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The California teacher and engineer accused of opening fire outside the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner believed it was his duty to target Trump administration officials, according to a note he sent family members about 10 minutes before the Saturday attack.

Cole Tomas Allen, 31, who lives in the Los Angeles suburb of Torrance, is the armed suspect federal authorities subdued near the packed ballroom at the Washington Hilton, where President Donald Trump and other White House officials gathered with journalists, a federal official familiar with the case told NBC News.

Allen was armed with a shotgun, handgun, and knives when he rushed a security checkpoint and ran toward the ballroom where the black-tie dinner was being held, authorities said. He exchanged gunfire with law enforcement and was tackled to the ground.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said on “Meet the Press” on Sunday that authorities believe “the suspect traveled by train from Los Angeles to Chicago, and then Chicago to Washington, D.C., where he checked into the hotel where the correspondents’ dinner was at in the last day or two.”

The suspect’s writings

Just moments before the attack, Allen sent family members a note apologizing to his parents, colleagues, students, bystanders, and others for what he was about to do, according to a transcript of some of Allen’s writings provided to NBC News by a senior administration official.

“I don’t expect forgiveness,” Allen wrote. “Again, my sincere apologies.”

In the note, Allen criticized Trump without mentioning him by name. He wrote about lax security at the hotel, saying he had expected more.

He also described his “expected rules of engagement,” writing: “Administration officials (not including Mr. Patel): they are targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest.” He appeared to be referring to FBI Director Kash Patel.

Later, he added: “I experience rage thinking about everything this administration has done.”

The senior administration official said that Allen’s brother contacted the New London Police Department in Connecticut when he received the note.

The department confirmed being contacted at around 10:49 p.m. Saturday, just over two hours after the shooting, “by an individual who expressed concern about the incident that occurred at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner earlier in the evening.” Police contacted federal law enforcement, and the caller was interviewed by authorities.

Allen’s sister told the Secret Service and Montgomery County Police after the shooting that her brother had a tendency to make radical statements, and he had referred to a plan to do “something” to fix the issues with today’s world, the senior administration official said.

A Bluesky account believed to belong to Allen and verified by NBC News included recent posts or reposts that were critical of Trump and his administration’s policies, as well as of the U.S. war with Iran and Russia’s war with Ukraine.

Described as a ‘borderline genius.’

The suspect, who was not shot but was taken to a local hospital, is expected to be charged in federal court on Monday. In a press briefing shortly after the attack, Trump called the suspected shooter a “whack job” and a “lone wolf.”

Public records and interviews show that Allen was a trained engineer who once interned for NASA, and participated in the Nerf club and Christian fellowship at his prestigious California university, before more recently developing video games and working as a part-time teacher.

Allen attended Pacific Lutheran High School in Gardena, California, where he was known for his inquisitiveness and intellect, a former volleyball teammate told NBC News. While he had not seen Allen recently, he remembered Allen as a “borderline genius” and “super stable.”

“Other people study hard,” said the ex-teammate, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear it could affect his career. “He didn’t have to study. It would just come to him. He was really, really smart.”

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Cole Tomas Allen.via Linkedin

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