Investigators are still working to determine the motive behind the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday evening. There were over 2,000 people at the dinner, including Elon alums.
Seated on the ground level, Annemarie Bonner ‘23 said she first wasn’t sure what she had heard, but when she realized it was gunshots, the night turned into her worst nightmare.
“I couldn't even think about journalism at that point honestly, because I was like, ‘What the actual heck has happened?’ And then you're thinking ‘Oh, my God, we are the news but we're the newsmakers,’” Bonner said.
The Elon alum and Spectrum News producer hid under her table after hearing the shots. She attended the event with her coworkers. She said it was her first year at the dinner.
“We're in a room full of journalists with limited cell service, because the ballroom is kind of underground,” Bonner said. “There's Wi-Fi, but it's not working that well. I'm trying to call my dad, trying to call my parents. The calls keep failing because everyone's on this Wi-Fi.”
NBC Legal Affairs Reporter Gary Grumbach ‘16 said he had a bird’s eye view of the chaos since he was seated in the balcony. After ducking under the table, he said he quickly started taking notes about what he saw and heard.
“I stayed in the ballroom until they kicked us out, until they said, ‘Get out of here, go home, this is over,’” Grumbach said. “Because I felt like it was important to share the information that I had from inside the ballroom.”
He eventually found time to decompress after leaving the dinner, but was then called back to continue reporting live on-air for a few more hours.
Outside of the ballroom where Bonner and Grumbach sat, photojournalist Al Drago ‘15 took photos on the red carpet. After hearing the shots, Drago said his first instinct was reaching for his longer camera lens.
“When I heard the gunfire, I had ducked for cover, but also at the same time moving quickly to get the right camera gear and start shifting in a place that I could have a vantage point of the scene of that was unfolding,” Drago said.
Drago said he focused on still getting the story even in the chaos. He traveled to the event by bike, so after leaving the dinner, he followed President Donald Trump’s convoy to the White House to capture Trump’s remarks — by bike.
“In that moment, the most important thing beyond my immediate safety was to continue photographing and trying to document the scene,” Drago said.
Bonner said the escalators to leave the event afterwards were crowded and there were people everywhere. Over the following hours, Bonner left the event and traveled back to her news station to produce a live breaking news segment regarding the shooting.
U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said police arrested the suspect who was armed with a shotgun, handgun and knives.
The suspect, 31 year-old Cole Tomas Allen, appeared in court April 27. Federal prosecutors charged him with attempting to assassinate Trump.
Investigators are still reviewing evidence but Blanche says initial findings indicate that members of the administration were Allen’s primary target.
“You never think you're going to be part of the story, and then all of a sudden, you're part of the story here, and that's an uncomfortable feeling,” Grumbach said. “Because that's not our jobs here. But I think it was an important time to be able to make sure we were physically okay, which we were, and then do our jobs.”
Trump spoke to Fox News and said he hopes that the dinner is rescheduled to occur within the next month.