Engineer and video game developer: The suspect in the shooting at the press gala

Media reports have identified the suspected gunman in the shooting that plunged a press gala attended by President Donald Trump into chaos as a 31-year-old mechanical engineer from California.

Hours after shots rang out outside the ballroom where the swanky White House Correspondents' Association dinner was being held Saturday, Trump shared a photo of the suspect handcuffed and face down on the carpeted floor.

The brown-haired, mustached man was identified by several American media outlets, citing law enforcement sources, as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, a native of Torrance, Calif.

U.S. authorities have not yet publicly confirmed the suspect's identity.

A LinkedIn profile with the name "Cole Allen" showed a photo of a man that appeared to match the photo shared by Trump.

On his profile, Allen claimed to be an engineer with a passion for video game development, a resident of the greater Los Angeles area.

"Mechanical engineer and computer scientist by degree, independent game developer by experience, teacher by birth," according to his profile, which noted that he had an undergraduate degree from the California Institute of Technology.

According to the Caltech graduation ceremony program, a person named Cole T. Allen, originally from Torrance, graduated in 2017 with a degree in mechanical engineering.

According to his profile, he was part of Caltech's Christian community and Nerf club.

Last year, Allen uploaded a photo showing him in a graduation cap and gown, saying he had "finished" his master's degree in computer science at California State University, Dominguez Hills.

Cole Tomas Allen's name appeared in that university's 2025 graduation program.

Allen also posted information about an independent game he developed called "Bohrdom," described as a "skill-based, non-violent" fighting game "derived from a chemical model that itself is loosely based on reality."

On his LinkedIn profile, he indicated that he was also a part-time teacher at a tutoring company called C2 Education.

The test prep company named Allen as "teacher of the month" in an Instagram post dated December 2024.

In that post, a man with brown hair and a half-smile is seen wearing a navy blue sweater zipped up to his neck and hands folded behind his back.

Suburban residence

Trump told reporters that the suspect, who was arrested at the scene, was a resident of California and that law enforcement officials were searching his home.

According to authorities, the suspect will appear in court Monday to answer to charges of firearms possession and assault.

Authorities indicated he was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and several knives, and was not known to the Washington Metropolitan Police Department.

"My impression is he was a lone wolf," Trump said, adding that the suspect's motivation was not yet clear, but he believed the gunman was "sick."

According to an AFP photographer, FBI tactical agents were seen entering a two-story, gable-roofed residence in Torrance, linked to the suspect, Saturday night.

The brown house in the southwest Los Angeles suburb was cordoned off, glowing red and blue under flashing police lights.

A neighbor told CNN that he saw Allen at the property "a couple of days ago."

According to NBC News, Allen attended Pacific Lutheran High School in suburban Los Angeles and was a member of the volleyball team.

A former teammate described him as "a genius in the making" and "super steady."

"Other people study hard. He didn't have to study. It would just come to him. He was really, really smart," the ex-teammate told NBC.