Operation HILTON — Parts 1 and 2

Background

At 20:36 ET on April 25, 2026, five to eight gunshots were reported near the perimeter of the Washington Hilton during the White House Correspondents' Dinner. President Trump was extracted by the Secret Service and a suspect was apprehended on site. The FBI shared photos of seized equipment on social media. The press released only a name and age. These two challenges task the analyst with reconstructing the suspect's identity file and identifying the weapon found at the scene.

Part 1 — Identity

Challenge Overview

The DC Metropolitan Police Department identified the suspect. The task is to provide his full name, age, and hometown in exact flag format.

Finding the Information

Searching the suspect's name alongside the event immediately returned the Wikipedia article for the 2026 White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting. The article documented the incident in full, including the suspect's full legal name, age, and city of origin as reported by MPDC and major press outlets.

The article confirmed the suspect as Cole Tomas Allen, age 31, from Torrance, California.

Flag

OSINT{Cole_Tomas_Allen_31_Torrance}

Part 2 — The Weapon

Challenge Overview

The FBI published photos of the seized equipment. One image shows a compact PDW-type shoulder weapon chambered in 4.6x30mm by a German manufacturer. The task is to identify the exact model, including brand and full designation. The hint notes that if two variants are possible, the barrel length and selector position in the photo are the deciding factors.

Identifying the Weapon

Searching the description directly, "compact PDW-type shoulder weapon 4.6x30mm German manufacturer," returns one result: the Heckler and Koch MP7. The MP7 is the only PDW in production chambered in 4.6x30mm and manufactured in Germany. The two common variants are the MP7A1 and MP7A2, which differ primarily in barrel length and grip design.

Reviewing the FBI photo, the barrel length and selector switch configuration are consistent with the MP7A1 variant, confirming the exact model.

Flag

OSINT{HK_MP7A1}

Conclusion

Both challenges in Operation HILTON required minimal pivoting. The identity challenge resolved in a single search because the incident generated immediate, well-documented press coverage indexed on Wikipedia. The weapon challenge was solved purely through specification matching: the caliber and country of manufacture narrowed the field to one manufacturer, and the photo detail resolved which variant.

Key takeaways:

• High-profile public incidents are documented quickly and thoroughly across open sources, making Wikipedia a reliable first stop.
• Technical specifications like caliber and country of origin are often enough to uniquely identify a weapon without needing to see the firearm directly.
• When multiple variants exist, physical details in evidence photos are the tiebreaker.