Live updates: Correspondents' dinner shooting suspect expected in court

Patel said that FBI agents have conducted "dozens and dozens of interviews" over the weekend as they investigate the suspect.

"We conducted interviews literally across the country, in multiple jurisdictions in less than 24 hours after this tragic event, and also used FBI fixed-wing assets to transport evidence from across the country to Quantico," Patel said on "Fox and Friends" this morning.

Patel said that the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit, made famous by previous investigations, would prepare a profile of the suspect.

"What that does is not necessarily provide direct evidence to be utilized in court, but it examines what we have collected so far to include emails, social media postings, witness interviews, interviews with people, family, friends and neighbors, so we can provide a complete picture of this individual's mindset and intent when we make the presentment in court," he said. "And that's what we're going through right now, and in the process of finalizing, and shortly, we'll see that presentation in court."

FBI Director Kash Patel said that he and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche will hold a press conference about the Saturday incident later today.

Patel said in an interview on "Fox and Friends" that they will speak to the media after the magistrate judge signs off on the related criminal complaint, which he said will contain significant detail.

"We're going to be able to present to the world in less than 36 hours, almost exactly what happened this individual's entire background, entire background — who he knew, where he lived, who he was talking to, everything about the firearms, everything about the ballistics," Patel said.

The 31-year-old suspect in the White House Correspondents’ dinner shooting, who allegedly described himself as a “friendly federal assassin,” is expected to face charges today.

Investigators say the suspect emailed a message to family, which talked about intended targets, without naming the president, but appeared to refer to him and top Cabinet officials who were in the ballroom.

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A federal law enforcement official said authorities believe, based on a review of hotel security video, that the suspect used an internal hotel stairwell and not an elevator to move down several floors from his guest room toward the dinner event. 

He was detained one level above the ballroom entrance point after running through a magnetometer at a security checkpoint. 

A second federal official told NBC News that investigators are continuing to obtain and review video to establish the suspect's movements. Charges have not yet been filed.

A guest at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner was seen continuing to eat even after gunshots rang out.

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Trump is seizing on the incident to gin up support for a White House ballroom that has faced legal challenges that threaten to shut down the project.

Trump has made the argument that the nation needs a fortified ballroom on White House grounds so that the president and government officials are not in peril.

A federal judge has issued repeated orders blocking construction of the ballroom, holding that Trump exceeded his authority in proceeding without congressional approval. On April 17, a federal appeals court allowed construction to continue while a suit contending that the work is unlawful winds through the courts.

Now, coming off the frightening episode at the Washington Hilton, Trump’s appointees and congressional allies are stepping in to eliminate judicial roadblocks and plump for Trump’s passion project.

Read the full story here.

A former professor of Cole Tomas Allen, the suspect in the shooting according to a federal official familiar with the case, said he was “shocked” to learn of the news, describing him as “soft-spoken.”

Bin Tang, a professor in the computer science department at California State University, said Allen was a strong student who regularly sat in the front row and was highly engaged in class.

Cole Tomas Allen. via Linkedin

“He was a very good student indeed, always sitting in the first row of my class, paying attention, coming to my office hours, and frequently emailing me with coursework questions,” Tang told KNBC, an NBC News affiliate. 

“I am very shocked to see the news,” he added.

China said today that it condemned the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, in its first public comments on the incident.

“China is paying attention to this shooting incident,” foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a regular news conference. “We consistently oppose and condemn acts of illegal violence.”

Trump said he was not concerned when gunshots rang out during the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner.

“I wasn’t worried. I understand life. We live in a crazy world,” Trump said in an interview with CBS News' "60 Minutes" that aired last night.

Trump at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner on Saturday. Yuri Gripas / Bloomberg via Getty Images

Asked about the evacuation, including why Vice President JD Vance was rushed out first, Trump said he wanted to see what was going on first before being evacuated. 

“I wanted to see what was happening and I wasn’t making it that easy for them,” he said. “I wanted to see what was going on.” 

Trump said last night that the chaotic scene in which he was removed from the Hilton ballroom, at one point appearing to fall, “was a little bit me,” and that he “wasn’t making it that easy” for the agents trying to remove him from the room.

“I was surrounded by great people, and I probably made them act a little bit more slowly,” Trump said during an interview with CBS News’ “60 Minutes.”

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Trump said that the agents asked him and the first lady to drop to the floor as they walked offstage. He added that his first thought when the shots rang was that he has “been through this a couple of times.”

Trump said the first lady understood what was happening before he did.

Asked if she had been scared, Trump said: “Well, I don’t want to say, and people don’t like having it said that they were scared, but certainly, I mean, who wouldn’t be when you have a situation like that?”

The California teacher and engineer accused of opening fire outside the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner believed it was his duty to target Trump administration officials, according to a note he sent family members about 10 minutes before the attack.

White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller helps his wife, Katie Miller, from the ballroom on Saturday. Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Allen apologized to his parents, colleagues, students, bystanders and others for what he was about to do, according to a transcript of some of Allen’s writings provided to NBC News by a senior administration official.

“I don’t expect forgiveness,” Allen wrote. 

Read the full story here.

Authorities apprehended a suspect who they said exchanged gunfire with law enforcement after he rushed a security checkpoint at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, D.C., on Saturday.

He was identified as a 31-year-old man from Southern California.

Trump and top members of his Cabinet and Congress were quickly evacuated from the ballroom at the Washington Hilton, where the annual event was being held.

Here's what we know.