The wife of late political commentator Charlie Kirk was escorted from the main ballroom in tears.
US President Donald Trump was rushed to safety during the White House correspondents' Dinner after shots were fired at the event.
The security incident forced the cancellation of the gala, which is a highlight of the Washington DC calendar for political figures and journalists alike.
So who was in attendance at the annual event?
LIVE UPDATES: 'Loud sounds': Trump rushed to safety after shots fired
High-profile officials
US Vice President JD Vance joined President Trump for the correnspondents' dinner.
Both Trump and Vance uninjured during the shooting, which saw authorities swarm the banquet hall and many of the 2600 guests ducked under tables by the hundreds.
First lady Melania Trump was also in attendance and appeared to reacted to something in the crowd, Reuters has reported.
FBI director Kash Patel, Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, Homeland Security secretary Markwayne Mullin, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt were also in attendance.
US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attended the annual event with his wife, actress Cheryl Hines.
White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller attended the dinner with his wife Katie Miller.
US House Speaker Mike Johnson was among the congressional members who were evacuated by security officials.
Republican representative Mike Lawler was also a guest at the dinner.
He told PBS News he heard a pop and "we didn't know what the hell it was. And then you heard all sorts of things clatter," he said.
Kerry Kennedy, a lawyer and activist who is part of the Kennedy family, was having a conversation with politician Jamie Raskin when the shooting broke out.
"I hit the floor at the White House Correspondent's Dinner mid conversation with Rep. Jamie Raskin, who heroically protected me, whispering, "You're ok, you're ok, you're ok," Kennedy wrote on Facebook.
"Then the doors burst open, and scores of Secret Service agents rushed into the room, many with hands on holsters."
Notable figures present
Erika Kirk, whose husband Charlie was assassinated at a college event last year, was at the dinner and was seen being consoled afterwards.
Kirk has been the CEO of Turning Point USA since her husband's death.
In a social media video posted by CNN host Sara Sidner, Kirk was seen being escorted out of the event.
"I just want to go home," she said in the video.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXk3-tfjghk/?utm_source=ig_embed&Celebrity mentalist Oz Pearlman served as the official entertainment for the evening.
Trump had interacted with Pearlman on stage minutes before the secret service stormed into the main ballroom.
Mehmet Oz, also known as physician and television presenter Dr Oz, attended the gathering with his wife Lisa Oz.
Dr Oz now works under President Trump as an administrator for the Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Actor Zachary Levi, who voiced Flynn Rider in the Disney film Tangled, recounted the security incident.
"We were sitting at the table, and there was some loud banging that definitely caught my attention," Levi said in comments reported by USA Today.
"In the back of my head I kind of jokingly thought that kind of sounds like gun shots."
"The next thing we saw, everybody started to turn and drop, there was commotion."
A host of prominent Washington journalists were also present at the event.
Kaitlan Collins, Wolf Blitzer, Pamela Brown and Kasie Hunt were among the journalists and anchors representing CNN.
CBS News senior correspondent Weijia Jiang attended the event in her capacity as a journalist and the White House Correspondents' Association president.
Correspondents Jacqui Heinrich and Bret Baier were among those representing Fox News at the annual event.
Following the security incident, Blitzer said he was close to the suspect when shots were fired outside the ballroom.
Blizter had just left the men's restroom on an upper floor outside the ballroom at the Washington Hilton when he saw a man with "a very, very serious weapon."
"All the sudden a guy with a weapon, it was a very, very serious weapon, it starts shooting," Blitzer said.
"I happened to have been a few feet away from him as he was shooting."
Several journalists from Australia were among the guests in attendance.
Australian journalist and dating columnist Jana Hocking told social media she was forced to hide under the table at the event.
Hocking, who had earlier posted photos of herself getting ready and arriving at the event, wrote on Instagram "I'm ok, we hid under a table."
ABC Australia Americas editor John Lyons was inside the main ballroom as the security incident unfolded.
"The president has been put under a table, people are on the floor," Lyons said in a video.
"It's pretty scary because we don't know what's happened."
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