What we know about Cole Tomas Allen, man accused of shooting at White House correspondents' dinner
31-year-old Allen is from Torrance, California. The National Investigative Unit has confirmed that Allen was working as a tutor in Torrance. Social media posts from C2 Education in Torrance show Allen was named the Teacher of the Month in December 2024.
Federal Election records show Allen made a $25 donation on October 13, 2024, earmarked for the Kamala Harris campaign. Allen's voting record in California did not show a party a affiliation.
A May 2025 profile photo of Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California, appears to match the appearance of the man in a photo of the alleged attacker posted by President Donald Trump. The photo, posted to the social networking site LinkedIn, shows him after graduating with a master's degree in computer science from California State University-Dominguez Hills.
Allen earned a bachelor's degree in 2017 in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. He listed his involvement there in a Christian student fellowship and a campus group that battled with Nerf guns.
Bin Tang, a computer science professor at California State University-Dominguez Hills, told The Associated Press that Allen took a few of his classes before graduating.
"He was a very good student indeed, always sitting in the first row of my class, paying attention, and frequently emailing me with coursework questions. Soft spoken, very polite, a good fellow. I am very shocked to see the news," Tang wrote in an email.
A local ABC station in Los Angeles included an interview with Allen during his senior year of college as part of a story about new technologies to help people as they age. He had developed a prototype for a new type of emergency brake for wheelchairs.
