United States Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Sunday that he believes that the suspect in the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting was targeting the administration officials, including President Donald Trump.
In an interview with NBC News, he said, "It does appear that he did, in fact, have set out to target folks that work in the administration, likely including the President."
The statement is a first official confirmation that the President could have been the target, as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is working hard to unravel the motive behind the incident.
Blanche further detailed that the accused likely travelled from Los Angeles to Chicago and then to Washington DC by train.
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Suspect non-cooperative
He further added that the accused, identified as Cole Tomas Allen from Torrance in California, was not cooperating with the investigation.
Blanche said that Allen would be charged in federal court for assault of a federal officer, discharging firearms, and attempting to kill federal officers on Monday morning.
According to Blanche, the initial investigation suggests that he acted alone and was staying at the hotel.
Allen stayed at the Washington Hilton Hotel, the event venue
Earlier, CBS News cited Jeffrey Carroll, interim chief of police for the Metropolitan Police Department, saying the "preliminary information" suggests that the gunman was a guest at the hotel and law enforcement had secured a room.
The law enforcement was going through the "appropriate procedures" to determine what was inside.
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Earlier, he said that the FBI was in the process of securing a search warrant for Allen's California home. The warrant would be approved by a federal judge in the California Central District.
On Saturday night, Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, VP JD Vance and other top officials were evacuated unharmed from the annual dinner of White House correspondents after Allen, armed with multiple weapons, including knives, fired shots outside the ballroom of the hotel.