CNN’s Wolf Blitzer says he was just a “few feet away” from the gunman who started shooting “randomly” outside the room where the White House Correspondents’ Dinner was taking place Saturday night.
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania were seen being hurriedly evacuated as Secret Service agents swarmed the ballroom, with one agent sparking panic by yelling, “Shots fired!”
Blitzer watched the dramatic events unfold outside the ballroom after he says he “coincidentally” left the event area to use the bathroom.
“I walked out to simply go to the men’s room, but you have to walk up these stairs and walk out, which I was doing. And as I was walking back toward the door, to get back into the big area where the event was taking place, all of a sudden, I start hearing gunshots in the hall right near me,” he said.
“And the next thing I knew, a police officer threw me to the ground and was on top of me. And I was listening and watching what was going on. And apparently they got the gunman, who had a major weapon there. But it was so worrisome. The noise was so loud in a small area.”
Then, said Blitzer, the police officers “grabbed me and they take me back into the men’s room where it was safe and there were about 15 other men who are stuck in there and they won’t let them out.”
“And then after a while they let me out, and I’m out now,” he said, clearly shaken.
He described things happening so quickly and chaotically that he didn’t have time to process the scene.
“All of a sudden, a guy with a weapon–and it was a very, very serious weapon–just starts shooting, and I happened to be a few feet away from him as he was shooting. The first thing that went through my mind was, ‘Is he trying to shoot me?’ And I don’t think he was trying to shoot me, but I was very close to him as the gunshots were fired,” he said.
Asked if there could have been multiple gunmen, Blitzer said he heard “at least a half a dozen, maybe six gunshots” but couldn’t see much because he was “down on the ground” with police on top of him.
“The gunman had stopped firing and he was on the ground,” he said.
The FBI has since confirmed that the shooting suspect is in custody. According to the Associated Press, two law enforcement officials identified the suspect as Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old teacher from Torrance, California.
The suspect has been apprehended, and more details are expected to follow.
