Colorado journalist recounts panic at White House Correspondents' Dinner: "scariest moment I've ever experienced"
A former Denver Post editor and veteran journalist was among the guests inside the White House Correspondents' Dinner when gunfire erupted, triggering chaos and a lockdown at one of the most high‑profile events in Washington, D.C.
Ricardo Baca attended the annual dinner Saturday night at the Washington Hilton with his wife, representing Colorado Public Radio. Not 48 hours later and back home in Denver, Baca spoke with CBS News Colorado about the moment when shots were fired outside the ballroom, just feet from where they were seated.
"All I could think of is 'somebody's about to walk through that door with a gun,'" he said.
This was Baca's first time attending the star-studded dinner in the nation's capital. He said he came as a guest but felt his journalist instincts resurface as the shooting unfolded.
"It was a very strange push-pull," Baca said. "My initial inclination was to protect my wife and to protect myself. And journalism runs deep in your veins when you've done it for as long as we have; you can't help but think, 'should I get out in front of this?' Especially recognizing that there weren't many Colorado journalists in the room, if any."
Baca said he helped his wife get under their table for cover and occasionally looked out to assess the situation.
"I could just see where we had already seen FBI Director Kash Patel and Secretary Hegseth," he said. "They were not far from us, and I poked my head out, seeing these people being ushered out by their security detail."
Video from inside the ballroom shows law enforcement at the exits as agents worked to secure the area.
"Security is blocking the doors right here," Baca says in his recording. "Won't let us out."
Nearly an hour passed before he and other guests were allowed to leave, unsure whether the threat had been fully resolved.
"It was probably the scariest moment I've ever experienced in my life," he said.
Authorities later said the suspect was taken into custody and faces federal charges, including attempted assassination of the president. A Secret Service agent was struck by gunfire but was protected by a bulletproof vest and survived.
Now back home, Baca said he is grateful for the rapid response by the Secret Service and local police, and struck by how journalists continued documenting the moment.
"I was just wildly impressed," Baca said. "I still get goosebumps thinking about those photos of the White House briefing room afterward — a room full of journalists in ball gowns and tuxes, the president in a tux. It was strange and surreal, and something we're going to remember for a very long time."
President Trump has said he wants the White House Correspondents Association to reschedule the dinner, potentially within the next 30 days. Baca said he would like to attend again if given the chance.
"It's one of the biggest nights of the year in D.C.; a big part of the social calendar," he said. "I'd like the opportunity to experience it the way it was intended."
