Secret Service ‘model worked’ during WHCA Dinner shooting but ‘luck’ played a role, experts say

When an armed gunman at the White House Correspondents Association Dinner last weekend, questions immediately began to swirl throughout the country regarding how yet another alleged would-be-assailant was able to get within a stones throw of the president of the United States. 

Cole Allen, 31, is facing federal charges of attempting to assassinate the president of the United States, transporting a firearm across state lines and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence after he allegedly ran through a Secret Service checkpoint and opened fire just one floor from where President and several high-level Cabinet officials were attending the gala. 

Authorities have pointed to an alleged manifesto penned by Allen indicating that he intended to target Trump and members of his administration over political grievances. 

As news of the alleged attempted assassination broke, questions quickly began to swirl regarding the United States Secret Services security measures amid a time of .

“I think the Secret Services model worked,” Bill Gage, a former Secret Service special agent and executive protection director for the SafeHaven Security Group, told Fox News Digital. 

“But there was definitely a lot of luck involved that Cole Allen wasnt better trained, wasnt better prepared,” Gage added. 

Within minutes of Trump, Vice President JD Vance and First Lady taking their seats to enjoy the annual festivities, authorities say Allen charged the Washington Hilton hotel checkpoint and fired his weapon, striking a Secret Service agent in their ballistic vest.

He was subsequently tackled to the ground and taken into custody. 

Miraculously, no one was seriously injured in the chaos, and as thousands of attendees ducked for cover under their ballroom tables. 

While federal officials — including Trump himself — applauded the Secret Service for agents quick-thinking, questions mounted about able to get so close to the room holding a high volume of Cabinet members and celebrities.

“Obviously, the first family was not harmed,” Bill Stanton, a retired NYPD officer and security expert, told Fox News Digital. “No one was harmed, right? But that was not due to total professionalism. That was due to luck, the ineptness of the assailant and the redundancy – he should never have gotten that close.” 

However, Gage suggests the agencys protocol worked as intended.

“The [Secret Services] concept is like where you have an outer perimeter, an inner perimeter and a middle perimeter,” Gage said. “Each one of those is sort of like a concentric circle that overlaps. So if one ring fails, the other one can sort of pick up the slack.”

According to Gage, Saturdays outer perimeter began with the agencys magnetometers – where Allen rushed past authorities armed with a shotgun and other weapons. 

“So the attacker, just through sheer surprise and speed, races through the magnetometers,” Gage told Fox News Digital. “He gets through that perimeter, he’s still not sort of scot-free. He’s going to interact with other agents as he’s trying to make his way into the ballroom.” 

“There would have been agents assigned to the entry door,” Gage continued. “There would’ve been agents inside the event, just inside the door. So, I would say the Secret Service model was a success, because it proved that the sort of overlap worked.”

As details surrounding the alleged began to trickle out, new questions were raised regarding how Allen was allegedly able to check into the hotel the night before and remain undetected, despite having multiple firearms. 

“The urban legend out there is that the Secret Service sort of swoops in days before an event, shuts the hotel down, kicks everybody out and name checks every single person there – and that’s just not the reality,” Gage said. 

According to Gage, agents must strike a balance between maintaining a strong security posture