IRISH JOURNALIST CAITRÍONA Perry has described the pandemonium after a gunman launched an attack on a dinner held for White House media overnight.

She was among the hundreds of media at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, the annual gathering that included Donald Trump among the attendees for the first time in several years after rows with journalists, but which had to be abandoned after the president was evacuated.

Perry, who is based in Washington for the BBC, posted on social media a clip she took as she dived under the table to find safety from the assault.

In the clip, some apparent gunshots are audible while Trump and health secretary Robert F Kennedy and defence secretary Pete Hegseth are escorted out.

In an earlier post, sharing her arrival at the red carpet, the former RTÉ broadcaster said she had arrived at the annual dinner “just like every other year”, but “little did we know the night that lay ahead”.

“Very grateful to my colleagues as we all scrambled to get on air and broadcast live from the ballroom within minutes,” Perry added in the Instagram post from the manic night.

Other footage from the evening shows the immediate response once gunshots were heard.

Wide shot of ballroom as loud bangs are heard and President Trump is evacuated from the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner. #WHCD #WHCA #NerdProm pic.twitter.com/AUy79J9yQd

— CSPAN (@cspan) April 26, 2026

Various White House journalistsshared clips showing how the chaos unfolded.

This is the moment we realized what was happening and got down on the stage. Seconds before, all we could see was a throng of law enforcement barreling toward us from the doors at the back of the room.

Secret agents swept VP Vance, who was seated next to me, into the back. I… pic.twitter.com/ZaxFeZu5p0

— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) April 26, 2026

Trump himself shared footage from security cameras of the event.