A Secret Service officer whose life was saved by his mobile phone after it stopped a bullet has been discharged from hospital. The officer, who has not been named, was shot during the White House Correspondents' Dinner at the Washington Hilton on Saturday night.
Video footage shows the moment a gunman charged a Secret Service magnetometer screening area in the hotel lobby and discharged at least one shot, hitting the officer's bulletproof vest. According to a law enforcement summary report, the bullet was stopped in part by the officer's phone.
Anthony Gugliemi, the US Secret Service chief of communications, said the protective equipment likely 'helped us avoid a potential tragedy.' The suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, 31, was taken into custody after shots were heard outside a ballroom containing 2,500 people, including Donald Trump, Melania Trump and JD Vance.
Allen, a graduate of the California Institute of Technology, was carrying a 12-gauge shotgun, a .38-caliber handgun and multiple knives. Officials recovered an 'anti-Christian' manifesto sent to family members shortly before the attack, in which Allen referred to himself as the 'Friendly Federal Assassin.'
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche revealed that initial findings indicate Allen had been targeting administration officials, with the President likely among those in his sights. Allen is due to appear before a federal court on Monday facing charges including assault on a federal officer, discharging a firearm, and potentially attempted assassination.
