The suspect of the shooting at Saturday’s White House Correspondents Dinner is described as a “very smart” by students he mentored in Southern California.
ROB SCHMITZ, HOST:
Again, the suspect in last night’s shooting is said to live in Torrance, California. That’s a suburb of Los Angeles. Reporter Steve Futterman is there and has been tracking down more details about Cole Allen. Hey, Steve.
STEVE FUTTERMAN, BYLINE: Hi, Rob.
SCHMITZ: So what more can you tell us about Cole Allen?
FUTTERMAN: Well, we’re really learning a lot about Allen today. He’s 31 years old. He received a mechanical engineering degree from Caltech here in Southern California. Later, he got a master’s degree in computer science from a state university here. He had recently been working for a company that provides tutoring and helps students prepare for college entry exams. One of his tutoring students was this 17-year-old 11th grader, Jason. We’re only using his first name because he’s a minor. Allen helped him prepare for his physics courses. I spoke with him last night. He said Allen’s politics and ideology never came up.
JASON: No, never. We would stay on topic the whole time – never said anything about Trump or anything like that. So he kept it – I guess he kept most of his opinions to himself.
FUTTERMAN: Was he a good teacher? Did he help you?
JASON: Yeah. He was very helpful. Like I said, he was a little quirky, but overall, he was a nice guy.
FUTTERMAN: In what way was he quirky?
JASON: You just know how some people, you know, if they’re really smart – kind of like that. But, I mean, yeah. He was a great guy.
FUTTERMAN: And Jason says this has caught him completely by surprise.
SCHMITZ: Wow. So quirky – a former student calling him quirky. You know, what else can you tell us about his life?
FUTTERMAN: Well, NPR has confirmed that Allen visited gun ranges in Southern California. He attended at least one No King’s march. In a LinkedIn page that appears to belong to him, he describes himself as a mechanical engineer and computer scientist by degree, independent game developer by experience, and teacher by birth. And in fact, Allen was named teacher of the year in 2024 – teacher of the month, rather, according to his employer’s LinkedIn page.
SCHMITZ: OK.
FUTTERMAN: The LinkedIn profile page also states that while he was at the University of Caltech, he was in the Christian Fellowship program. NPR, by the way, did not find any criminal records when conducting a background check of Allen.
SCHMITZ: So, Steve, you’ve been there by the suspect’s home since…
FUTTERMAN: Yeah.
SCHMITZ: …Last night. Tell us about the scene there.
FUTTERMAN: Well, the FBI agents arrived here last night I’d say around two hours after the incident. The suspect lived with his parents on this very quiet, residential street. The yellow crime scene tape was put around the home. And throughout the night, we saw FBI agents go in and out of the house. Now, things investigators would especially be looking for would include items like computers, cellphones, any digital storage devices.
SCHMITZ: Right.
FUTTERMAN: And a couple more things we should point out. As you heard previously, the acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Allen got to Washington by train, first from LA to Chicago, then to D.C. He had that room at the Washington Hilton Hotel, and as for those guns recovered last night, a shotgun and handgun, Blanche says, those were purchased probably in the last two years.
SCHMITZ: OK. So on Fox News today, President Trump spoke about the incident. Tell us about that.
FUTTERMAN: Well, a White House spokesman official told NPR that Allen sent his family members what the White House is calling a manifesto minutes before the incident took place at the Hilton Hotel. The document states that Allen wanted to target administration officials. That’s according to the White House. The official, who’s not authorized to speak publicly, told NPR that Allen’s brother notified police of the document. NPR, by the way, has not seen any of the writings independently. Now, on Fox News, Trump briefly talked and criticized what Allen wrote.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: And the guy is a sick guy when you read his manifesto.
FUTTERMAN: And NPR has also learned that the document contained many anti-Trump references.
SCHMITZ: That’s reporter Steve Futterman in Torrance, California. Steve, thank you so much for all that reporting.
FUTTERMAN: Thank you, Rob.
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