Donald Trump has been shot with an AR-style rifle in an assassination attempt on his life. Image adapted from: Wikimedia Commons & Gage Skidmore via Flickr.
Former American president Donald Trump has been shot following an assassination attempt on his life during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday.
Live footage of the incident shows Trump was shot midspeech with Secret service agents leaping on him after several shots were fired.
Before rushing off stage, Trump pumped his fist in the air, mouthing the words: “Fight, fight, fight.”
The Secret Service spokesperson, Anthony Guglielmi, said on X that the former Republican president was “safe”, and that they have shot the gunman down.
Trump said on social media that the bullet “pierced the upper part” of his 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,” he continued.
“Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening.”
Amid the panic, several other people were also either injured or killed.
One audience member, identified as the retired fire chief Corey Comperatore, died while shielding his daughters from the gunfire.
Two other attendees, who were shot and critically injured, are now in stable condition.
The FBI later identified the gunman as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.
Their investigation is still ongoing, but said they found multiple explosives in Crook’s car and home.
Authorities said Crooks shot Trump from a nearby roof outside the venue.
“The roof was less than 164 yards from where Trump was speaking, a distance from which a decent marksman could reasonably hit a human-sized target,” the AP’s Scott Bauer said on X.
Investigators recovered an AR-style rifle at the scene, sources told the AP.
The deceased shooter’s motives remain unknown, said US President Biden.
“I urge everyone, everyone please, don’t make assumptions about his motives or affiliations,” he said.
“Let the FBI do their job and their partner agencies do their job.”
António Guterres, a spokesperson for the UN secretary general, called the shooting an “act of political violence”.
Biden also condemned the incident in a televised address.
“The bottom line is, the Trump rally … should have been able to be conducted peacefully without any problem,” Biden said.
“But the idea … that there’s political violence … in America like this is just unheard of. It’s just not appropriate. Everybody must condemn it.”
Trump has vowed to remain “defiant in the face of wickedness” and urges his countrymen to “stand United, and show … True Character as Americans, remaining Strong and Determined, and not allowing Evil to Win”.
Trump said on his social media platform, Truth social, that he will continue his campaign following the incident, refusing to allow a shooter, or potential assassin, to “force change to scheduling, or anything else”.
He is expected to receive his party’s presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention on Thursday.
