BUTLER: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was shot in the right ear during a campaign rally on Saturday, sparking panic and streaking the former president’s blood across his face, before he emerged and pumped his fist in the air appearing to mouth the words "Fight! Fight! Fight!"
The shooter was dead, one rally attendee was killed and two other spectators were injured, the Secret Service said in a statement. The incident was being investigated as an assassination attempt, a source told Reuters.
"I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear," Trump said on his Truth Social platform following the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, about 30 miles (50 km) north of Pittsburgh. "Much bleeding took place."
"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 added.
"It is incredible that such an act can take place in our country."
Trump, 78, had just started his speech when the shots rang out. He grabbed his right ear with his right hand, then brought his hand down to look at it before dropping to his knees behind the podium before Secret Service agents swarmed and covered him. He emerged about a minute later, his red "Make America Great Again" hat knocked off, and could be heard saying "wait, wait," before agents ushered him into a vehicle.
The shooter's identity and motive were not immediately clear. Leading Republicans and Democrats quickly condemned the violence.
The shooting occurred less than four months before the Nov. 5 election, when Trump faces an election rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden.
Most opinion polls including those by Reuters/Ipsos show the two evenly matched.
Biden said in a statement: "There’s no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it."
Ron Moose, a Trump supporter who was in the crowd, described the chaos: "I heard about four shots and I saw the crowd go down and then Trump ducked also real quick. Then the Secret Service all jumped and protected him as soon as they could. We are talking within a second they were all protecting him."
Moose said he then saw a man running and being chased by officers in military uniforms. He said he heard additional shots, but was unsure who fired them. He noted that by then snipers had set up on the roof of a warehouse behind the stage.
The BBC interviewed a man who described himself as an eyewitness, saying he saw a man armed with a rifle crawling up a roof near the event. The person, who the BBC did not identify, said he and the people he was with started pointing at the man, trying to alert security.
The shots appeared to come from outside the area secured by the Secret Service, the agency said.
The former US President Trump was out of hospital following a shooting earlier in the day at his rally where he was shot in the right ear, Bloomberg reported.
Eaerlier his his campaign said that the republican presidential candidate was"fine" and being checked at a medical facility.
"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. More details will follow," said spokesman Steven Cheung in a statement.
The disturbance took place shortly after Trump took the stage at his final campaign rally before the Republican party convention starts on Monday in Milwaukee.
Trump will still attend next week’s Republican National Convention, his campaign said, after the US presidential candidate was shot and injured in an apparent assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania.
"President Trump looks forward to joining you all in Milwaukee as we proceed with our convention to nominate him to serve as the 47th President of the United States," said the campaign statement.
The apparent assassination attempt on Trump involved "multiple shots (fired) toward the stage from an elevated position outside the rally venue," the US Secret Service said.
"One spectator was killed, two spectators were critically injured," the agency said in a statement, adding the shooter has been killed, without giving further details.
"We saw a lot of people go down, looking confused. I heard the shots," said John Yeykal from Franklin, Pennsylvania, who was attending his first Trump rally.
US politicians reacted with shock to the incident.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he was "horrified by what happened at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania and relieved that former President Trump is safe."
"Political violence has no place in our country," he added.
Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell added: "Tonight, all Americans are grateful that President Trump appears to be fine after a despicable attack on a peaceful rally. Violence has no place in our politics."