Trump injured in shooting at Pennsylvania rally

“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!” Trump wrote.

The shooting is being investigated as a possible assassination attempt, according to law enforcement officials.

The shooter was killed by the Secret Service, the agency said in a statement. A rally attendee was also killed, and two others were critically injured.

“During Former President Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on the evening of July 13 at approximately 6:15 p.m., 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. U.S. Secret Service quickly responded with protective measures and Former President Trump is safe,” Secret Service chief spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.

Three law enforcement sources said that the shooter was outside the venue at the Trump rally. Two of those sources said that the shooter was on a roof outside of the venue. Multiple law enforcement sources have referred to this individual as a sniper, although additional details are not yet clear.

Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger said he was told by his chief detective that the shooter was on a building adjacent to the property and had no additional details on the person.

“It would have required a rifle,” he said. “It was several hundred yards.”

President Joe Biden was briefed in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, on the shooting. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Homeland Security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall were part of the team briefing the president.

Biden spoke from Rehoboth Beach Saturday evening, saying he had been “thoroughly briefed” on the incident and was trying to reach out to Trump to speak with him.

“There’s no place in America for this kind of violence – it’s sick, it’s sick,” Biden said. “It’s one of the reasons why we have to unite this country. We cannot allow for this to be happening. We cannot be like this. We cannot condone this.”

Rico Elmore, a former Pennsylvania legislative candidate who was a speaker at Saturday’s rally, had blood all over his white shirt and was walking away from the rally stage as he spoke to CNN and described jumping over the barrier and putting his hand on the head of an attendee who was shot and bleeding.

“All we know is shots were fired and then I jumped over the barrier and put my hand on the guy’s head that was profusely bleeding,” Elmore said. He said he didn’t know the attendee and he was “just a stranger.”

Elmore was visibly shaken up but said he was not harmed. He said he only saw one attendee hit and did not see what happened to Trump.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle quickly weighed after the shooting Saturday expressing their horror, condemning the political violence. Leaders around the world sent their well wishes to the former president.

“I have been briefed by law enforcement and am continuing to monitor the developments. This horrific act of political violence at a peaceful campaign rally has no place in this country and should be unanimously and forcefully condemned,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement.

“I am 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,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.