US President Donald Trump has said the suspected gunman who tried to storm a gala dinner that the president attended had written a anti-Christian manifesto.
"The guy is a sick guy," he told Fox News. "When you read his manifesto, he hates Christians."
"His sister or his brother actually was complaining about it. You know, they were even complaining to law enforcement. He was a very troubled guy."
The manifesto was sent to Cole Tomas Allen's family members shortly before the attack, a law enforcement official told Reuters.
The suspect called himself the "Friendly Federal Assassin," the official said.
"Turning the other cheek when *someone else* is oppressed is not Christian behaviour; it is complicity in the oppressor's crimes," the manifesto read, according to the official.
Targets listed in the manifesto included administration officials - although not FBI Director Kash Patel - prioritised from highest-ranking to lowest, the official said.
The manifesto mocked the "insane" lack of security at the Washington Hilton, where the dinner was held, the official added.
"Like, the one thing that I immediately noticed walking into the hotel is the sense of arrogance," the manifesto's author reportedly wrote.
"I walk in with multiple weapons and not a single person there considers the possibility that I could be a threat."
Little was immediately known about the 31-year-old alleged shooter's background, but social media postings suggested he was a teacher in Torrance, near Los Angeles.
The man fired a shotgun at a Secret Service agent at a checkpoint in the Washington Hilton hotel before being tackled and arrested. Mr Trump and First Lady Melania Trump were rushed out of the dinner.
"It does appear that he, he did, in fact, set out to target folks that work in the administration, likely including the president," Mr Blanche told NBC News' Meet the Press, adding that the suspect likely travelled by train from Los Angeles to Chicago and then to Washington.
The suspect will be charged in federal court tomorrow with assault of a federal officer, discharging a firearm and attempting to kill a federal officer, Mr Blanche said, adding he did not know if there was an Iran connection to the attack.
Mr Trump told reporters at a briefing at the White House after the attack that the Secret Service agent was saved by his bulletproof vest and was in "good shape."
US Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi confirmed the officer had been released from hospital.
The state visit by the UK's King Charles II and Queen Camilla to the US will take place as planned, the palace said.
"Following discussions on both sides of the Atlantic through the day, and acting on advice of Government, we can confirm the State Visit by Their Majesties will proceed as planned," Buckingham Palace said in a statement.
During the four-day state visit - organised to honour the historic relationship between Britain and US as America marks 250 years of independence - Charles and Camilla are due to visit Washington and New York.
Mr Trump told reporters he believed that he was the target of the attack. The president has survived two previous attempts on his life since 2024, a period of deepening political polarisation in the United States.
He also used the shooting in Washington to push his plans to construct a huge ballroom next to the White House that has faced legal challenges.
"What happened last night is exactly the reason that our great Military, Secret Service, Law Enforcement and, for different reasons, every President for the last 150 years, have been DEMANDING that a large, safe, and secure Ballroom be built ON THE GROUNDS OF THE WHITE HOUSE," Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
The $400-million ballroom has become a passion project for Mr Trump during his second term and he has addressed it often in public appearances, press conferences and meetings.
Around the world, leaders condemned the attack, adding they were relieved that Mr Trump and all present were safe and expressing their solidarity with the United States.
Watch: RTÉ's Washington correspondent Jackie Fox reports on last night's shooting
Taoiseach Micheál Martin described the attack as "shocking". He said Mr Trump had been subjected to a number of attempted assassinations and that this was "reprehensible and outrageous, and shocking that this should be occurring."
A law enforcement official identified the suspect as Cole Tomas Allen, a California resident about 31 years old. Little was immediately known about Allen's background, but social media postings suggested he was a teacher in Torrance, near Los Angeles.
Washington interim Police Chief Jeffery Carroll said the suspect was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives. He was taken to a local hospital to be evaluated but it was too soon to say what his motivation was, Mr Carroll said.
Based on preliminary information, he was believed to have been a guest at the hotel, Mr Carroll added.
Armed guards opened fire at the gunman, who charged through a security screening just outside the ballroom of the hotel, where Mr Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, many senior government officials and hundreds of other guests had gathered for the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner.
US Secret Service agents rushed Mr Trump from the stage as shots rang out, in what the president later described as an attack by a "would-be assassin".
President Donald Trump and Vice-President JD Vance are ushered away
Many of the 2,600 attendees took cover while waiters fled to the front of the dining hall when the loud bangs happened at the dinner, which is held annually at the Washington Hilton in the US capital.
"A man charged a security checkpoint armed with multiple weapons and he was taken down by some very brave members of the Secret Service," Mr Trump told a press conference at the White House shortly after the incident.
"They seem to think he was a lone wolf, and I feel that too," he said, after posting video of the gunman sprinting past security as guards drew their weapons and opened fire.
Mr Trump said the venue was "not a particularly secure" facility as questions were raised about the president's safety after repeated security lapses.
Mr Trump said that he first thought the noise was a tray being dropped before he realised it was gunfire.
He said he planned to re-schedule the media gala within a month despite the security scare.
Shooter was 'sick person', says Trump
US Attorney Jeanine Piro said the suspect will be charged with using a firearm during a crime of violence, and assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon.
As the incident erupted, tactical teams with guns drawn took position on the stage where Mr Trump had been sitting during dinner before he was evacuated.
Police swarmed the Washington Hilton hotel and helicopters hovered overhead.
The security breach occurred after the welcoming speech and during dinner, before Mr Trump was due to speak.
Trump administration officials were evacuated first as confusion and concern spread through the ballroom.
A cabinet official, Mehmet Oz, told journalists "shots fired upstairs" as he was rushed out by security.
President Trump was the target of an assassination attempt during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania in 2024.
Mr Trump was grazed on his right ear when a 20-year-old gunman opened fire from a nearby rooftop while the Republican presidential candidate was holding a campaign rally in Butler on 13 July.
One person in the audience was killed and the gunman, Thomas Crooks, was shot dead by a Secret Service sniper.
A few months later, another man was arrested after a Secret Service agent saw the barrel of a rifle poking from the bushes on the perimeter of the West Palm Beach golf course where Mr Trump was playing a round.
The Washington Hilton where the gala was taking place was the site where Republican President Ronald Reagan was shot by a would-be assassin in 1981.
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