Trump dinner shooting suspect was a game developer, Steam page reveals
Overview & Key Takeaways
Cole Allen, the 31-year-old primary suspect in the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting, had been an indie game developer since 2018
On Saturday, April 25, a shooter opened fire outside the ballroom in which the White House Correspondents' Dinner was taking place. A suspect in the shooting was quickly detained and identified as Cole Allen of Torrance, California, per NBC News. Information about Allen's work history subsequently circulated, revealing that he was an indie game developer.
On his LinkedIn account, Allen describes himself as a "game dev, engineer, scientist, teacher." While Allen's work history first shows that he was a part-time teacher at C2 Education, he has also been a self-employed indie game developer since 2018.
"Designed and built the C++-based video game Bohrdom™, including several custom musical pieces and over seven hundred and fifty custom graphics," Allen wrote. "Formulated and wrote Bohrdom's advanced 2D elastic collision physics engine, including custom collision detection functions and the capability to accurately resolve rotational components of collisions."
Polygon located Bohrdom on Steam, where Cole Allen is listed as the developer and publisher. Released in 2018, Bohrdom's Steam page describes it as a "non-violent asymmetrical fighting game" based on chemistry, where players can control electrons or nuclei. Allen's LinkedIn page refers to a second, in-development project titled First Law, but Polygon could not locate that game on itch.io or Steam.
The annual White House Correspondents' Dinner took place in Washington, DC last night, and President Donald Trump was in attendance. According to NBC News' reporting, the shooter was armed with a shotgun, handgun, and multiple knives. They exchanged fire with police after rushing a security checkpoint. A Secret Service officer was reportedly struck in his bulletproof vest, but no one died.
FBI agents have since been seen outside of Allen's home in Torrance, California. Allen has yet to be charged. While the shooter's motives remain unknown, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche claimed to CNN that "the suspect was targeting members of the administration."
