Credit: AFGE
A night intended to celebrate the First Amendment and journalism turned into a scene of panic Saturday when an armed attacker attempted to breach the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick said in the wake of the event.
Fitzpatrick, a Republican and former FBI special agent, told Action News on PHL17 he recognized the “all too familiar sound” of gunfire immediately.
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The five-term congressman told CBS 3 that he helped those at his table take cover as the shots rang out.
Fitzpatrick’s attention quickly turned to the dais, where his fiancée, Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich, was seated at the head table.
Heinrich, a member of the association’s board of directors and its next president, was on stage with President Donald Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, and other high-ranking officials and journalists.
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“You know, she was at the head table. That was all I cared about,” Fitzpatrick told Action News on PHL17. “I tried to get back, but the Secret Service assured me that she was OK.”
Heinrich later described the scene on “Fox & Friends.” She recalled crawling on the floor in her gown as agents secured the nation’s top leaders.
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“The scariest part for me was hearing the agents with their guns drawn standing over me, talking to each other and saying, ‘Do you see it? Are you tracking it?’ and having the other one answer, ‘No,’” Heinrich said.
Fitzpatrick, who is scheduled to marry Heinrich this year, said he was thankful for the rapid response of federal law enforcement.
“In a moment of danger and chaos, they brought courage, calm, and order to the entire room,” the congressman wrote in a post on Facebook.
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According to Heinrich on Fox News Sunday, Trump shared a desire for “the show to go on,” but law enforcement officials made the decision to cancel and reschedule the gala after the shocking incident.
After the shooting, Heinrich traveled to the Fox News Channel bureau to report.
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The attacker has been identified by The Associated Press as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, of California. He had reportedly been staying at the Washington Hilton, which is where the gala was being held.
While Allen stormed the hotel ballroom at a Secret Service checkpoint, he was subdued and taken into custody before he could reach the ballroom.
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“Cole Allen traveled across the country with deadly weapons and a plan to assassinate the President of the United States,” said U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro.
