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Cheryl Hines recently shared the harrowing experience she and her husband, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., endured when they were swiftly evacuated from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner due to the sound of gunfire.
“I just returned from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, and it was an intense moment,” Hines recounted on her Instagram Stories.
She detailed the incident, saying, “We were there when we suddenly heard gunshots. Everyone ducked under the tables, not knowing what was happening. Bobby’s security team quickly surrounded us, and they had to carry me over chairs because I was in heels and wearing a gown.” She continued, “They led us through back routes until we reached our car and made our exit.”
Hines later took to social media again to reassure her concerned followers.
“Thank you to everyone checking in on us—we’re safe and sound,” she posted. “Now, I’m in my pajamas, watching the news unfold just like the rest of you. Please, everyone, stay safe.”
Chaos broke out at the event Saturday night when suspected gunman Cole Allen reportedly stormed a security checkpoint and opened fire.
President Donald Trump was immediately rushed from the ballroom at the Washington Hilton Hotel. Video from inside the event showed attendees taking cover under tables as panic spread through the room.
The moment carried additional weight for several attendees whose lives had already been shaped by political violence, including Trump, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and TPUSA CEO Erika Kirk.
“The people that make the biggest impact, they’re the ones that [shooters] go after,” Trump said late on Saturday evening from a press conference at the White House. “They don’t go after the ones that don’t do much because they like it that way.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nephew of President John F. Kennedy, was swiftly escorted out of the room on Saturday, an HHS official told Fox News Digital. His family history is closely tied to two tragic assassinations.
Trump hailed law enforcement during his press conference from the White House late on Saturday, saying the situation was “incredibly acted upon by Secret Service and law enforcement.”
“[The suspect] had a long way to go. That was really a first line of defense. And they got him. And they really, you know, they acted incredibly,” he continued.
The suspected gunman, identified as a 31-year-old Cole Allen of California, was taken into custody.
Fox News Digital’s Ashley J. DiMella contributed to this post.