Cole Allen, the California teacher & game designer who authorities allege shot up the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, was featured in a news segment nearly a decade ago … showing off a prototype he created to help make wheelchairs safer … and the resurfaced clip is pretty interesting.
NEW: WHCD shooting suspect Cole Tomas Allen was interviewed by ABC in 2017. pic.twitter.com/yLEGs0R87C
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Allen was a student at Caltech in 2017 when he was interviewed by ABC7 in Los Angeles at an “Aging into the Future” conference.
In the resurfaced clip, Allen talks about developing a prototype for a wheelchair emergency brake.
He explains his invention … “The wheelchair brakes tend to lock the wheels, but don’t actually lock the chair to the ground … the idea with this is to prevent it from moving at all.”
Allen’s prototype appeared to be mostly made from PVC pipe.
According to his LinkedIn, Allen graduated from Caltech in 2017 with a degree in mechanical engineering, and in 2025, he got his master’s degree in computer science at Cal State University – Dominguez Hills.
Fast forward to Saturday … Allen was apprehended by the Secret Service after allegedly opening fire at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, says Allen is facing charges of using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault of a federal officer using a dangerous weapon.
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