Newly released photos have revealed one of the weapons Cole Allen, the man accused of opening fire at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday evening. Allen is expected to be arraigned on Monday on charges that include using a firearm and assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon. 

The photo, first obtained by CNN, depicted a shotgun. Allen reportedly bought a 12-gauge shotgun from a gun store in Torrance, California on August 17, 2025. The purchase of that gun, as well as the October purchase of a .38-caliber semi-automatic pistol, was made legally. Per the New York Post, the gun was a Mossberg Maverick 12-gauge shotgun, which had a folding stock that eased concealment, as well as a pistol grip and extended magazine tube. 

Allen had traveled from California to DC by train, authorities said, and checked into the Washington Hilton hotel leading up to the shooting. In a manifesto left behind by the alleged gunman, he wrote that he was “no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.”

He wrote that he was targeting administration officials in priority order from “highest-ranking to lowest.” The manifesto stated, “In order to minimize casualties I will also be using buckshot rather than slugs (less penetration through walls). I would still go through most everyone here to get to the targets if it were absolutely necessary (on the basis that most people *chose* to attend a speech by a pedophile, rapist, and traitor, and are thus complicit) but I really hope it doesn’t come to that.”

He also criticized the lack of security inside the hotel, saying that efforts were focused on those outside of the building attempting to come in on that evening, “because apparently no one thought about what happens if someone checks in the day before.”

Shots rang out shortly after 8:30 pm on Saturday, with Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, and other officials being rushed out of the ballroom. Allen is alleged to have stormed the security checkpoint and engaged in gunfire with Secret Service agents. He was arrested at the scene in possession of firearms and knives.