Marc Rod, a senior correspondent for Jewish Insider, recounted hiding beneath tables at the White House Correspondents' Dinner after a "shattering bang" on April 25 — just days before his wedding. He watched security escort President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance from the ballroom and later learned an apparent shooter had been detained. Authorities identified 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen as the suspect; he allegedly injured a Secret Service agent and was arraigned on attempted assassination and federal gun charges. Rod also decried the rapid spread of conspiracy theories online after the incident.
Groom-To-Be at White House Correspondents' Dinner Says, "I'm Getting Married in Six Days — I Can't Die Now" After Shots Fired
White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting incidentCredit: Photo by Danny KEMP and AFPTV teams / AFP via Getty
Marc Rod, a senior congressional correspondent for Jewish Insider, recounted the moment shots rang out at the White House Correspondents' Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 25 — an incident he experienced just days before his wedding.
Rod described hearing a "shattering bang" inside the ballroom, then watching security officers draw their weapons as guests scrambled to hide beneath tables. He said two thoughts ran through his head: the urgent, personal reaction to survive, and disbelief that he was experiencing another major security incident, having been present at the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack.
"The main one: I'm getting married in six days, I can't die now. The second: I can't believe this is happening to me again."
Rod said he crouched among the back row of tables while law enforcement agents and Secret Service officers surveyed the room and escorted out several high-profile attendees, including President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance.
Confusion and Misinformation
He also described the difficulty of getting reliable information in the chaotic moments after the shooting. "For a venue chock full of journalists, information was strikingly hard to come by," Rod wrote, noting that X (formerly Twitter), which can be a timely source in breaking-news situations, offered little verified detail. He relied on his fiancée at home to send updates while he waited for official confirmation.
Law enforcement officers respond to shooting during the White House Correspondents' Dinner on April 25, 2026Credit: Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty
After what felt like an eternity, Rod received an email indicating an apparent shooter had been taken into custody. Authorities later identified the suspect as Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old teacher from California. Officials say Allen injured a Secret Service agent during the incident.
As attendees left the ballroom, Rod called family and later described the lingering physical effects: "I was completely lost, teeth starting to chatter, and my body shaking from an excess of adrenaline." Back at home, he said he saw a rapid spread of conspiracy theories online claiming the attack was staged or otherwise inauthentic — a pattern he compared to the misinformation that followed Jan. 6.
Charges and Legal Proceedings
Allen was arraigned in federal court in Washington, D.C., on April 27. He faces charges that include attempting to assassinate the president of the United States and two federal firearms offenses, according to reports from The New York Times and NBC News. He did not enter a plea at the arraignment.
This firsthand account underscores both the personal trauma experienced by witnesses and the challenges of verifying facts rapidly in high-profile, fast-moving events.
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