Press gala shooting suspect moved off suicide watch in jail, records show

Alleged White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooter Cole Allen has been taken off suicide watch at the Washington, D.C., jail where he is being held, his lawyers wrote in new court documents. 

A Monday hearing that had been set to discuss removing Allen from suicide watch has been cancelled, the documents show. 

In an earlier motion requesting Allen’s removal from suicide watch, his lawyers said that the restrictions amount to “violations of his rights under the Due Process Clause.” 

Allen was being held in a restrictive cell in medical isolation and under 24-hour supervision, a law enforcement source previously told CBS News. Standard protocol dictates Allen be held under suicide watch for the first 72 hours while he is assessed. In the earlier motion, Allen’s lawyers said he was not able to communicate with loved ones outside of jail, retain personal items or review case documents. He also had to be escorted to the shower and was strip searched upon entering and exiting his cell, his lawyers said. 

Allen, 31, has agreed to remain detained until his trial. It’s not clear if he has been moved to a different facility since being taken off suicide watch.

Allen is charged with attempting to assassinate President Trump at the annual press gala on Saturday, April 25. He also faces two firearms-related charges stemming from the incident. He made his initial appearance in federal court Monday.  

Allen has not yet entered a plea to the charges. A preliminary hearing is set for May 11. 

Allen allegedly charged a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton where the press dinner was being held. Mr. Trump and other administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson, were in attendance. Allen was arrested at the scene.

A source familiar with the investigation told CBS News that six shots were fired: One by Allen, and five by a Secret Service officer who was struck in his bulletproof vest. The officer was not seriously hurt; two sources familiar with the investigation said the shot likely struck a cellphone tucked inside the agent’s pocket. Federal officials have disputed reports that the shot that struck the agent was friendly fire. Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that investigators had determined that the bullet was “definitively” shot by Allen.