Family members of the accused gunman who tried to storm the ballroom at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner alerted police in Connecticut with concerns about the man, the president said Sunday.
In an interview with Fox News Channel, President Donald Trump said the man — who was armed with guns and knives — had written about targeting Trump administration officials.
Separately, police in New London confirmed in a statement that a person contacted them at approximately 10:49 p.m., about two hours after the incident. Police said the person expressed concern about events that unfolded earlier that evening at the dinner.
"The reporting individual wanted to share information they believed to be pertinent to the matter," the statement said.
New London police immediately contacted federal law enforcement partners. Both local and federal officers then interviewed the person, according to the statement.
"The New London Police Department remains committed to working collaboratively with our law enforcement partners at all levels to ensure public safety," the statement said.
New London police said their investigation into the matter is no longer active and directed further inquiries to the U.S. Secret Service. The federal agency didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The suspect, identified by law enforcement officials as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California, was expected to face criminal charges on Monday from the Justice Department, whose acting leader, Todd Blanche, said the suspect traveled by train from California and checked in as a guest days earlier at the Washington hotel where the Saturday night gala dinner was held with its typically tight security.
Authorities said Allen attempted to charge into the cavernous ballroom at the Washington Hilton but was tackled to the ground in a violent scene that resulted in shots being fired, Trump being hurried off the stage and guests ducking for cover beneath their tables.
Fox reported Sunday that the White House said Allen's brother contacted New London police and reported Allen had sent family members "an alleged manifesto outlining his intent to target administration officials."
During a live telephone interview, Fox News journalist Jacqui Heinrich asked the president to comment on information she said was provided by the White House about the suspected shooter and his motive.
“I’m being told that he had a manifesto saying he wanted to target Trump administration officials,” Heinrich said. “He had a lot of anti-Trump and anti-Christian rhetoric on his social media accounts, and left a manifesto in his hotel room that his brother had notified New London police about prior to this incident.”
She added that secret service agents had been talking to Allen’s family members, and that Allen attended a No Kings protest in California. She asked Trump for his reaction to the new details.
“I heard about the London situation and I wish they would have told us about it a little bit,” Trump said. “But it is what it is.”
A law enforcement official familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press the suspected shooter sent writings to family members minutes before the attack in which he railed against Trump administration policies and referred to himself as a “Friendly Federal Assassin.”
The writings made repeated references to Trump without naming him directly and alluded to grievances over a range of administration actions and recent events, including U.S. strikes on drug smuggling boats in the eastern Pacific, the official said Sunday.
The official was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Allen’s brother contacted police in New London after receiving the writings, according to the official.
This story has been updated. Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.
