“It’s unreal...” say neighbors of WH dinner shooting suspect, expressing shock over the incident

Apr 27, 2026

Residents of Torrance said they were “shocked” to learn that the suspect who fired at a security agent guarding the White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington on April 25 was their neighbor. The suspect lived with his parents in a two-story house on a tree-lined street with picket fences and craftsman-style homes in the historic district of Torrance, a seaside town in the South Bay area of greater Los Angeles. Neighbors in the middle-class neighborhood on Sunday said they were only casually acquainted with him and his parents, with most saying they never spoke to him beyond a brief hello or waving to them as they gave Halloween candy to trick-or-treaters. Officials have said that the suspect fired a shotgun at a Secret Service agent at a security checkpoint in the Washington Hilton hotel before being tackled and arrested. U.S. President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other cabinet officials were rushed out of the dinner as the incident unfolded. The Secret Service agent who was shot escaped serious injury because the bullet struck his protective vest, Trump said