The former US president was shot in the ear but is unharmed. The suspect is dead, as is a participant in the rally.
ADVERTISEMENTFormer US President Donald Trump was the target of an assassination attempt on Saturday at a rally in Pennsylvania, days before he was due to accept the Republican presidential nomination.
Gunfire sparked panic, and a bloodied Trump, who said he was shot in the ear, was surrounded by Secret Service members providing security for the event and rushed into his SUV as he raised his fist in defiance.
Donald Trump’s campaign team said he was running “GOOD” after the shooting, which he said pierced the upper part of his right ear.
“I knew right away that something was wrong because I heard a whistle, gunshots, and I immediately felt the bullet go through the skin. I bled a lot.”he wrote on social media.
The FBI on Sunday identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. The agency said the investigation remains active and ongoing.
One participant was killed and two spectators were seriously injured, authorities said. All were identified as men. The Secret Service said it killed the suspected shooter, who reportedly attacked from a high position outside the rally site.
It was the most serious assassination attempt on a president or presidential candidate since the 1981 assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan. It has drawn renewed attention to concerns about political violence in a deeply polarized United States less than four months before the presidential election. It could also change the tenor and security arrangements for the Republican National Convention, which is set to begin Monday in Milwaukee.
US President Joe Biden, who is running against Donald Trump, was briefed on the incident and spoke with his political opponent several hours after the shooting, the White House said.
“There is no place in America for this type of violence”Joe Biden said in a public address. “It’s a disease. It’s disgusting.”
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