Watch: Trump rally shooting being investigated as assassination attempt leaves spectator dead
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump gestures while surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents
Law enforcement agents were investigating what they suspected was an attempt to assassinate Donald Trump after a man with a rifle fired shots at him during a campaign rally on Saturday in Butler county, Pennsylvania.
The Secret Service spokesperson, Anthony Gugliemi, said on X that “the former president [was] safe” following several shots, which prompted agents protecting Trump to leap on him amid the ensuing panic. Gugliemi said Secret Service agents then fatally shot the suspected attacker – who had fired toward Trump “from an elevated position outside of the rally venue”, Gugliemi said.
One spectator was killed and two others were critically wounded.
The FBI later identified the shooter as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, the Associated Press reported.
Officials have not publicly disclosed a possible motive.
A public records database showed a Bethel Park man with the same name and age registered to vote as a Republican in 2021.
In a pair of statements, Trump said he was “fine” after a bullet hit “the upper part of [his] right ear”.
The former president also issued thanks to the Secret Service agents as well as other law enforcement officers for “their rapid response” in a Truth Social post in the shooting’s aftermath.
“Mostly importantly, I want to extend my condolences to the family of the person at the rally who was killed and also to the family of [those] badly injured,” said Trump, who was taken to a hospital for evaluation and then reportedly released about 10.20pm local time.
“It is incredible that such an act can take place in our country.”
Mr Trump added: "Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers yesterday, as it was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.
“We will fear not, but instead remain resilient in our faith and defiant in the face of wickedness.
“Our love goes out to the other victims and their families. We pray for the recovery of those who were wounded, and hold in our hearts the memory of the citizen who was so horribly killed.
“In this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand united, and show our true character as Americans, remaining strong and determined, and not allowing evil to win.
“I truly love our country, and love you all, and look forward to speaking to our great nation this week from Wisconsin. DJT”
Video from NBC News captured more than a dozen shots, with later ones apparently coming from agents protecting the president, who had been speaking on stage at the time.
A voice could be heard saying: “Get down, get down, get down!” Agents arrived to throw themselves on top of Trump as the gunfire continued and screams were heard from the crowd.
Audio from the network captured agent’s voices saying: “Shooter’s down. Shooter’s down. Are we good to move? We’re clear, we’re clear.” As agents tried to move Trump off the stage at the rally, he said: “Let me get my shoes. Let me get my shoes.” Agents can be heard telling the former president: “I got you. Hold on. Your head is bloody. We’ve got to move.” Trump replied: “Wait, wait.”
He then pumped his fist, mouthed the words: “Fight, fight, fight.” And the crowd at the rally responded with cries of: “USA! USA! USA!” Armed troops in uniform soon arrived as some spectators shouted abuse at the media.
Agents then whisked Trump away from sight.
Video showed blood on Trump’s ear. There were also snipers on a roof near the stage where Trump was standing, the Reuters news agency reported.
NBC News, citing two senior law enforcement officials, reported there was growing concern among investigators that the shooting at the Trump rally “may have been a serious attempt on his life”.
The local district attorney, Richard Goldinger, appeared on CNN and said he wasn’t sure how the suspected shooter “would’ve gotten to the location where he was”.
“That’s something we’re going to have to figure out – how he got there.”
The BBC, meanwhile, interviewed a Trump supporter who said he was outside the rally site and had been trying to get close enough to hear the former president speak when he saw a man carrying a rifle climb on to the roof of a building.
The man said he pointed out the building in question to police and remarked: “There’s a guy on the roof with a rifle.”
But none of the police reacted, and about two minutes later, the man fired five or so shots toward Trump.
At that point, the man told the BBC, Secret Service agents shot the attacker to death. “They blew his head off,” the man said.
Investigators recovered an AR-style rifle at the scene, the AP reported, quoting a law enforcement source.
The AP reportedly geolocated a video posted to social media which showed the body of a person lying motionless on the roof of a building at AGR International, a manufacturing plant just north of Saturday’s Trump rally.
“The roof was less than 165 yards from where Trump was speaking, a distance from which a decent marksman could reasonably hit a human-sized target,” the AP’s Scott Bauer wrote on X.
Joe Biden said on X that he had been briefed on the reported shooting.
“I’m grateful to hear that he’s safe and doing well,” the president said of Trump, with whom he reportedly spoke on Saturday night. “I’m praying for him and his family and for all those who were at the rally, as we await further information.” In a televised address, Biden urged widespread condemnation of political violence.
“The bottom line is, the Trump rally … should have been able to be conducted peacefully without any problem,” Biden said.
“But the idea … that there’s political violence … in America like this is just unheard of. It’s just not appropriate. Everybody must condemn it.”
I have been briefed on the shooting at Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania.
— President Biden Archived (@POTUS46Archive) July 13, 2024
I’m grateful to hear that he’s safe and doing well. I’m praying for him and his family and for all those who were at the rally, as we await further information.
Jill and I are grateful to the Secret…
The scenes from the rally prompted a flood of reactions, including among Trump’s fellow Republicans.
The US House speaker, Mike Johnson, wrote on X that his congressional chamber would “conduct a full investigation of the tragic events today”.
“The American people deserve to know the truth,” Johnson said, pledging that the House would summon officials from the Secret Service, homeland security and FBI for hearings as soon as possible.
Former Republican president George W Bush said he was “grateful” that Trump was “safe following the cowardly attack on his life”.
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