MS NOW Sources Say Trump FBI Not Sure Who Shot Agent at WHCD Even After Three Days

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Inside sources told MS NOW reporters that even three days after the White House Correspondents’ Dinner (WHCD) shooting, Trump’s FBI is still not sure who shot a Secret Service agent during the incident.

Chaos erupted Saturday night at the so-called “Hinckley Hilton” when a loud noise that turned out to be gunfire unleashed pandemonium.

Suspect Cole Tomas Allen was taken into custody after rushing through the security perimeter and opening fire. Initial reporting that Allen was shot or killed turned out not to be true. President Donald Trump was not hurt in the incident.

But one Secret Service agent was shot and hit in his bulletproof vest. From the passive-voiced charging affidavit:

13. At approximately 8:40 p.m., ALLEN approached a security checkpoint on the Terrace Level of the hotel leading to the location of the dinner. ALLEN approached and ran through the magnetometer holding a long gun. As he did so, U.S. Secret Service personnel assigned to the checkpoint heard a loud gunshot. U.S. Secret Service Officer V.G. was shot once in the chest; Officer V.G. was wearing a ballistic vest at the time.

14. Officer V.G. drew his service weapon and fired multiple times at ALLEN, who fell to the ground and suffered minor injuries but was not shot. ALLEN was subsequently arrested.

According to an exclusive report by the MS NOW reporting team of Carol Leonnig, Mychael Schnell, and Ken Dilanian, two sources with knowledge of the probe say the origin of the shot that struck the agent is still unknown:

The FBI has not found the fragment that pierced a Secret Service officer’s bullet-proof vest at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday, leaving it unable to say for certain that the armed attacker shot the officer or how he was injured, according to two people briefed on the probe.

Law enforcement agents on the scene Saturday believe Cole Tomas Allen, the suspect who breached the dinner’s final checkpoint, fired his shotgun and struck the officer with buckshot from his weapon, according to one of the people, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the ongoing probe. A check of Allen’s shotgun showed that he discharged a shell but did not reload, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told reporters Monday.

But a mystery surrounds Allen’s use of his weapon — and the scuffle and shooting just above the Washington Hilton ballroom where President Donald Trump and many of senior administration officials were joined for the dinner.

Read the full report here.

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