Feds Reveal Chilling Selfies of Armed WHCD Shooting Suspect Taken Moments Before Attack

(Images via DOJ)

Federal prosecutors have released a series of chilling selfies taken by the man accused of attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, offering a stark glimpse into the final moments before the attack.

The images, captured roughly 30 minutes before the shooting attempt, show suspect Cole Allen posing in a hotel mirror at the Washington Hilton after he had armed himself.

The photographs were included in a government memorandum filed Wednesday in support of pretrial detention, laying out in detail the preparation prosecutors say preceded the assault.

The filing details how Allen posed “wearing a black dress shirt, black slacks, and what appears to be a red necktie, tucked into his pants.”

A further enhanced image is annotated with numbered callouts which break down the weapons and equipment that the suspect was carrying. These included an “ammunition-filled bag,” shoulder holster, and a sheathed knife.

At the time of his arrest, Allen was carrying a substantial cache of weapons and equipment, according to federal prosecutors. Authorities say he had a Mossberg 12-gauge pump-action shotgun with one spent cartridge in the barrel and eight unfired rounds in the magazine, along with six additional shells attached to the weapon in a detachable carrier and ten more stored in a small leather bag. He was also armed with a Rock Island Armory 1911 .38 caliber pistol loaded with ten rounds, plus two spare magazines containing nine rounds each.

In addition to the firearms and ammunition, Allen was found with two knives, four daggers, multiple sheaths and holsters, as well as tools including needle-nose pliers and wire cutters, and a Samsung cellphone.

The filing also outlines Allen’s online activity in the minutes leading up to the incident as he attempted to track the president’s movements in real time.

At about 8:13 p.m., Allen visited the “Presidential Schedule – CivicTracker” webpage, prosecutors wrote. Two minutes after that, he left his hotel room, beginning what prosecutors describe as the final sequence leading up to the attack.

By approximately 8:27 p.m., just minutes before the shooting attempt, Allen was tracking live coverage of Trump’s movements. Using his phone, he accessed a media company’s livestream of the president and First Lady Melania Trump en route to the venue before switching to another site showing the president exiting his vehicle.

Less than a minute later, he searched “trump white house correspondents dinner” before sending prewritten emails, including an attached document labeled “Apology and Explanation,” to friends and family around 8:30 p.m.

Shortly after sending those messages, Allen moved toward the venue and rushed the screening checkpoint on the Terrace Level of the Washington Hilton with a raised shotgun, according to the filing.

The 31-year-old now faces life in prison on three federal counts, including two gun charges and one count of attempting to assassinate the president.

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