A Los Angeles County deputy district attorney has revealed he is close friends with the parents of thegunman snared at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
Paul Thompson, a Democratic major crimes division prosecutor, told the California Post he lives next door to the family but said Cole Allen “pretty much kept to himself.”
He saidthe Caltech-educated gunman, who is accused of trying to storm the doors just yards away from President Trump, still lived with his parents at the address in Torrance.
Allen, 31, allegedly rushed a security checkpoint and fired a shotgun inside the Washington Hilton on Saturday night during the annual event but was thwarted by agents.
Hours later,the FBI descended on his family homein SoCal, where neighbors watched as armored vehicles and tactical teams swarmed the quiet residential street.
Thompson, who is running for a judicial seat on the county Superior Court and had a campaign sign on the Allens’ front lawn, said he has lived next to the family for a couple of years.
He told the Post: “I didn’t really know the guy that’s accused of committing the crimes in DC last night. I know his parents. Obviously we’ve been neighbors for a couple of years.”
He described Allen’s parents as “pretty normal, non-violent and friendly,” adding he may have interacted with them earlier the same day as the shooting.
Thompson said a campaign sign bearing his name was placed on the family’s lawn with the father’s permission.
He continued: “I’m friends with his father. I know them to be really nonviolent and peaceful people and solid citizens and residents of our neighborhood here.”
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
