Minutes before gunfire erupted outside the White House Correspondents' Dinner, Gabriel Allen was faced with an unthinkable decision: reporting his own brother to police over his unhinged anti-Trump screeds. 

But the 25-year-old hero did indeed raise the alarm to New London, Connecticut police on Saturday after he and his family members received the disturbing, 1,052-word letter railing against the president, signed, 'Friendly Federal Assassin', from his older brother Cole, 31.

Shortly after, Cole, armed with a shotgun, a handgun and knives, exchanged gunfire with Secret Service agents as he allegedly tried to breach a checkpoint in the lobby of the Washington Hilton in an alleged bid to gun down Donald Trump and other administration figures.

As Cole Allen now faces grave federal charges, his younger brother Gabriel has been widely praised for his bid to halt the potential bloodbath, with friends and family telling the Daily Mail it tracks with the upstanding man they know him to be.

'Gabe is a pretty honest dude. He's very straightforward, thorough with his work and very easy to talk to,' said an ex-colleague Ewan, who worked with him at an ocean engineering firm until last summer.

Gabriel has yet to confide in his friend about the chain of events prior to his brother's arrest, but will likely be leaning heavily on his faith to cope with the fallout, added Ewan, who did not want his surname published.

As news of his heroics swept the globe, Gabriel went to ground as the media descended on the two-bedroom condo in New London, Connecticut, he moved into with partner Ashley in 2024.

But days after his brother's alleged attack, Gabriel seems determined to return to some semblance of normality – as he is pictured for the first time in exclusive Daily Mail photographs simply doing his laundry.

But the mild-mannered marine engineer shook his head and remained silent as a Daily Mail reporter asked him questions about his actions and his brother's arrest.

Friends and family members have told the Daily Mail that Gabriel will have been blindsided by his brother's alleged attack.

'I can imagine Gabe is going through a lot right now. He has always had a strong sense of right and wrong and never hesitates to do the right thing even when it is difficult,' said one friend, who did not want to be identified.

Indeed, Gabriel's intervention came amid major upheaval in his own life: he and wife Ashley, who wed last July, welcomed their first child - a baby girl – just two weeks ago, his parents-in-law Joel and Jennifer Devereux told the Daily Mail.

Like many new parents, Gabriel and Ashley are struggling to sleep, but the timing of his brother's alleged attack has caused them anguish at an already challenging time.

'It's very surprising seeing that from your brother, "Like what is going on?" 'You don't plan for something like that,' Mr Devereux said.

Praising his 'smart' and 'pretty awesome' son-in-law, Mr Devereaux suggested his call to police would have been second nature, adding: 'I think anybody would do that. Like "Hey, there's more stuff going on, I don't know what to do with this, let me go to police."'

Mrs Devereux said it 'wasn't easy' when Gabriel received Cole's manifesto, with her husband saying 'there hasn't been time' to discuss the situation with his daughter and son-in-law.

Mr Devereux revealed he met Cole at a wedding but didn't 'interact with him or know anything about his background.'

The accused shooter attended his brother's wedding to Ashley in Ledyard, Connecticut last July, according to social media photographs newly unearthed by the Daily Mail.

In one snap, the alleged gunman is pictured at the back of the room raising a glass of fizz in toast to the happy couple.

In another, he is pictured with his brother, parents and two sisters in a posed-up family picture.

Intriguingly, however, Cole was conspicuously absent from the bridal party and watched his brother get married from the pews.

While Ashley chose her husband's sisters, Avriana and Stephanie, to be among her four bridesmaids, Gabriel does not appear to have chosen his brother as a groomsman, instead being joined at the altar by four friends.

Gabriel is one of four high-achieving children raised in a tight-knit church-going family by their teacher mother, Kathy, and church leader father, Thomas, in the suburbs in Torrance, California.

He and sisters Avriana, 27, and Stephanie, 23, have amassed a string of accolades and academic achievements, neighbors previously told the Daily Mail.

Gabriel won a place to study naval architecture and marine engineering at the prestigious Webb Institute in New York, which admits fewer than 30 students a year.

Upon his graduation in 2023, he was hailed for his 'excellence' in his senior thesis, and lauded for his 'ethical behavior', and 'for working unselfishly and in harmony with classmates'.

Stephanie was an undergraduate at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California, when she joined a Department of Energy-funded team working on particle accelerators and dark matter.

She later worked at the National Accelerator Laboratory at Stanford, where she conducted experiments with electron beams used to help treat cancer, according to a write-up by the lab.

Avriana graduated from Northwestern University's prestigious Medill School of Journalism and worked as a web developer at nonprofit newsroom CalMatters, building interactive voter guides for the 2021 recall election, the 2022 midterms, and the 2024 presidential race.

She now works at the Pew Research Center in Washington, DC.

But their alleged shooter brother was no dunce either. He earned a master's degree in computer science and worked as a mechanical engineer and part-time tutor.

Prior to his alleged attack, Cole Allen was living with his parents, where according to his sister, Avriana, he had secretly stashed two guns.

She reportedly told Secret Service agents and Maryland police he had also vented extreme political views and plans to tackle his perceived problems with modern society.