- By Ajeet Kumar
- Sun, 26 Apr 2026 03:48 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
- Recent shooting at Washington Hilton during Trump event.
- Echoes 1981 Ronald Reagan assassination attempt there.
- Suspects identified in both historical and current incidents.
A deja vu moment surfaced when US President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, were sitting at a banquet table on stage in conversation with someone, when a commotion at the rear of the ballroom - caused by the noise of gunshots. Soon it was clear that a 31-year-old shooter had fired shots at the Secret Service agents.
The event was organised at the Washington Hilton-- the same site where a similar incident had happened around half a century ago. The then US President Ronald Reagan was shot and wounded outside the same hotel in 1981.
What happened at Washington Hilton around 50 years ago?
On 30 March 1981, then-US president Ronald Reagan was shot and wounded by John Hinckley Jr in Washington, DC. The attack occurred as Reagan was returning to his limousine following a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton.
(White House Press Secretary James Brady and District of Columbia police officer Thomas Delahanty lie wounded on the ground after John Hinckley Jr. fired six shots at President Reagan. | CREDIT: REUTERS)
Reagan was badly injured when a bullet hit his lung after bouncing off his car. He had serious internal bleeding but later recovered after emergency surgery at George Washington University Hospital.
During the recent incident, Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr was also quickly taken to safety. His family has a tragic history; his father, Robert F Kennedy, and his uncle, John F Kennedy, were both assassinated in the 1960s.
The 1981 Case: John Hinckley Jr
The man who shot Reagan in 1981, John Hinckley Jr, was obsessed with actress Jodie Foster and believed the attack would impress her. In 1982, a court said he was not guilty because of mental illness. He was sent to St. Elizabeth's Hospital, where he stayed for many years before being released in 2016.
(White House Press Secretary James Brady and District of Columbia police officer Thomas Delahanty lie wounded on the ground after John Hinckley Jr. fired six shots at President Reagan | CREDIT: REUTERS)
After his arrest, Hinckley even asked police if the Academy Awards would be delayed because of the shooting. It was postponed by one day.
Officials are still investigating the motive behind the Saturday attack, but the location has brought back memories of one of the most serious security failures in US history.
WHCD shooters' motive unclear
According to media reports, the suspect arrested in the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting was identified by a law enforcement official as Cole Tomas Allen, a Los Angeles-area man who appears from social media sites to be a Caltech graduate working as a part-time teacher and game developer. A LinkedIn profile in the suspect's name describes him as a "mechanical engineer and computer scientist by degree, independent game developer by experience, teacher by birth."
(With inputs from agency)