By Andrew Goudsward
FILE PHOTO: Court hearing for WHCA dinner shooting suspect Cole Tomas Allen, in Washington
WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department added a charge of assault on a federal officer with a deadly weapon to the case against the man accused of trying to assassinate President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents' Dinner at the Washington Hilton last month.
The new charge, which formally accuses the suspect, Cole Allen, of firing at a U.S. Secret Service agent at a security checkpoint, is part of a new four-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Washington. The other three counts are charges Allen previously faced including attempted assassination, discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence and illegal transportation of a firearm and ammunition across state lines.
Prosecutors allege that Allen, 31, of California, was armed with a shotgun and a pistol when he sprinted past security in an attempt to assassinate Trump and other U.S. officials on April 25. Allen has not yet entered a plea on the charges.
The indictment follows confusion over whether the suspect shot the Secret Service agent as the gunman allegedly ran toward the ballroom, where Trump and senior members of his administration were dining with roughly 2,500 journalists, politicians and others. Trump administration officials initially said Allen had fired and the agent was spared serious injury by his ballistic vest.
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But the initial set of charges against Allen did not accuse him of shooting the agent, nor was it mentioned in a court document prosecutors filed on April 29 seeking Allen's detention.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, the top federal prosecutor in Washington leading the investigation, released surveillance video on Thursday that she said showed Allen firing the shotgun at the agent, who then returned fire. Pirro told CNN in an interview on Sunday that a pellet that came from Allen's shotgun recovered at the scene was intertwined with fibers from the vest of the agent.
The four-page indictment accuses Allen of using a "deadly and dangerous weapon" to "forcibly assault, intimidate and interfere" with the U.S. Secret Service agent while he was engaged in his official responsibilities.
Allen fell down and was subdued by law enforcement before he reached the ballroom, authorities have said. No one else was injured.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward, Editing by Franklin Paul, David Gregorio and Daniel Wallis)