Former Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy, who was wounded in the 1981 Reagan assassination attempt, praised his agency's layered response after a suspect was stopped before reaching President Trump at the Washington Hilton. Authorities say 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen ran past a checkpoint but was stopped before the ballroom where Trump attended the White House Correspondents' Association dinner. A Secret Service officer was struck but not seriously injured thanks to a bulletproof vest; McCarthy called the response improved but urged continued procedural review.
Retired Agent Wounded in 1981 Reagan Shooting Praises Secret Service Response After Attempt on Trump
A retired Secret Service agent who was wounded during the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan praised his former colleagues after a gunman was stopped before reaching President Donald Trump at a Washington, D.C., event on Saturday.
American politician US President Ronald Reagan (1911 – 2004) smiles and waves as he leaves the Washington Hilton Hotel, Washington DC, March 30, 1981. Then-Secret Service Agent Tim McCarthy is at far right. (Corbis via Getty Images)
Authorities identified the suspect as Cole Tomas Allen, 31. Officials say Allen ran past a security checkpoint near the Washington Hilton entrance and was stopped short of a lower-floor ballroom where Trump was attending the White House Correspondents' Association annual dinner.
Secret Service agents covering Press Secretary James Brady and police officer Thomas Delahanty during assassination attempt on U.S. President Ronald Reagan, Washington, D.C., USA, President Ronald Reagan White House Photographic Office, March 30, 1981. (Photo by: Circa Images/GHI/Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
"It was handled pretty well," former Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy, 76, told NewsNation on Sunday. "You never want something like this to happen. Security was tested, security responded, and at this point, they did pretty well — tackled him even before he got to the stairs to even get close to coming down by the president."
Ronald Reagan assassination attempt (Photo by NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)
Sound of gunfire carries eerie echoes of Reagan’s shooting outside the same Washington hotel.
McCarthy, who was struck and wounded during the 1981 attack outside the Washington Hilton, said the Secret Service and other law-enforcement agencies had established multiple layers of security around Saturday's event. He emphasized that, at each stage, armed officers and additional screening would have confronted a suspect attempting to advance toward the ballroom.
First Lady Nancy Reagan, escorted by a secret service agent, arrives at George Washington University Hospital to visit her husband, President Ronald Reagan, during his recuperation from a gunshot wound suffered in the John Hinckley assassination attempt. S
The incident is the third foiled threat involving Trump since July 2024 and occurred at the same hotel where John Hinckley Jr. shot President Reagan 45 years earlier. The only reported injury Saturday was to a Secret Service member who was struck by gunfire but avoided serious harm because he was wearing a bulletproof vest.
The exterior of the Washington Hilton Hotel is seen, where President Donald Trump was expected to speak during the annual White House Correspondents Association Dinner on April 26, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images)
"I wish I had mine on at the time," McCarthy said, referring to the injury he sustained in 1981.
McCarthy has previously criticized the Secret Service over lapses after a sniper fired toward Trump at a 2024 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. While he said the agency's response in Washington showed improvement, he urged a continued, careful review of procedures to ensure public-figure protection keeps pace with evolving threats.
After retiring from the Secret Service, McCarthy served 26 years as a suburban Chicago police chief before retiring from law enforcement in 2020.
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