Erika Kirk sobbed ‘I just want to go home’ as she was rushed to safety after a gunman opened fire at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
The widow of Charlie Kirk was among the first to be evacuated from the Washington Hilton on Saturday night, not long after President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump were bundled out.
The head of Turning Point USA was seen in floods of tears as she was flanked by what appeared to be two Secret Service agents.
In a post shared to X, Turning Point Action sponsor Derek Myers wrote: ‘Erika is okay but very upset. She was crying.’
It comes just seven months after her husband’s violent death at the hands of an assassin’s bullet at Utah Valley University.
The events bear haunting echoes of the fateful day in September last year, although no fatalities were reported out of DC.
But President Trump confirmed that a Secret Service agent wearing a protective vest was shot.
Cole Tomas Allen, 31, an educator from the Los Angeles area, has now been identified as the suspect in Saturday’s shooting and faces firearms and assault charges.
Erika Kirk sobbed as she was evacuated from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting
The widow was heard wailing ‘I just want to go home’ as she was escorted out
Trump is escorted out as a shooter opens fire during the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington
Kirk was among the first to be evacuated, not long after President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump
Cole Tomas Allen, 31, an educator from the Los Angeles area, was identified as the alleged shooter
Police revealed the suspect had a number of weapons on him, including a shotgun, handgun and multiple knives.
It is believed Cole may have been a guest at the Hilton hotel where the event was taking place.
Trump shared an image shortly afterwards, showing the suspect shirtless and lying face down on the ground, describing him as a ‘sick person – a very sick person’ during a press conference.
‘He’s a lone wolf, a whack job. These are crazy people. Sick, sick people,’ he said at a White House briefing shortly after.
Dramatic video shows the suspect sprinting past a security checkpoint and attempting to reach the doors to the ballroom.
Wolf Blitzer, who was inside the venue and just feet away from the shooter, told CNN the suspect was armed with a ‘major weapon’ and fired around six shots.
‘Apparently they got the gunman, he had a major weapon there, it was so worrisome. The noise was so loud. I was a few feet away from the gunman who was shooting randomly, half a dozen shots they were so loud,’ Blitzer said.
Guests take cover behind a table after Trump and the First Lady were evacuated
Secret Service agent points his weapon in the Washington Hilton ballroom
President Trump confirmed that the suspect had been apprehended by Secret Service
Video showed the suspect as a blur making a run for it as he breached a security checkpoint and tried to reach the doors to the ballroom
Security officials evacuate US Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr and his wife, Cheryl Hines, as a shooter opens fire
DC’s biggest night of the year was thrown into chaos after gunfire erupted in the Washington Hilton lobby at about 8.15pm, where Trump was attending for the first time since 2015 and was set to be honored and speak.
Asked whether he believed he was the target, the President said: ‘I guess.’
As guests ducked under tables by the hundreds, Secret Service agents and other authorities swarmed the banquet hall, with one person heard shouting, ‘Out of the way, sir.’
Cabinet members were lifted in the air over a barricade and dragged to safety.
In a statement to the Daily Mail, a White House spokesperson said: ‘The US Secret Service, in coordination with the Metropolitan Police Department, is investigating a shooting incident near the main magnetometer screening area at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.’
‘One individual is in custody. The condition of those involved is not yet known, and law enforcement is actively assessing the situation,’ the statement added.
The President took to social media to share an update immediately after he was made safe.
‘Quite an evening in DC Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job. They acted quickly and bravely,’ the President wrote on Truth Social.
FBI Director Kash Patel was in attendance as the Daily Mail’s guest and sprang into action
‘The shooter has been apprehended, and I have recommended that we “LET THE SHOW GO ON” but, will entirely be guided by Law Enforcement. They will make a decision shortly,’ he added.
‘Regardless of that decision, the evening will be much different than planned, and we’ll just, plain, have to do it again.’
However, the event ended up being canceled and Trump decamped to the White House where he delivered a press conference.
