Suspect in Washington Hilton Correspondents’ Dinner Shooting, Who Reportedly Worked as an Indie Game Developer, Awaits Trial Date

Nearly five months after shots were fired at a Secret Service checkpoint during the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, the man accused in the attack still has no trial date.

Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, has pleaded not guilty to four charges, including attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump at the dinner at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C., on April 25. His case returns to federal court in Washington on Oct. 5. At that hearing, the judge wants both sides to agree on a trial date for next year.

Before the shooting, Allen reportedly worked as an independent game developer. His only Steam release was a small game that almost nobody played.

What prosecutors say happened

According to the Justice Department, Allen approached a Secret Service screening checkpoint on the hotel’s Terrace Level shortly after 8:30 p.m. and sprinted through a magnetometer. He headed for the stairs to the ballroom, where Trump was attending the dinner.

As he ran, prosecutors say, he fired a 12-gauge shotgun and hit a Secret Service officer once in the chest. The officer, who was wearing a ballistic vest, fired back five times. Allen went down and was arrested. He hurt his knee but wasn’t shot.

Besides attempted assassination, the indictment charges him with assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon, transporting a firearm and ammunition across state lines with intent to commit a felony, and firing a gun during a crime of violence.

The game almost nobody played

A LinkedIn profile linked to Allen described him as a self-employed video game developer and part-time teacher, CBS News reported. According to CBS, he worked at C2 Education, a tutoring company in Torrance.

His only Steam game, Bohrdom, came out in December 2018 under the name Cole Allen. The store page describes it as a “skill-based, non-violent asymmetrical fighting game loosely derived from a chemistry model.” On LinkedIn, Allen called it “successfully launched,” Kotaku reported.

The game sold for about $2 and barely registered. Before the shooting, it had never had more than two people playing at once and had only a few reviews, according to Kotaku. Over the weekend after the shooting, it picked up 134 new reviews, most of them memes or political complaints.

Then it was pulled from sale. PC Gamer reported it wasn’t clear whether Valve or someone acting for Allen took it down, and Valve hadn’t commented. As of Sept. 13, the store page was still up, but the game couldn’t be bought.

The Justice Department’s announcements of the charges don’t mention the game at all.

Where things stand

Allen has been in custody since his arrest. He pleaded not guilty to all four counts on May 11 before U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden, court records show.

A plea deal has come up in court. At a June 29 hearing, his lawyer said there had been a “potential discussion of a plea,” but a prosecutor said no offer had been made, the New York Post reported.

In August, the defense asked for Allen to appear in court without restraints. McFadden denied the request at an Aug. 20 hearing, according to the court docket. Prosecutors suggested possible trial weeks next April, but the defense asked for more time to go through the evidence and consult forensic experts, WSAZ reported.

The charges are allegations, and Allen is presumed innocent unless he is proven guilty in court.

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