AP file photo
Chaotic moments unfolded at the Washington Hilton hotel after gunfire erupted one floor above the basement ballroom hosting the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, prompting a swift security response.US president Donald Trump later described how he wanted to see what was happening as Secret Service agents rushed him out of the venue on Saturday night after a gunman opened fire.When asked about his concerns after hearing the gunshots, Trump said that he was “not worried”. “I understand life. We live in a crazy world,” he said.The US president said his curiosity to witness the situation firsthand likely slowed the Secret Service’s efforts to swiftly move him to safety.“I wanted to see what was happening. I wasn’t making it that easy for them. I wanted to see what was going on. And by that time we started to realise maybe it was a bad problem, different kind of problem, a bad one – and different than what would be normal noise from a ballroom,” he said.“I was surrounded by great people. And I probably made them act a little more slowly. I said, ‘Wait a minute, wait a minute’,” the president recalled, adding that Secret Service agents repeatedly urged him to get down on the floor as they escorted him off the stage. “I started walking. And they said, ‘Please go down, please go down on the floor.’ So I went down and the first lady went down also,” Trump said.A California man has been accused of storming a gala dinner attended by President Donald Trump, in what officials described as a shocking attack at a Washington hotel.Administration officials said the suspect in Saturday night’s incident appeared to be targeting Trump and other senior figures at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, marking what would be the third attempt on the president’s life in the past two years.After a brief exchange of gunfire with agents, the suspect was taken into custody at the scene.Trump later shared images showing the suspect handcuffed on the carpeted hotel floor, lying face down and shirtless.Trump said at a hastily arranged late-night news conference at the White House that he initially mistook the sound for a tray being dropped before realising it was gunfire.He added that he hoped the annual gala, hosted by the White House Correspondents’ Association, would be rescheduled within a month, and described the hotel venue as “not a particularly secure” facility, as questions mounted over the president’s safety protocols.
