Jennifer Jacobs: The shooting happened on the level above the ballroom where the White House Correspondents Association

[demmiblue]

Appreciate this detail from CBS News reporter Jennifer Jacobs. It's an important part of the story that seems to be missing from a lot of comments & coverage.

The shooting happened on the level above the ballroom where the White House Correspondents Association dinner was.
I don't think people hearing about this -- or even those of us in the room -- realized how far from the president, VP and other guests this incident was. It was on another floor, up some stairs and several sets of security away.
Because the Washington Hilton's hotel and other public spaces were open for other functions, the entire building wasn't secured by the Secret Service, just the specific areas where the WHCA dinner was held, law enforcement officials told @CBSNews

Appreciate this detail from CBS News reporter Jennifer Jacobs. It's an important part of the story that seems to be missing from a lot of comments & coverage.

— @NewsJennifer (Jennifer Schulze) (@newsjennifer.bsky.social) 2026-04-26T14:22:29.368Z

This puts the security debate in better perspective. I know this space really well. The guy wasn’t anywhere near the ballroom. He was basically trying to rush the security perimeter and failed. It’s a big complex with lots of different event happening at the same time.

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm.bsky.social) 2026-04-26T15:31:42.775Z

[mcar]

1. Amazing. 1400 reporters there and they can't get the facts right

[TBF]

3. "1400" corporate reporters -

owned by billionaires.

[mcar]

4. Now busy scolding Democrats for their "rhetoric"

[Deuxcents]

2. The headlines imply the shooter was close to the scene..lots of facts will come out that will clarify the story

[newdeal2]

5. The initial headline is all the WH wanted

Paint Trump as the victim and get his ballroom going.

[John1956PA]

6. Thanks for posting. I am thinking that no one in the ballroom heard gunfire.

Wolf Blitzer used the men's room on the floor above the ballroom. In an after-the fact report, Wolf stated that, just as he exited the men's room, he saw an individual close to him carrying a "serious-looking" firearm. (I think that is the description Wolf articulated.)

It is not clear to me whether the security team pulled Wolf down to the floor in order to get him away from the team's efforts to apprehend the male who was bearing the weapon. I do know if any rounds were fired by the male. For that matter, I do not know if any rounds were fired at all.

[dalton99a]

7. Kick

[AZJonnie]

8. Kinda crazy this just happened to occur the first time a sitting POTUS decided to attend in HOW many years?

If I was into CT's, I might just suspect Trump was so into going this particular year (breaking with what's normal for POTUS) because he knew something like this was going to happen and had a plan to take advantage of it when it did.

Do we actually have any proof as of yet whether IQ47 was "the target" as opposed to it just being someone out to carry out a mass shooting generally? Or, maybe he hates the press, or the elite or whoever?

[karynnj]

9. This also makes it more reasonable that they kept all the other guests there

That room was likely kept very secure even as the President and cabinet left. I would imagine the building security demanded that people in the hotel rooms and other events stay where they were as well.

[demmiblue]

10. Here's a map of where the gunman moved in the hotel.

A suspect was taken into custody after the police said he ran through a security checkpoint and exchanged gunfire with authorities at the hotel where the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner was held on Saturday night. Here's a map of where the gunman moved in the hotel. trib.al/0xpb5hC

— The New York Times (@nytimes.com) 2026-04-26T15:53:02.907Z