By Bo Erickson and Humeyra Pamuk
WASHINGTON, April 30 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump and the head of the Secret Service said on Thursday that the federal agent injured during the attack at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner had not been hit by friendly fire.
U.S. Secret Service Director Sean Curran said in a Thursday Fox News interview that one agent was shot at “point blank range” by the suspect as he ran through the security checkpoint near the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday.
“Our officer heroically returned fire,” Curran said on The Will Cain Show, adding the agent fired five times.
The suspect was not hit by the agent’s return fire, Curran explained, but fell to the ground after hitting his knee. The suspect was subdued by other federal agents near the top of the stairs, Curran added, which led to the ballroom where Trump, the first lady, top administration officials and hundreds of others dined.
The armed suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, 31, sprinted through a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton hotel attempting, prosecutors allege, to assassinate Trump.
TRUMP NOT KEEN ON WEARING BULLETPROOF VEST
Curran’s comments differ from court papers filed on Wednesday by prosecutors about the sequence of events.
In the filings, prosecutors referred to an officer firing five times, but the document does not mention that officer or any other being shot.
The Wednesday document also did not accuse Allen of aiming at or striking the Secret Service officer.
There has also been media reporting suggesting the agent may have been shot by friendly fire.
“They said it wasn’t friendly fire. It wasn’t us,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday.
Curran defended the security protocols at the Saturday dinner location. “The site was set up perfectly, I will tell you I would not change the site again,” Curran added.
When asked if there was consideration for him to wear a bulletproof vest, Trump did not appear to be keen. “I don’t know if I can handle looking 20 pounds heavier,” he said.
“I guess it’s something you consider. In one way you don’t like to do it because you’re giving in to a bad element,” he added.
The incident, the latest in a pattern of political violence in the United States, has revived concerns about the safety of the U.S. president and other top officials.
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, Christian Martinez, and Bo Erickson;Editing by David Ljunggren and Michelle Nichols)
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