It was meant to be a glamorous Saturday night at a Washington ballroom featuring President Donald Trump, but the festivities were shattered by loud bangs that sent guests diving to the floor and the US leader being swiftly evacuated by security personnel. Trump was seated on the dais at the White House Correspondents’ Association’s annual dinner — his first attendance as president — when the disruption occurred, causing him and others on stage to look up in alarm.
Chaotic Scene Unfolds
Video captured by AFPTV, other news outlets, and AFP reporters at the event showed a chaotic scene. Moments after what sounded like gunshots, cries of “Stay down!” and “Get down!” were heard as guests, including correspondents, Trump administration officials, and some cabinet members, took cover. Amid the chaos, the president was quickly surrounded by US Secret Service personnel with weapons drawn, who rushed him off the stage and through a back curtain as the crowd crouched in shock.
The big band music stopped, and people in ball gowns and tuxedos fell silent as agents swarmed around tables and over guests on the floor of the massive ballroom at the Washington Hilton — the very hotel where President Ronald Reagan survived an assassination attempt 45 years earlier.
Officials Evacuated
“Shots fired upstairs,” said Mehmet Oz, Trump’s administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, as he was being evacuated by security. Also seen being rushed out of the ballroom was Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose uncle, President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated in 1963 in Dallas, Texas.
Alexandra Ingersoll, a correspondent for One America News, told AFP she was inside when the commotion began and saw Secret Service spring into action. “I just ducked under the table and I was like ‘I’m not going to risk this,’” she said. “I didn’t know if the shooter was neutralized or what was going on.”
Evacuation and Investigation
With few details available, the entire ballroom was ordered evacuated, and several hundred guests made their way into the Hilton lobby and out into the chilly air. Guests were seen hugging, making calls, texting friends and loved ones, and contacting their news bureaus.
Later, the Secret Service stated that it was investigating a shooting near the main security screening perimeter for the event. “The president and the first lady are safe, along with all protectees,” the agency said. “One individual is in custody.” It was not immediately clear whether the assailant fired shots or security agents responded with gunfire.
At about 8:40 p.m., an AFP reporter saw police officers racing through the streets surrounding the Hilton, lifting barriers, ushering passersby to different streets, and clearing cars from the area as quickly as possible. A helicopter circled overhead. A few minutes later, a motorcade left the Hilton in the direction of the White House.
