‘Unbelievable': Ex students shocked after teacher ID'd as Correspondents' dinner shooter
What to Know
- Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, is accused of exchanging gunfire with law enforcement after rushing a security checkpoint at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
- Federal investigators searched through a Torrance home that is believed to be Allen’s residence.
- Allen’s LinkedIn profile indicates he has an engineering degree from Caltech and a master’s in computer science from California State University, Dominguez Hills. He worked for C2 Education.
- He is due in court on Monday.
A neighborhood in Torrance, California, was the center of an investigation early Sunday as law enforcement officials searched through a home connected to the man accused of opening fire outside the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, D.C.
Secret service agents and the Federal Bureau of Investigation canvassed the home to secure evidence in the case against Cole Tomas Allen. The 31-year-old allegedly exchanged gunfire with law enforcement on Saturday after he rushed a security checkpoint at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, prompting President Donald Trump and other top officials to evacuate.
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California voter registration records showed his parent’s house as his home address. Federal and local agencies worked through the night at the property, leaving it sometime around 7 a.m. on Sunday.
FBI agents were going door to door, talking to neighbors to gather information about the suspect.
“They came by and asked questions, if I knew him. I’m like, ‘Nope. I’ve seen him once, and that was probably about it,'” neighbor James Bolinas said. “Everybody says it doesn’t happen in your neighborhood, but it happens in everybody’s neighborhood. It’s going to happen no matter where you’re at.”
Paul Thompson, another one of Allen’s neighbors, told NBC News he was “not necessarily friendly,” but he hadn’t noticed anything off about him. He added that Allen’s “parents are nice, friendly people,” and the “father especially knows everybody.”
Students tutored by suspect call him ‘intelligent’ and ‘an average person’
He worked for C2 Education, a tutoring company that helps high schoolers get into college. In December 2024, C2 Education named him teacher of the month.
“We were shocked to hear the news of the horrifying incident that transpired at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner,” C2 Education said in a statement. “We are cooperating fully with law enforcement to assist them in their investigation. Violence of any kind is never the answer.”
Max Harris, who was tutored by the suspect, said he was stunned to learn of his arrest.
“I mean, my friend called me and said, ‘Check the news. The C2 guy just tried to, whatever he tried to do,’” Harris said. “And it’s like, it was unbelievable to me. I never would have expected that in my life.”
Harris said he didn’t notice any red flags concerning Allen.
“I mean, he seemed like a friendly enough guy,” Harris said. “I mean, he was just kind of a normal guy, you know what I mean? Just an average person, you wouldn’t expect anything of him.”
Dylan Wakayama, president of the Asian American Civic Trust, told NBC Los Angeles that Allen tutored a student who volunteers at his organization, as well as the brother of another student.
“They described him as someone who was very intelligent,” Wakayama said. “They never would have expected this.”
One of the students told Wakayama she received tutoring from Allen as recently as April 14 and said there weren’t any notable signs that something was wrong.
“She described the fact that she thought this individual was very intelligent, that it sounds like he was a proficient tutor,” Wakayama said.
His educational background in Los Angeles County
Allen’s LinkedIn profile indicates he earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the California Institute of Technology in 2017. The school confirmed it had record of a student with the same name who graduated in 2017, but said it does “not have details from the investigation to confirm that the suspect and our undergraduate alumnus are the same person.”
While he was a Caltech student, Allen was a member of the winning group of the 31st annual Mechanical Engineering 72 Design Competition, which involved building robots that could play soccer. In the 2016 competition, his five-person group “Blitzkrieg Bots” competed against four other teams for the “Tridroid Cup.”
Months later, Allen was featured in a local news report for developing a prototype emergency brake for wheelchairs.
Allen then obtained his master’s in computer science from California State University, Dominguez Hills. His LinkedIn profile photo shows him wearing a cap and gown at graduation and appears to have been taken May 2025.
In a statement, Cal State Dominguez Hills said it had a student by the same name who graduated from the school last year. It said while it could not confirm he was the suspect in Saturday’s shooting, the school “unequivocally condemns this act of violence.”
“Such acts betray our values as a university and our commitment to fostering a safe environment for our campus communities,” it said.
Bin Tang, a computer science professor at the school, confirmed to NBC News that Allen took some of his classes and remembered him as being “a very good student” who paid attention and went to office hours.
“Soft spoken, very polite, a good fellow,” he said in a statement. “I am very shocked to see the news.
Allen attended Pacific Lutheran High School in Gardena, where he was known for his inquisitiveness and intellect, according to a former volleyball teammate. While he had not seen Allen recently, he remembered Allen as a “borderline genius” and “super stable.”
“He was probably the most gentle person on the team, which makes it even more shocking that he did this.”
Allen’s intellect landed him an internship at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge in 2014, the agency confirmed to NBC Los Angeles.
Weapons were legally purchased at Torrence shop
Allen, who is believed to have acted alone, checked in as a guest at the Washington Hilton Hotel where the gala was being held. was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives when he breached a checkpoint in the hotel lobby about 8:36 p.m. and ran toward the ballroom where the event was being held.
Metropolitan Police Chief Jeffery Carroll said law enforcement exchanged gunfire with the suspect before tackling him to the ground. He was not shot, but was taken to a nearby hospital.
He was armed with a Maverick 12-gauge shotgun and an Armscor Precision .38 semi-automatic pistol, both of which were purchased legally, according to a senior law enforcement official and documents, NBC News reports. At least one of those weapons was purchased at CAP Tactical, a gun store near the home that was raided in Torrance, a senior administration official said.
A note allegedly written by the suspect gave insight into a possible motive for Saturday’s attack. A senior administration official provided a transcript of some of Allen’s writings to NBC News. In it, he expressed “rage” at the Trump administration’s leadership, criticized the president and wrote that administration officials were his targets.
“It wasn’t just a political statement,” Brian Levin, founder of the Center for Study of Hate and Extremism, said. “It was an apology to people who knew him. It was looking at who he’s targeting and why.”
Allen is facing charges that include using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer with a dangerous or deadly weapon. He is expected to be arraigned on Monday.
NBC4’s Keenan Willard and Karma Dickerson contributed to this report.
