President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump were rushed out of the White House Correspondents' Association dinner by Secret Service agents on Saturday night after a man armed with a shotgun tried to breach security, officials said.
A White House aide said Trump was safe after a freelance photographer working for Reuters heard four to six loud bangs in the hotel but not the immediate vicinity of the dinner.
Dinner attendees immediately stopped talking and people started screaming “Get down, get down!"
About an hour after Trump was hurried out of the event, he wrote on Truth Social that a “shooter had been apprehended.”
"Quite an evening in D.C. Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job," Trump added.
Hundreds of guests dove under the tables as Secret Service officers in combat gear ran into the dining room. Trump and the first lady had bent down behind the dais before being hustled out by Secret Service officers.
Many of the 2,600 attendees took cover while waiters fled to the front of the dining hall.
Shortly before being escorted off the stage by security, Melania Trump appeared to react to something in the crowd and had a concerned look on her face, according to a live feed from CSPAN.