(Ken Silva, Headline USA) After the chaotic Saturday night attack on the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, President Donald Trump said a Secret Service officer had been shot in the bulletproof vest and taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
According to unnamed government officials, the officer was shot by the alleged attacker, Cole Allen.
However, video footage and Secret Service sources are raising the possibility that the Secret Service officer was actually shot by a colleague, according to investigative journalist Susan Crabtree.
❓❓❓Was the Secret Service Uniformed Division officer shot last night in a case of friendly fire?
I just asked the @SecretService about the possibility that the UD officer was hit by another Secret Service officer or agent based on the analysis of the video below.
I'm told… https://t.co/oSjIIdWRvC
— Susan Crabtree (@susancrabtree) April 26, 2026
“Sources in the Secret Service community are raising friendly fire questions based on a joint analysis of the below video,” Crabtree said Sunday, posting an AI-enhanced video of the gunman rushing past security.
In the video, a Secret Service officer can be seen in the lower lefthand corner with a handgun, apparently firing at the suspect. Across the hallway, another officer doubles over and falls down before crawling away.
The gunman wasn’t shot, Crabtree noted.
The Secret Service hasn’t publicly commented on the matter. Crabtree said a gag order has been issued on the agents and officers.
The shooting at the security barricades happened minutes after the event got underway.
The Secret Service and other authorities swarmed the room as guests ducked under tables by the hundreds. Gasps echoed through the ballroom as guests realized something was happening. Hundreds of journalists immediately got on phones to call in information.
“Out of the way, sir!” someone yelled. Others yelled to duck. From one corner, a “God Bless America” chant began as the president was escorted offstage. Outside the hotel, members of the National Guard and other authorities flooded the area as helicopters circled overhead.
After an initial attempt to resume the event, it was scrapped for the night and will be rescheduled.
Trump was unusually conciliatory after what he saw as a third attempt on his life in less than two years. He suggested that his personal politics had made him a repeated target, but he also called for unity and bipartisan healing in an increasingly violent world.
“It’s always shocking when something like this happens. Happened to me, a little bit. And that never changes,” Trump told reporters in a hastily organized news conference at the White House late Saturday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
