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Trump shot in ear and survives, shooter and bystander killed at rally

By Associated Press 4 min read
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Former President Donald Trump was shot in the ear by a sniper during a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday. Trump survived the shooting, while a bystander and the shooter were killed. Associated Press photo

A shooting at Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania is being investigated as an attempted assassination of the former president and presumptive Republican nominee, law enforcement officials say. Trump, the former president of the United States, said he was shot in the ear.

A shooter is dead and an attendee was killed. Two attendees are critically injured. Trump’s campaign says he is “fine” after being whisked off the stage and is being checked out at a local medical facility.

The Secret Service said in a statement that “the former President is safe.”

Butler County district attorney Richard Goldinger said in a phone interview that the suspected gunman was dead and at least one rally attendee was killed.

Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, was showing off a chart of border crossing numbers during his last rally before the Republican National Convention opens Monday when bangs started ringing through the crowd.

As the first pop rang out, Trump said, “Oh,” and grabbed his ear as two more pops could be heard and he crouched down.

Someone can be heard saying near the microphone at Trump’s lectern, “Get down, get down, get down, get down!” as agents tackled the former president.

Trump could later be seen reaching with his right hand toward his face. There appeared to be blood on his face.

He quickly ducked behind the riser as agents from his protective detail rushed the stage and screams were heard in the crowd of several thousand people. The bangs continued as agents tended to him on stage.

The crowd cheered as he got back up and pumped his fist.

His motorcade has since left the venue. His condition was not immediately known.

Police began vacating the fairgrounds shortly after Trump left the stage in what local officers described as a crime scene.

Law enforcement recovered an AR-style rifle at the scene, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person was not authorized to discuss details of the investigation.

State Police have identified the person killed and people injured but are not prepared to release names, State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said.

Other than Trump, two people were critically injured and one was killed. All were adult males.

President Joe Biden was briefed on the incident, the White House said. He received an updated briefing from Kimberly Cheatle, the director of the United States Secretary Service, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and White House Homeland Security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall.

In a statement after the incident, Biden called the shooting “sick.”

Biden said “There’s no place in America for this kind of violence.”

Chet Jack, a member of the state Republican Party and former Butler County Republican chairman, and his wife Beth were sitting in the bleachers facing Trump when they heard the shots.

Beth ducked after hearing the shots, feeling relieved for a moment when she thought it had ended — then she heard a second round of shots, which she guessed might have been aimed at the shooter.

“I couldn’t see what happened with President Trump, because the minute I heard a shot, I yelled, ‘Everybody get down!'” Beth said. “I knew that was a shot.”

The couple said they were within feet — less than 10 yards — of a man who was shot in the bleachers.

“Right after he got shot, everybody started screaming, ‘Medic!'” Beth said. “It was just hard because so many people were down, and you’re scared to death but at the same point, you want to know that he’s okay. But they did get somebody there right away.”

“There was a lot of blood,” Chet said.

While Beth and the crowd ducked for cover, Chet said he remained standing, looking for the shooter. He said he believed the shots were coming from above, and that ducking wouldn’t protect him.

“You can’t let these guys — these maniacs — terrify you,” he said.

This was the first attempted assassination of an American president since former President Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981 and survived.