Former President Donald Trump was shot in the ear Saturday evening while speaking onstage at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in an incident that’s being investigated as an assassination attempt from a shooter on a roof near the rally site.
Trump was in the middle of delivering his rally speech – turned toward the right with his hands on his lectern – when the sound of multiple gunshots suddenly rang out at approximately 6:15 p.m. ET.
Trump grabbed his right ear and dropped to the ground as Secret Service agents told him to get down and rushed to the stage, protecting the former president while several more gunshots could be heard.
While Trump remained on the ground, there was one last round of shots and loud screams from the crowd. About 45 seconds after the former president was shot, agents were heard on the rally microphone saying, “Shooter’s down.”
“Are we good to move?” one agent asked.
“We’re clear!” a Secret Service agent said as Trump was lifted to his feet.
The agents prepared to move Trump offstage into his nearby SUV, but he told them to wait. Trump lifted his fist in the air, prompting a loud cheer from the crowd at the rally, and he mouthed the word “fight” three times while pumping his fist. The crowd then chanted “USA!” as the former president was taken down the stairs by several agents and into his vehicle.
One of the rally attendees was killed in the shooting, and and two rally-goers were critically injured, according to the Secret Service.
The shocking episode that threatened Trump’s life raises grave questions about security and how the former president was shot at, with lawmakers already calling for an investigation into the Secret Service’s handling of Saturday’s rally. The shooting comes right before Trump is set to accept the 2024 presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention this coming week.
President Joe Biden condemned the shooting, saying it was “sick,” in remarks from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, on Saturday evening, and the White House said he later spoke to Trump by phone.
Shooter fired multiple times outside the rally venue
A law enforcement source and a police officer at the scene told CNN that the shooter was positioned on a building rooftop just outside the venue where Trump was holding his rally, located to the right of the event stage. There was a heavy law enforcement presence around the building.
The shooting is being investigated as a possible assassination attempt, according to law enforcement officials.
Video posted to social media showed the suspected Trump shooter lying down on the roof of a building, appearing motionless. Multiple law enforcement sources have referred to this individual as a sniper, although additional details are not yet clear.
The Secret Service said the shooter fired “multiple shots toward the stage from an elevated position outside of the rally venue.” The shooter was killed by Secret Service agents, the agency said in a statement.
Trump posted on Truth Social later Saturday evening, describing the shooting and thanking the Secret Service and law enforcement for their response.
“I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear. I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening. GOD BLESS AMERICA!” Trump wrote.
‘It was a bloody scene’
Rep. Dan Meuser, a Pennsylvania Republican, was sitting in the front row of Trump’s rally with Pennsylvania GOP Senate candidate Dave McCormick and Rep. Mike Kelly. The congressman told CNN the spectator, who was fatally shot and killed, was “no more than 20 feet behind” them.
“Everybody started, certainly, screaming, asking for a medic, and honestly, it was a bloody scene,” Meuser said.
Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger said he was told by his chief detective that the shooter was on a building adjacent to the property.
“It would have required a rifle,” he said. “It was several hundred yards.”
Rico Elmore, a former Pennsylvania legislative candidate who was a speaker at Saturday’s rally, had blood all over his white shirt and was walking away from the rally stage as he spoke to CNN and described jumping over the barrier and putting his hand on the head of an attendee who was shot and bleeding.
“All we know is shots were fired and then I jumped over the barrier and put my hand on the guy’s head that was profusely bleeding,” Elmore said. He said he didn’t know the attendee and he was “just a stranger.”
Elmore was visibly shaken up but said he was not harmed. He said he only saw one attendee hit and did not see what happened to Trump.
Source: CNN
