“There will be some shots fired tonight", said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. Hours later, there were actually shots fired during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner — Except what Leavitt was referring to was a speech that would be characteristic of Trump’s unfiltered addresses.
Leavitt was speaking to a Fox News journalist before a gunman directed shots at the venue of the White House dinner.
“He is ready to rumble, I will tell you. This speech tonight will be classic Donald J Trump. It’ll be funny, it’ll be entertaining. There will be some shots fired tonight in the room. So everyone should tune in, it’s going to be really great," the Press Secretary said ahead of the event.
“I can’t take credit. In true Donald Trump fashion, the man puts his pen to the paper himself. So it’s a lot of his own work", Leavitt said when asked about who wrote Trump’s speech.
The U.S. President was sitting on the dais at the White House Correspondents’ Association’s dinner, when loud bangs disrupted the event, prompting a swift security response.
Amid the panic, he was escorted out of the venue by U.S. Secret Service personnel as the attendees ducked under tables in shock.
Giving details of the incident, Donald Trump said the shooting suspect was his “would-be assassin", adding the authorities seemed to think he was a “lone wolf".
“When you’re impactful, they go after you. When you’re not impactful, they leave you alone", he said.
The suspect, identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, was taken into custody. Authorities indicated that there was no involvement of others.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser stated that there was “no reason" to believe additional suspects were involved. “There does not appear to be any sort of danger to the public at this time."
Source: News18