UFC president Dana White described a chaotic scene inside the Washington Hilton after a shooting outside the venue prompted a rapid Secret Service response near President Donald Trump on Saturday.
White was seated just feet from Trump when Secret Service and local police rushed into the ballroom during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, after a lone gunman opened fire and shot a police officer outside the hotel.
"Inside, the whole event just started getting noisy, tables getting flipped over, guys running in with guns and they were screaming ‘get down!’" White said. "We were sitting right in front of the table. Right in front of where the president was."
White said he stayed on his feet as law enforcement swept the room. "I didn’t get down. It was f*cking awesome. I literally took every minute of it in. It was a pretty crazy, unique experience," he said. "Nobody got tackled but guys came in looking for shooters and then came towards our table. I thought the shooter was by us or something."
Outside, a police officer was shot by the alleged gunman, identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California, who was reportedly a guest of the hotel and armed with multiple weapons. Trump said, "He was shot from very close distance with a very powerful gun, and the vest did the job," adding, "I just spoke to the officer, and he’s doing great."
Trump announced the event would be cancelled and rescheduled, saying, "The response time was really incredible, and we’re going to reschedule." He added, "We’re going to do it again, we’re not going to let anybody take over our society; we’re not going to cancel things because we can’t do that. We wanted to stay tonight. I will tell you, I fought like hell to stay, but it was protocol."
