Trump evacuated after shots fired at White House correspondents’ dinner – what we know

The White House correspondents’ meal connected Saturday nighttime was upended by gunshots, prompting nan immediate evacuation of Donald Trump and Melania Trump.

Journalists and guests astatine nan Washington Hilton ballroom hid nether tables while nan US Secret Service had guns drawn arsenic they rushed White House excavation reporters retired of nan room and mentioned “shots fired”.

Anthony Guglielmi, a Secret Service spokesperson, said successful a connection that nan agency was investigating a “shooting incident adjacent nan main magnetometer screening area astatine nan White House Correspondents’ Dinner”. “The president and nan first woman are safe,” he said, on pinch everyone who was astatine nan meal and successful nan protection of Secret Service. “One individual is successful custody. The information of those progressive is not yet known, and rule enforcement is actively assessing nan situation.”

The Guardian’s David Smith, who was 1 of 4 Guardian journalists successful nan room astatine nan Washington Hilton erstwhile nan president was evacuated, stopped Jamie Raskin for his reaction.

Raskin, a Democratic congressman from Maryland, said: “I didn’t spot thing successful position of nan shooter, isolated from I conscionable entered nan room astir 5 minutes agone and I was talking to group from nan Boston Globe and my aged friend Kerry Kennedy and past I deliberation a Secret Service supplier threw maine to nan crushed and connected apical of immoderate different group and group were screaming and yelling. Apparently location was a shooter successful nan lobby and, astatine slightest nan rumor is, that nan shooter has been killed and is dormant successful nan lobby and that’s really each I know. I was conscionable trying to get complete to nan NBC array – these group had invited maine and I ne'er moreover made it to nan table, truthful I felt bad.”

Raskin added: “I heard immoderate large noises but I don’t cognize if that was group reacting aliases if that was thing outside, it was difficult to know, but group very quickly were saying that was a shot, that was nan gunshot. People were terrified; group look to beryllium relieved now.”

The Guardian’s Rachel Leingang was seated astatine nan array alongside colleagues and guests erstwhile personification yelled that shots had been fired. Guests began diving nether nan tables. She recalls Secret Service agents moving successful and moving chairs of nan measurement arsenic they raced down nan aisles. “Everyone benignant of stayed nether nan tables for a small while, until group started for illustration popping backmost up and past everyone tried to fig retired what was going connected – they were talking to each different like: ‘What happened? What happened?’”

Trump rescheduled nan dinner, posting connected Truth Social later connected Saturday: “The First Lady, positive nan Vice President, and each Cabinet members, are successful cleanable condition. We will beryllium speaking to you successful a half an hour. I person spoken pinch each nan representatives successful complaint of nan event, and we will beryllium rescheduling wrong 30 days.”

CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer said he was wrong a fewer feet of nan shooter, and called into CNN to picture his observations. Blitzer said he saw “a very, very superior weapon. He starts shooting, and I happened to person been a fewer feet distant from him. As he was shooting, of course, nan first point that went done my mind: is he trying to sprout me? And I don’t deliberation he was trying to sprout me, but I was very adjacent to him arsenic nan gunshots were fired and he was very very scary. But I’m okay, now.”