Federal prosecutors released surveillance footage Thursday showing a man firing a handgun at a U.S. Secret Service agent outside the White House Correspondents' Dinner, a move D.C.'s top attorney said proves the shooting was not an accident. The video captures the suspect initiating a brief, polite exchange before pulling a weapon. Ten people were injured in the ensuing chaos as President Donald Trump was rushed from the room.
The footage, time-stamped Saturday at 21:47, shows a man in a dark suit approaching a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton. He says, "How are you doing?" to an agent. The agent nods.
The man draws a pistol and fires. It lasts four seconds. Jeanine Pirro, the U.S.
Attorney for the District of Columbia, said the decision to release the video was unusual but necessary. "We are putting this out to prove there is no evidence the shooting was the result of friendly fire," Pirro said at a press conference. "The agent acted to neutralize a threat. He saved lives."
The speculation Pirro sought to extinguish had swirled for days. Online forums and some cable news segments questioned whether a chaotic crossfire had led an agent to accidentally shoot a civilian. The video, Pirro said, ends that debate.
The suspect's weapon was recovered at the scene. Police later found two more firearms and a knife in a bag he had left near a coat check. President Trump addressed the incident earlier Thursday. "It wasn't friendly fire," he told reporters during a bill signing.
The Secret Service detail surrounded him immediately. He was in a secure vehicle within 90 seconds. The suspect, identified by police as a 38-year-old man from Alexandria, Virginia, remains hospitalized under guard.
He faces federal charges including attempted murder of a federal officer. He has not yet entered a plea. Court records show a 2019 misdemeanor for disorderly conduct.
No known political affiliations have surfaced. The FBI is leading the investigation. What this actually means for your family.
The breach at one of Washington's most secure annual events—attended by the president, cabinet secretaries, and hundreds of journalists—exposes a vulnerability that will now reshape security protocols for every similar gathering. Expect longer lines. Expect more checkpoints.
The days of breezy access to political galas are over. Ten people suffered injuries. Two from gunfire.
Eight from the stampede that followed. All have been released from area hospitals. The wounded included a Reuters photographer, a congressional aide, and a hotel server.
The server, Maria Elena Vargas, 52, broke her wrist. "I heard the shots and just ran," she said from her home in Hyattsville. "I didn't look back. I thought of my kids."
The policy says one thing. The reality says another. The White House Correspondents' Association had touted this year's security as "unprecedented" after protests disrupted the 2025 dinner.
Yet a man with multiple weapons reached a checkpoint yards from the president. The Secret Service will face a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing on May 15. Director Sean Curran has already ordered a review of all protocols for off-site presidential movements.
The shooting occurred against a backdrop of other major developments. King Charles III and Queen Camilla are scheduled to meet with President Trump during a four-day state visit beginning next week. A Buckingham Palace source confirmed the royals will not meet with survivors of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during their trip, a point of contention raised by some advocacy groups.
Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada delivered a stark assessment of cross-border relations in Ottawa on Thursday. "Our economic ties to the United States, once a source of strength, are now a weakness," Carney said, citing Washington's shifting trade policies. His words land as the U.S. and Canada renegotiate key lumber and dairy provisions. For families in Michigan and Ontario who depend on integrated supply chains, the chill is real.
Jobs are at stake. Severe weather continued to batter the Midwest. A tornado struck Enid, Oklahoma, injuring ten people and damaging dozens of homes.
Constant spring rainfall and melting ice have flooded Black Lake and surrounding neighborhoods in the state's northern region. Officials in a nearby county said they are melting frozen blocks created to promote a singer's album, calling the installations "dangerous and unsafe activities" that now threaten water management systems. In New York, a black bear climbed a tree in an Albany residential neighborhood.
Wildlife officers tranquilized the animal. It fell into a net held by a team of law enforcement and conservation officials. No one was hurt.
The bear was relocated. In California, singer David Burke pleaded not guilty in a Los Angeles courtroom to the murder of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. BBC correspondent Shaimaa Khalil reported from the courthouse.
The case has drawn national attention to violence against minors in the music industry. Burke's next hearing is set for June. A couple in Temecula, California, woke Saturday to find a hot air balloon carrying 13 people had landed behind their home. "Look at that, wow!" one of them said in a video posted online.
No injuries were reported. The balloon's pilot told local authorities wind shear forced the landing. The Delaware Marathon ended in high drama.
The lead runner slowed to celebrate before the finish line. A trailing marathoner sprinted past. The margin was two-tenths of a second.
Race officials reviewed the tape. At Virginia Tech University, a skydiver crashed into the stadium's massive scoreboard during a pre-game demonstration. He dangled from his parachute for 20 minutes before first responders executed a rope rescue.
He walked away without injury. NASA held a ceremony for a name etched on the moon. Commander Reid Wiseman's two daughters were in the mission control room when the agency named a lunar crater "Carroll" in honor of his late wife.
The crew of the Artemis mission held its first press conference since splashing down from their historic 10-day trip. A former U.S. president and the New York City mayor met for the first time at a child care center in the Bronx on Thursday. The event focused on early childhood education funding.
Both men toured a classroom of four-year-olds and read a book about a fire truck. The BBC spent a week with the Canadian military in the country's northernmost region. Soldiers taught reporters how to build emergency shelters at minus-40 degrees and how to detect thin ice. "You learn to listen to the ice," one sergeant said. "It talks to you before it breaks."
In local crime news, a suspect accused of a purse-snatching in downtown D.C. has been charged with larceny and providing false information to police. The arrest was unrelated to the Hilton shooting. - Ten people were injured, and the security breach will trigger a Senate hearing and a full protocol review for presidential events. Why It Matters: The breach at a dinner attended by the president, his cabinet, and the press corps shatters the assumption that Washington's most scrutinized events are impenetrable.
For ordinary Americans, the practical result will be more intrusive security at public gatherings, from political fundraisers to sporting events where dignitaries appear. The political result will be a contentious Senate hearing where lawmakers will ask how a man with three guns and a knife got within arm's reach of a Secret Service checkpoint. The answers will shape the agency's funding and leadership for years.
What comes next is a cascade of accountability. The FBI's investigation will determine the suspect's motive and whether he acted alone. The suspect's first court appearance, once he is medically cleared, will reveal the federal charges in full.
And the White House Correspondents' Association must decide whether the 2027 dinner will look more like a fortress or a return to normalcy. The video is public. The questions are just beginning.
Key Takeaways
— - Federal prosecutors released CCTV footage to disprove claims that a Secret Service agent accidentally shot a civilian outside the president's dinner.
— - The suspect, armed with multiple weapons, initiated a polite exchange with an agent before firing; the agent returned fire and neutralized him.
— - Ten people were injured, and the security breach will trigger a Senate hearing and a full protocol review for presidential events.
Source: BBC News
