Cole Tomas Allen’s house on Gramercy Avenue in Torrance, pictured on the evening of April 26.
RAFU WIRE SERVICE AND STAFF REPORTS
The shooting that disrupted the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, D.C. has put the national spotlight on Torrance, where the suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, lives.
Allen, 31, was arraigned April 27 on three federal counts, including attempting to assassinate the president. He was also charged with transportation of a firearm and ammunition through interstate commerce to commit a felony, and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.
The assassination charge alone could lead to a life sentence, officials said.
Allen was in federal custody following his arrest shortly after the shooting at the Washington Hilton, the same hotel where President Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981. The shooting occurred shortly before 6 p.m. on April 25 in a ballroom of the hotel. Security video showed a man attempting to sprint past the security checkpoint, prompting several officers to draw their weapons.
President Trump, First Lady Melania Trump and administration officials were not injured. One law enforcement officer was shot but was wearing a bullet-proof vest and is expected to be okay, according to multiple media reports.
Authorities said Allen was registered as a guest of the hotel and that his room was being searched.
His parents’ Torrance home, where Allen reportedly lived, was also searched after FBI agents waited outside while trying to obtain a warrant after apparently being denied entry from people they talked to inside. Video from the scene on Saturday night showed a large law enforcement presence, including SWAT-type personnel and equipment outside Allen’s house. Shortly before midnight, video showed agents had entered the home.
According to KTLA5, authorities found a manifesto manifesto railing against the Trump Administration during their search.
According to multiple media reports, Allen sent a message to his family members about 10 minutes before the disruption at the dinner, calling himself the “Friendly Federal Assassin” and stating that he was trying to kill members of the administration.
“Turning the other cheek is for when you yourself are oppressed. I’m not the person raped in a detention camp. I’m not the fisherman executed without trial. I’m not a schoolkid blown up or a child starved or a teenage girl abused by the many criminals in this administration,” Allen wrote, according to The California Post. “Turning the other cheek when ‘someone else’ is oppressed is not Christian behavior; it is complicity in the oppressor’s crimes.”
The newspaper cited an unnamed U.S. official who said the manifesto was provided to police by a relative of Allen’s. That report was later backed up by other media accounts, including an Associated Press report that said Allen’s brother contacted police in New London, Conn., after receiving the writings.
The AP also said federal agents had contacted Allen’s sister in Maryland, who allegedly told them her brother purchased several weapons from a California gun store and kept them at the Torrance home without his parents’ knowledge. She added that her brother was prone to making radical statements, the report said.
In the manifesto, he allegedly said his targets Saturday night included “Administration officials … prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest. I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.”
He did not mention Trump or other officials by name, except when he excluded FBI Director Kash Patel from the list of targets.
Citing his LinkedIn profile, Wired magazine reported that Allen has been employed part-time since March 2020 at Torrance-based C2 Education, a private company that prepares students for college entrance exams. C2 Education provides “tutoring, test prep and college counseling,” according to its website. It also named Allen on its social media accounts as Teacher of the Month in December 2024.
Allen identified himself on LinkedIn as a “self-employed” indie game developer, having apparently released on Steam an “atomic fighting game” in 2018 called “Bohrdom,” which was advertised using accounts on YouTube and Twitter.
A game trailer caption described it as a “non-violent, skill-based, asymmetrical fighting game loosely based on a chemistry model that is itself loosely based on reality.”
Allen wrote on his page that he is a “mechanical engineer and computer scientist by degree, independent game developer by experience, teacher by birth.’
Allen earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Caltech in 2017, according to his LinkedIn page, and a master’s degree in computer science from CSU Dominguez Hills in 2025.
Reactions from Torrance
Torrance Mayor George K. Chen issued the following statement: “Tonight, our community joins the nation in condemning the violent incident that occurred in Washington, D.C., during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. We are grateful to the federal law enforcement officers and first responders whose swift actions helped prevent further harm, and we wish the injured agent a full recovery.
“We are aware of reports identifying the suspect as a resident of Torrance. While that connection is deeply troubling, one individual’s alleged actions do not define our city or the values of the more than 143,000 residents who call Torrance home. Torrance is a community built on respect, diversity, hard work, and public safety.
“The City of Torrance stands firmly against political violence, extremism, and acts of hatred in any form. We reject attempts to sow fear or division, whether here at home or anywhere in our country.
We will continue working closely with our public safety partners and remain committed to fostering a safe, united, and compassionate community. In moments like this, we are reminded that our shared values are stronger than the actions of any one person.
“Our thoughts are with everyone affected tonight.”
Asian American Civic Trust President Dylan Wakayama on April 26 issued a statement regarding Allen, who was known to the organization through some of its volunteers: “Our organization is staffed by a team of student volunteers, many of whom attend Torrance-area high schools. A few of our younger volunteers were previously tutored by Mr. Cole Allen through C2 Education (in their personal capacity and independent of our organization) as recently as April 14, 2026. We are sharing their account collectively here.
“According to these students, Mr. Allen was knowledgeable across a broad range of subjects and generally very intelligent. They regarded him as entirely normal and friendly in their interactions. Additionally, they expressed profound shock upon learning he may be connected to the events of April 25.
“We wish to be clear that our knowledge of Mr. Allen is strictly limited to this account. We are not in a position to offer any additional insight, and any claims beyond the above characterization represent conjecture we are unable to support.
“As a Torrance-based organization, we are deeply saddened by the events of April 25. If the individual connected to this event is indeed someone from our community, we find that profoundly heartbreaking. We unequivocally condemn political violence and hatred in all its forms, and we extend our deepest sympathies to all those affected.”
The goal of AACT is to “educate, empower, and unite the Asian American community across California.”
Carlos Anwandter, president of the Torrance Teachers Association, issued the following statement: “The Torrance Teachers Association leadership is shocked and saddened by the events at the White House Correspondents Dinner … TTA emphatically denounces this attack, and the association rejects all forms of terrorism and violence.
“While details are still emerging and facts remain under investigation, early reports referenced a teacher from Torrance as being involved. We want to clarify that the individual named in the news is not a member of TTA and has never been a member.
“We also want to clarify that while he does work as a tutor at a local, private test-prep and tutoring company, he is not a credentialed teacher in California. We suggest that any communications regarding this individual identify him appropriately as a part-time tutor, not as a teacher.
“We stand with all those who are damaged by this attack, including all who were present at the event, all those in our community who are affected, and the law enforcement officers who put themselves in harm’s way to protect all who were there.”
On Sunday evening, the block on Gramercy Avenue where Allen’s house is located was quiet, with no crowds and no visible law enforcement presence. Some reporters and camera crews were nearby, waiting to do live shots in front of the house.