Cole Tomas Allen: Californians grapple with revelation that press gala gunman suspect was neighbour

‘It’s bizarre’: Californians grapple with revelation that suspected Trump gunman was neighbour

Just now

The man charged with attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump at a Washington dinner lived with his parents in a quiet coastal suburb of Los Angeles.

Some people here lovingly refer to the city of Torrance, known for its good schools, ocean breezes and million-dollar homes, as “Bore-ance” because nothing much ever happens.

Cole Thomas Allen’s neighbours in the community told the BBC they were shocked to see his face on TV – handcuffed, topless and face down on the ground of the Hilton Hotel after allegedly coming armed to Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

“It’s bizarre that this person lives two blocks away from your house,” says Vince Terrazzino, whose 10-year-old daughter Alessandra was pressing the FBI agents for updates as they moved from house to house, knocking on doors and looking for clues.

The agents declined to answer her or us. For Alessandra and others who live nearby, the mob of media parked on their sidewalks was an unusual site, irritating to many, but exciting and “popping” to Alessandra and others.

It started Saturday night shortly after Allen’s arrest in Washington. Helicopters circled above homes all night as law enforcement searched the home he shared with his parents, who many here say they knew as a friendly family.

The noise kept almost everyone on the street awake – and tuning into the news to figure out what was going on.

Allen, 31, appeared in court on Monday to face charges but has yet to enter a plea. Prosecutors allege Allen wrote to relatives of his plans, telling them he planned to target as many members of the Trump administration as he could.

He was carrying a semi-automatic handgun, a pump-action shotgun and three knives when he charged past a security checkpoint at the dinner, an affidavit states. An exchange of gunfire left one Secret Service agent injured before Allen was subdued, officials say.

“Nothing ever happens here,” Terrazzino says, urging Alessandra to tell the BBC what she calls the city.

Kids on wheelie bikes whizzed by the throngs of news cameras outside the home – hoping to show off their skills on the evening news or in some influencer’s video. They, too, confirmed the “Bore-ance” moniker.

People walked their dogs and rode bikes up and down the street, passing tips to the media.

“He used to drink at the Irish bar,” one says. We visited the bar but no one there recognised him.

“Talk to the mail man. He knows things,” another says. We did. He didn’t.

None of the neighbours we spoke to knew Cole Allen well, beyond smiling and waving to him. But many know his parents and were protective of them.

“Leave those poor people alone,” says one neighbour who did not want to be identified, adding that he was sick of the media causing traffic jams on the narrow street.

There are three vehicles parked outside the Allen home – two cars and a scooter – but no one answered the door when countless reporters knocked on Sunday and Monday. Many speculated that the family was staying with friends or relatives after the FBI searched the home on Saturday night.

A few miles away at the tutoring centre where Allen worked, no one showed up on Sunday or Monday. But a woman who works next door says she regularly saw Allen on his lunch break, eating alone.

“He wouldn’t look at you. He wouldn’t interact,” says Cesilia Peralta. “He never made eye contact.”

She says her 11-year-old- daughter was tutored by Allen. They have different tutors each time they show up, but when she showed her daughter Allen’s picture, she recognized him as one of the teachers who helped her.

“You never know who you’re around,” Peralta says. “It’s kind of shocking to learn.”

When Cole Allen studied at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) – one of the most prestigious universities in the US – he worshipped at the nearby Pasadena United Reformed Church. The pastor there, Movses Janbazian, told the BBC that he still remembers Allen.

“It was very sad to hear,” Janbazian says of hearing the news of Allen’s arrest and alleged crimes.

He says that Allen was quiet and would come for church services and go back to university.

“Caltech is very competitive. He was studying a lot,” he says. “He would come and go.”

Janbazian says he doesn’t want to talk about politics and that he didn’t know what political leanings Cole Allen had or if he continued to go to church after he graduated and moved away from the area.

“I knew him casually,” he says. “I don’t have a lot to add.”

Back on the street where Cole Allen lived, a neighbour wanted us to know that the 1936 Olympic runner and WWII hero Louis Zamperini apparently also lived just down the street from Cole Allen.

“Good things also come out of Torrance.”