel and the moment he tries to sprint through security checkpoint

By STEPHEN M. LEPORE, US SENIOR REPORTER Published: 00:13, 1 May 2026 | Updated: 00:29, 1 May 2026 US Attorney Jeanine Pirro released security footage of White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting suspect Cole Allen walking through the Washington Hilton ahead of the incident. Allen, who shot a Secret Service agent before he was taken into custody, is seen inspecting the entire hotel on Friday, the night before he opened fire at the event. 'Today, we are releasing video already provided to U.S. District Court showing Cole Allen shoot a U.S. Secret Service officer during his attempt to assassinate the President at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner,' Pirro said in a statement. 'There is no evidence the shooting was the result of friendly fire. The video also shows Allen casing the area in the Hilton Hotel the day before the attack. My office along with the @FBI will continue this extensive investigation to bring Cole Allen to justice.' The video, which is just under six minutes, is labeled as taking place on Friday, April 24 at 'approximately 8:59pm. Initial footage shows Allen walking through a hallway, inspecting his surroundings, before he is spotted walking into the hotel's gym facilities.  He appears to either acknowledge or greet the person working the desk, even laughing and striking up a conversation and walking through the remainder of the gym.  Three minutes after the first gym footage ends, Allen is seen walking back toward the entrance to the ballroom and past the gym.  Then, it footage from Saturday night, he is seen in the top left corner of video showing him attempting to evade security checkpoints.  Shortly thereafter, you can see Allen with his shotgun barreling through the checkpoints and attempting to get through the doors of the ballrooms, as federal law enforcement draw their weapons.   US Attorney Jeanine Pirro released security footage of White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting suspect Cole Thomas Allen walking through the Washington Hilton ahead of the incident. Allen, who shot a Secret Service agent before he was taken into custody, is seen expecting the entire hotel on Friday, the night before he opened fire at the event Today, we are releasing video already provided to U.S. District Court showing Cole Allen shoot a U.S. Secret Service officer during his attempt to assassinate the President at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.There is no evidence the shooting was the result of friendly… pic.twitter.com/a8gRXkW6BH No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.