Wolf Blitzer Details ‘Frightening’ Moment Gunman Was ‘a Few Feet Away’ at White House Correspondents’ Dinner

CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer detailed the “frightening” moment when the gunman at the 2026 White House Correspondents’ Dinner opened fire “a few feet away” from him.

On Saturday, April 25, the Situation Room journalist, 78, was among those in attendance at the Washington Hilton hotel in Washington, D.C. Blitzer was on his way back to the ballroom after leaving the men’s restroom on an upper floor when he spotted a man with“ a very, very serious weapon,” he told CNN.

“All of a sudden I heard these loud, very loud, very scary gunshots right near me,” the shaken journalist recounted. “Next thing I knew, a police officer threw me to the ground and was on top of me.”

Officers took him back to the restroom, where he and roughly 15 other men sheltered. During the scary ordeal, the CNN anchor appeared to have lost a shoe, as seen in photos obtained by the Daily Mail.

According to Blitzer, the shooter was only “a few feet away” from him when the gunfire began. “I had no idea, as I was hearing the gunshots, who this shooter was aiming at, or if he was just trying to scare everybody,” he admitted. “And, of course, the first thing that went through my mind was whether he was going to shoot me.”

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Blitzer added, “It was a terrible, very frightening moment for me.”

During his phone call with CNN, the political anchor continued, “I did see the gunman on the ground after he started shooting. Police officers threw him to the ground, but he was still shooting. And I could hear the shots going off.”

Shortly after 8:30 p.m. ET, the gunman — since identified as a 31-year-old man from California — opened fire at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. President Donald Trump, 79, Vice President JD Vance, 41, and first lady Melania Trump, 56, were immediately evacuated and unharmed, the Associated Press reported. Meanwhile, the suspect was taken into custody.

The event was ultimately canceled. Later that evening, Trump gave remarks from the White House, where he shared that a Secret Service agent was “doing great” after being shot while wearing protective gear, per NPR. The POTUS called for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner to be scheduled within 30 days.