This story has been updated with reporting from Education Week staff.
Social media posts that appear to match the California man arrested Saturday in the shooting at the White House correspondents’ dinner show he is a highly educated tutor and amateur video game developer.
A May 2025 profile photo of Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, Calif., seems to match the appearance of the man in a photo of the alleged attacker being taken into custody that was posted after the incident by President Donald Trump.
The photo, posted to the social networking site LinkedIn, shows him in a cap and gown after graduating with a master’s degree in computer science from California State University-Dominguez Hills.
Allen, 31, earned a bachelor’s degree in 2017 in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. He listed his involvement there in a Christian student fellowship and a campus group that battled with Nerf guns.
Bin Tang, a computer science professor at California State University-Dominguez Hills, told The Associated Press that Allen took a few of his classes before graduating.
“He was a very good student indeed, always sitting in the first row of my class, paying attention, and frequently emailing me with coursework questions. Soft spoken, very polite, a good fellow. I am very shocked to see the news,” Tang wrote in an email.
A local ABC station in Los Angeles included an interview with Allen during his senior year of college as part of a story about new technologies to help people as they age. He had developed a prototype for a new type of emergency brake for wheelchairs.
Allen contributed $25 to a Democratic Party political action committee in support of Kamala Harris for president in 2024, according to federal campaign finance records.
Suspect’s online resume says he worked for tutoring company
Allen’s online resume says he worked for the last six years at C2 Education, a company that offers admissions counseling and test preparation services to aspiring college students.
“Your Child’s Path to a Dream School Starts Here,” the C2 Education website says.
“For over 25 years, we’ve helped high-performing students get accepted into top universities through expert test prep, GPA management, and personalized college counseling,” the company states.
In addition to offering prep for the ACT and SAT tests, the organization touts academic support for elementary, middle, and high school students. It says its services are delivered both in-person at academic centers around the country, and virtually.
In response to an inquiry from Education Week about reports on Allen’s employment at C2 Education, the company did not address specific questions about his tenure, but instead offered a statement.
“We were shocked to hear the news of the horrifying incident that transpired at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner,” the organization said. “We are cooperating fully with law enforcement to assist them in their investigation. Violence of any kind is never the answer.”
A 2024 post on the company’s Facebook page listed Allen as the company’s teacher of the month.
Allen also posted that he had developed a video game for the Steam platform based on molecular chemistry. A post under Allen’s name said he was working to develop a new “top-down shooter” combat game set in outer space.