The 31-year-old gunman who derailed the White House Correspondents' Association dinner is believed to have been targeting members of the Trump administration, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told multiple news outlets Sunday.
The big picture: The shots fired outside the hotel ballroom triggered a chaotic scene inside, with President Trump hastily evacuated. While he was not in immediate danger, the sobering moment adds to a list of close calls no modern president has faced.
Driving the news: Officials believe the suspect took trains from California to Chicago and then to Washington, where he checked into the hotel where much of the nation's power structure would soon gather.
- Blanche said on ABC's "This Week" it appears the gunman checked into the hotel on Friday. His motive remains under investigation.
- The suspect, who is expected to be formally charged Monday, is not cooperating, Blanche told CBS News' "Face the Nation." He is expected to be charged with two counts: assaulting a federal officer and use of a firearm during a crime of violence.
- He was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives, interim Metropolitan Police Chief Jeffery Carroll said in a news conference with D.C. officials.
Zoom in: The suspect allegedly left a manifesto that outlined his plan to target officials "prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest," the New York Post first reported.
- Trump confirmed the manifesto's existence in an interview on Fox News' "Sunday Briefing," calling the suspect "a very troubled guy" who had "a lot of hatred in his heart for quite a while."
- He told CBS' "60 Minutes" in an interview airing Sunday evening that he "wasn't making it that easy" for the Secret Service agents at first because he "wanted to see what was going on," but then he "started to realize" maybe something "bad" was happening.
What they're saying: "The system worked," Blanche said of the security that foiled the gunman, the tone a sharp contrast from the fallout from the security failures surrounding the Butler, Pennsylvania, attempt on the president's life.
- "Law enforcement and the Secret Service protected all of us," he said. "The man barely got past the perimeter."
- Go deeper: Timeline: Shootings, threats against Trump over the years
Editor's note: This story has been updated with details about the suspect's manifesto and comment from President Trump.
