The Secret Service officer injured during the alleged assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents' Dinner was reportedly struck by a bullet before he had even drawn his own weapon, Sky News has reported, raising the possibility that the round that hit him came from a colleague rather than from the suspect.
The officer, identified only as 'Officer V.G.' in federal court documents, was shot once in the chest on the evening of 25 April 2026 during the alleged attack by Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C. Critically, the FBI affidavit filed in the case confirms that V.G. was shot first and only then drew his service weapon, firing five shots at Allen, all of which allegedly missed.
Sequence Raises Friendly Fire Concerns
The timeline reconstructed from the FBI affidavit is central to understanding why the friendly fire theory gained traction. According to the document, Allen allegedly ran through a magnetometer on the Terrace Level of the Washington Hilton at approximately 20:40, holding a long gun. 'US Secret Service personnel assigned to the checkpoint heard a loud gunshot,' the affidavit states. 'US Secret Service Officer V.G. was shot once in the chest.' Only after being struck did V.G. draw his service weapon and fire multiple times at Allen.
This sequence matters because the affidavit also states, according to a review by the Daily Caller, that V.G. was the sole Secret Service officer confirmed to have discharged a firearm. Investigators collected the weapons of all personnel at the scene and reportedly found no evidence of any other Secret Service officer having fired.
That means V.G. was shot before any law enforcement weapon was fired, and he himself was the only law enforcement officer who then fired. The question of who shot V.G. in that opening moment is precisely what federal investigators have been unable to definitively resolve.
Initial reports attributed the shot that struck V.G. to Allen. However, according to reporting by Sky News, investigators now consider it possible that a colleague unintentionally shot V.G. rather than Allen doing so.
Acting AG Declines to Confirm Who Shot the Officer
At a DOJ press conference on 27 April 2026, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was asked directly who fired the round that struck V.G. He paused before responding: 'We want to get that right, so we're still looking at that.' Blanche confirmed that V.G. fired five shots and that Allen was not struck, but declined to address the 'exact ballistics' because they were 'still being looked at and finalised.'
Blanche did state that Allen 'got off a couple shots' during the confrontation, and the DOJ charged Allen with discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, indicating prosecutors believe Allen fired his weapon. CBS News reported that the affidavit 'does not say who fired the shot that hit the officer.'
According to NBC News, as of 28 April 2026, the FBI had reportedly not recovered the bullet fragment that pierced V.G.'s ballistic vest, leaving investigators without physical evidence to confirm the shot's point of origin. The Daily Beast separately confirmed that Blanche declined to rule out friendly fire when pressed.
Third Alleged Attempt Raises Security Questions
The incident has been described as the third reported attempt on President Trump's life in under two years, following the Butler, Pennsylvania shooting in July 2024 and a separate incident in Florida in September 2024.
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles reportedly requested an urgent meeting with Secret Service Director Sean Curran and Department of Homeland Security officials to review security arrangements ahead of a series of large-scale upcoming events.
Allen's alleged manifesto itself questioned how he had managed to get so close to the president, writing: 'What the hell is the Secret Service doing?'
Until investigators locate the bullet fragment or formally establish its origin, the question of who fired the shot that struck a Secret Service officer during the most heavily guarded dinner in Washington remains, officially, unanswered.
