US president says venue was ‘not a particularly secure building’ as man is held after shots fired at annual press dinner

Shocking. Unnerving. Unpredictable. Violent. For a decade I have been following the twists and turns of Donald Trump’s America with the privilege of journalistic distance. On Saturday night I felt the darkness come viscerally close.

Bang! Bang! What was that? Where was it? At 8.36pm panic and pandemonium reigned in the cavernous ballroom at the Washington Hilton hotel. There were men running and cries of “Get down!” and “Stay down!”

The Associated Press, citing two law enforcement officials, have identified the suspect as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California.

He appeared to have been a “lone” gunman, said Jeff Carroll, the interim chief of police of the Metropolitan police department, and was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives when he allegedly “charged a US Secret Service checkpoint” at the Washington Hilton.

We have no reason to believe at this time that anyone else was involved,” said Washington DC mayor Muriel Bowser. The suspect was taken to a local hospital where he was being “evaluated”, she said.

The suspect has been charged with felony firearms and assault charges, said Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for the District of Columbia.