WASHINGTON — U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said Sunday that a pellet from buckshot fired by Cole Tomas Allen became intertwined with the fiber of a Secret Service agent’s bullet-resistant vest, confirming the agent was struck by the suspect’s weapon during the April 25 attack on the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
“We now can establish that a pellet that came from the buckshot from the defendant’s Mossberg pump-action shotgun was intertwined with the fiber of the vest of the Secret Service officer,” Pirro told CNN’s “State of the Union.” “It is definitively his bullet.”
The finding closes a key question that arose after the assault at a Washington hotel. Security forces shot and injured Allen as he ran through a lobby toward a ballroom filled with journalists, administration officials and other guests. Until Sunday, it had been unclear whether the agent had been hit by Allen’s fire or by friendly fire.
Pirro had previously stated there was no evidence of friendly fire, but the new forensic detail — that a pellet from the buckshot was physically embedded in the vest — provides the most direct confirmation to date. She also posted a video on social media last week showing the moment Allen allegedly rushed through the venue.
Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, has been charged with attempted assassination of the president, discharging a weapon during a crime of violence, and a separate firearms count. He faces up to life in prison if convicted of the assassination charge alone.
In a court filing Sunday, his attorneys indicated they had learned Allen was no longer on suicide watch and withdrew a motion formally seeking to remove him from such supervision. A phone call to his lawyers went unanswered Sunday.
Allen worked as a part-time tutor for a test preparation company and is an amateur video game developer. He remains in custody pending trial.