From NBC News:
BUTLER, Pa. — Former President Donald Trump was injured Saturday in an assassination attempt when a gunman opened fire at his campaign rally, killing one spectator and bloodying Trump’s ear.
The shooter, who appeared to take an elevated position on a rooftop outside the venue, is dead. Another two spectators were critically injured. Trump’s campaign said he was safe.
The FBI identified the shooter as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. A motive was not immediately clear.
In a harrowing and chaotic scene, Trump was about six minutes into his remarks in western Pennsylvania when pops of gunfire rang out. The Republican presidential contender grabbed his right ear and then got to the floor, where he was immediately swarmed by Secret Service agents who piled on top of him to protect him.
The agents then helped Trump to his feet, surrounded him, and rushed him off stage and to a waiting vehicle. Trump — with blood on the side of his head and his ear — repeatedly pumped his fist in the air and waved as the crowd cheered.
Trump said in a post on Truth Social about 2½ hours later 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,” Trump wrote. “Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening.”
Trump thanked law enforcement in his online statement and extended condolences to the families of the people killed and injured.
“It is incredible that such an act can take place in our Country,” he wrote.
The shots were fired from outside the Secret Service security perimeter for the rally, according to three senior U.S. law enforcement officials.
Reporters saw smoke and heard what they initially thought were fireworks before everyone ducked and law enforcement encircled Trump.
Screams rang out from the audience as the scene unfolded.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said in a statement shortly after 11 p.m. that Trump “has now left the Butler area.”
A doctor attending the event told NBC News that he saw a man suffer a gunshot wound to the head and helped carry him from the site of the rally. Speaking in a parking lot near the event, a mother and her son who were attending the rally told NBC News that they saw people in the crowd who were injured and carried away. And in the hours after the shooting, Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, said in an interview on Fox News that his nephew was grazed on his neck by a bullet at the rally.
People remained at the scene for 10 to 15 minutes after Trump was taken away, after which they were told it was an active crime scene and all attendees were escorted out.
Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said Trump “thanks law enforcement and first responders for their quick action during this heinous act.”
“He is fine and is being checked out at a local medical facility,” Cheung said. “More details will follow.”
Here is a link to this report on the NBC website.
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