FILE - Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally, July 9, 2024, in Doral, Fla. Trump will have one last chance Saturday, July 13, to dramatically unveil his vice presidential pick on a rally stage before the Republican National Convention kicks off in Milwaukee next week. Trump's rally in western Pennsylvania, at the Butler Farm Show just outside Pittsburgh, comes as the former reality TV star and tabloid hound continues to tease his pick, working to drum up maximum attention. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
BUTLER, Pa. (AP) – Donald Trump was the target of an apparent assassination attempt Saturday at a Pennsylvania rally and said afterward that he was shot in the ear. The barrage of gunfire set off panic among thousands of attendees and a dramatic scene in which a bloodied Trump was surrounded by Secret Service and then escorted to his SUV as he pumped his first in a show of defiance.
Trump’s campaign said the presumptive GOP nominee was doing “fine” after the shooting, which he said 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. Much bleeding took place,” he wrote on his social media site.
Rallygoers screamed in panic. Shouts of “Get down!” rang through the crowd. At least one attendee was dead and two spectators were critically injured, authorities said. The Secret Service said it killed the suspected shooter – who it said attacked from an elevated position outside the rally venue, a farm show in Butler, Pennsylvania – and that Trump was safe.
The attack was the most serious attempt to assassinate a president or presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981. It came in a deeply polarized political atmosphere, just four months from the presidential elections and days before Trump is to be officially named the Republican nominee at his party’s convention – which his campaign said would proceed as planned.
“There’s no place in America for this type of violence,” President Joe Biden, who is running against Trump as the presumptive Democratic nominee, said in remarks. “It’s sick. It’s sick.”
Two officials spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation. They said the shooter was not an attendee at the rally and was killed by U.S. Secret Service agents.
The officials said the shooter was engaged by members of the U.S. Secret Service counterassault team. The heavily armed tactical team travels everywhere with the president and major party nominees and is meant to confront any active threats while other agents focus on safeguarding and evacuating the person at the center of protection.
Law enforcement recovered an AR-style rifle at the scene, according to a third person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation.
Many Republicans quickly blamed the violence on Biden and his allies, arguing that sustained attacks on Trump as a threat to democracy have created a toxic environment. They pointed in particular to a comment Biden made to donors on July 8, saying “it’s time to put Trump in the bullseye.”
There was no immediate information on the shooter or their motivations.
A rally disrupted by gunfire
Trump was showing off a chart of border crossing numbers when the apparent shots began just after 6:10 p.m. It took two minutes from the moment of the first shot for Trump to be placed in a waiting SUV.
As Trump was talking, a popping sound was heard, and the former president put his right hand up to his right ear, as people in the stands behind him appeared to be shocked.
As the first pop rang out, Trump said, “Oh,” and grabbed his ear as two more pops could be heard and he crouched down. More shots were heard then.
Someone could be heard saying near the microphone at Trump’s lectern, “Get down, get down, get down, get down!” as agents tackled the former president. They piled atop him to shield him with their bodies, as is their training protocol, as other agents took up positions on stage to search for the threat.
Screams were heard in the crowd of several thousand people. A woman screamed louder than the rest. Afterward, voices were heard saying “shooter’s down” several times, before someone asked “are we good to move?” and “are we clear?” Then, someone ordered, “Let’s move.”
Trump could be heard on the video saying at least twice, “Let me get my shoes, let me get my shoes,” with another voice heard saying, “I’ve got you sir.”
Trump got to his feet moments later and could be seen reaching with his right hand toward his face. There appeared to be blood on his face. He then pumped his fist in the air and appeared to mouth the word “Fight” twice his crowd of supporters, prompting loud cheers and then chants of “USA. USA. USA.”
The crowd cheered as he got back up and pumped his fist.
His motorcade left the venue moments later. Video showed Trump turning back to the crowd and raising a fist right before he was put into a vehicle.
Witnesses heard multiple gunshots and ducked for cover
“Everybody went to their knees or their prone position, because we all knew, everyone becoming aware of the fact this was gunfire,” said Dave McCormick, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, who was sitting to Trump’s right on stage.
As he saw Trump raise his fist, McCormick said, he looked over his shoulder and noticed someone had been hit while sitting in the bleachers behind the stage.
Eventually, first responders were able to carry the injured person out of a large crowd so he could get medical care, McCormick said.
Reporters covering the rally heard five or six shots ring out and many ducked for cover, hiding under tables. After the first two or three bangs, people in the crowd looked startled, but not panicked. An AP reporter at the scene reported the noise sounded like firecrackers at first or perhaps a car backfiring.
When it was clear the situation had been contained and that Trump would not be returning to speak, attendees started filing out of the venue. One man in an electric wheelchair got stuck on the field when his chair’s battery died. Others tried to help him move.
Police soon told the people remaining to leave the venue and Secret Service agents told reporters to get “out now. This is a live crime scene.”
Two firefighters from nearby Steubenville, Ohio, who were at the rally told the AP that they helped people who appeared injured and heard bullets hitting broadcast speakers.
“The bullets rattled around the grandstand, one hit the speaker tower and then chaos broke. We hit the ground and then the police converged into the grandstands, said Chris Takach.
“The first thing I heard is a couple of cracks,” Dave Sullivan said.
Sullivan said he saw one of the speakers get hit and bullets rattling and, “we hit the deck.”
He said once Secret Service and other authorities converged on Trump, he and Takach assisted two people who may have been shot in the grandstand and cleared a path to get them out of the way.
“Just a sad day for America,” Sullivan said.
“After we heard the shots got fired, then the hydraulic line was spraying all around, you could see the hydraulic fluid coming out of it. And then the speaker tower started to fall down,” Sullivan said. “Then we heard another shot that, you could hear, you knew something was, it was bullets. It wasn’t firecrackers.”
Political violence again shakes America
The perils of campaigning took on a new urgency after the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in California in 1968, and again in 1972 when Arthur Bremer shot and seriously hurt George Wallace, who was running as an independent on a campaign platform that has sometimes been compared to Trump’s. That led to increased protection of candidates, even as the threats persisted, notably against Jesse Jackson in 1988 and Barack Obama in 2008.
Presidents, particularly after the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, have even greater layers of security. Trump is a rarity as both a former president and a current candidate.
Biden was briefed on the incident, the White House said. He received an updated briefing from Kimberly Cheatle, the director of the United States Secretary Service, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and White House homeland security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall.
He told reporters after 8 p.m. that he hadn’t been able to reach Trump yet but was briefed that the former president was “doing well.”
“I hope I get to speak to him tonight,” he said.
Mayorkas, whose department oversees the Secret Service, said officials were engaged with the Biden and Trump campaigns and “taking every possible measure to ensure their safety and security.”
Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., posted a photo on X of Trump, his fist raised and his face bloody in front of an American flag, with the words: “He’ll never stop fighting to Save America.”
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the three men on Trump’s shortlist for vice president, all quickly sent out statements expressing concern for the former president, with Rubio sharing an image taken as Trump was escorted off stage with his fist in the air and a streak of blood on his face along with the words “God protected President Trump.”
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, said in a statement on X that he had been briefed on the situation and Pennsylvania state police were on hand at the rally site.
“Violence targeted at any political party or political leader is absolutely unacceptable. It has no place in Pennsylvania or the United States,” he said.
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Colvin, Balsamo and Price reported from New York. Long reported from Washington. Tucker reported from Westport, Connecticut. Associated Press writers Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington, Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Will Weissert in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, contributed to this report.
