Former President Donald Trump was rushed off stage in the middle of a campaign rally on Saturday after the sounds of gunfire rang out in the crowd.
The shots rang out while Trump was speaking in Butler, Pennsylvania. The Associated Press reported that "Trump could be seen reaching with his right hand toward his neck. There appeared to be blood on his face."
Trump's campaign quickly issued a statement saying that the former president was "fine" and that he was being checked by medical professionals.
In video from the scene of the incident, Secret Service agents can be seen swarming Trump. As Trump leaves the stage surrounded by the agents, he can be seen pumping his fist in the air. Videos and photos from the scene showed Trump reach toward his right ear as the shots rang out. As he exited the stage, Trump seemed to have blood on his face from a possible wound on the side of his head.
A few hours later, Trump posted on Truth Social that "a bullet…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."*
In a statement to CNN issued shortly after the incident, the Secret Service said Trump was "safe" and said an investigation is ongoing. Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger confirmed to multiple news outlets that the shooter is dead, along with an audience member.
In a longer statement on Saturday night, the Secret Service confirmed that a single shooter "fired multiple shots" towards Trump "from an elevated position outside of the rally venue." The Secret Service also confirmed that one attendee at the rally was killed in the shooting and two others were critically wounded.
"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," President Joe Biden said in a statement on Saturday night. "There's no place for this kind of violence in America."
Reports from the scene suggest that the shooter was positioned on the roof of a building adjacent to the rally venue in Butler, Pennsylvania, a midsized town just north of Pittsburgh. Unnamed law enforcement officials told the Associated Press that the incident is being investigated as an assassination attempt. That would make this the first attempted assassination of a president or former president since Ronald Reagan was targeted in 1981.
It should go without saying that political violence along the lines of what may have happened in Pennsylvania on Saturday is abhorrent.
*UPDATE: This post has been updated to include statements from Trump, Biden, the Secret Service, and to include new information throughout.
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