BUTLER, Pa. — Former President Donald Trump is recovering Saturday after a shooting at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania that left a rally-goer and the gunman dead, authorities said.
Two people were critically injured in the incident, according to the U.S. Secret Service.
Shortly after Trump took the stage at about 6 p.m. ET, several loud pops could be heard, and Secret Service agents whisked him off the stage, blood visible on his face. Trump briefly pumped his fist at the crowd before he left the stage. Video from the incident appeared to show Trump reacting to something hitting his ear. Saturday’s event was to be Trump’s final campaign rally before he formally accepts the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nomination at next week’s Republican National Convention.
Trump posted to his verified account on the Truth Social platform at 8 : 42 p.m. and appeared to confirm he was shot.
“I want to thank The United States Secret Service, and all of Law Enforcement, for their rapid response on the shooting that just took place in Butler, Pennsylvania. Most 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 another person that was badly injured,” Trump wrote. “It is incredible that such an act can take place in our Country. I was shot with a bullet that 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. GOD BLESS AMERICA!”
Anthony Guglielmi, chief of communications for the U.S. Secret Service, said in a statement that “a suspected shooter fired multiple shots toward the stage from an elevated position outside of the rally venue.”
“U.S. Secret Service personnel neutralized the shooter, who is now deceased,” Guglielmi said. “U.S. Secret Service quickly responded with protective measures and Former President Trump is safe. One spectator was killed, and two spectators were critically injured. This incident is currently under investigation. and the Secret Service has notified the FBI.”
Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger said on CNN that he shooter was “outside of the grounds, so to speak. Quite frankly I don’t know how he would have gotten to the location he was … we’re gonna have to figure out how he got there.”
President Joe Biden condemned the shooting in a brief statement from Delaware.
“There’s no place in America for this kind of violence,” Biden said.
“It’s sick, it’s one of the reasons we have to unite this country,” he added. “We cannot allow for this to be happening. We cannot be like this, we cannot condone this.”
Biden said he had tried to contact Trump and that the former president was with his doctors and appeared to be doing well.
Officials with the FBI and Pennsylvania State Police said their agencies were assisting the U.S. Secret Service in the investigation.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said on X he had been briefed on the situation.
“Violence targeted at any political party or political leaders is absolutely unacceptable,” Shapiro wrote. “It has no place in Pennsylvania or the United States.”
GOP U.S. Senate candidate David McCormick, who spoke at the rally before Trump, told Fox News there were a number of shots, and Secret Service agents attended to Trump. He said it was difficult to tell where the shots came from, but he said he heard seven or eight shots.
“And then, sadly, someone behind me, up in the bleachers was definitely wounded, and there was a lot of blood,” he said. “And, you know, the police came in and helped carry that person out of this fan so they could get the care they needed.”
McCormick said he was sitting in the front row, to Trump’s right as he was facing the crowd. “I couldn’t tell whether it was one gun or two, but there were seven or eight shots, just one right, one right after another.”
As Trump rallied in western Pennsylvania on Saturday, first lady Jill Biden was also in the region to attend an Italian Sons and Daughters of America dinner in Pittsburgh. And in the eastern half of the commonwealth, Vice President Kamala Harris was in Philadelphia to deliver the keynote address at the Asian Pacific Islander American Vote Presidential Town Hall on Saturday.
Saturday’s appearance in the Keystone State was Trump’s fifth visit to Pennsylvania this year.
Butler is a reliably red county where Trump won by double digits in the 2016 and 2020 general elections. Trump’s rally in Butler a few days before the 2020 presidential election was well-attended, although there were transportation issues for those attempting to exit the rally.
Biden also been no stranger to Pennsylvania, making 10 appearances the state so far, mostly in the southeast. Biden campaigned through the state last Sunday, appearing at a traditionally Black church in Northwest Philadelphia, and speaking to supporters in Philadelphia and Harrisburg.
This story was produced by Pennsylvania Capital-Star, a States Newsroom affiliate, used under a creative commons license from kansasreflector.com.
