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Trump says he was shot in the ear during rally; one attendee and shooter are dead

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New details have emerged about the suspected shooter who injured former President Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania Saturday.

The shooter has been identified as a 20-year-old male from the Local Butler County area, according to multiple reports, citing the FBI.

Other details about the suspect, including his name have not been released.

Shots rang out just minutes after the former president took the stage in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The gunman who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump Saturday was identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, sources told The Post.

Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, was a registered Republican, according to the state's voter records, Andrew Goudsward and Jasper Ward report.

The Federal Aviation Administration said on Sunday that the airspace over Bethel Park was closed "effective immediately" for special security reasons.

It is 44 miles south of where the shooting happened, in Butler.

Republican lawmakers said they would launch swift investigations into how a sniper apparently managed to evade Secret Service agents and climb onto the roof of a building near where Trump was speaking at an election rally and fire multiple shots before being killed, Gram Slattery, Alexandra Ulmer and Joseph Tanfani reported.

Billionaire ally Elon Musk called for the agency's leadership to resign.

"How was a sniper with a full rifle kit allowed to bear crawl onto the closest roof to a presidential nominee," asked conservative activist Jack Posobiec on social media site X.

Republican House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson said on social media that the House will have "Secret Service Director KIMBERLY CHEATLE and other appropriate officials from DHS (Department of Homeland Security) and the FBI appear for a hearing before our committees ASAP."

The Secret Service said shortly after the shooting that it had begun an investigation and briefed Democratic President Joe Biden, though the agency did not immediately respond to additional requests for comment regarding its protocols.


Attendee Ben Maser was outside the rally perimeter, listening to Trump, when he noticed two officers seemingly looking for someone.

Maser, a 41-year-old welder, started scanning the area too.

"I saw the guy on the roof. I told the officer that he was up there. He went about looking for him," said Maser.

The attack is certain to lead to a review of Trump's security, and going forward he will likely be provided with a level of protection more akin to a sitting president, said Joseph LaSorsa, a former Secret Service agent who served on the presidential detail.

"There will be an intensive review" of the incident and "there's going to be a massive realignment," LaSorsa said. "This cannot happen."

The Secret Service said in a statement that it had recently added "protective resources and capabilities" to Trump's security detail, without providing further details.



Crooks, of Bethel Park, Pa., squeezed off shots — one of which grazed Trump in the ear — at an outdoor rally in Butler, just outside Pittsburgh.

Sources said Crooks was planted on the roof of a manufacturing plant more than 130 yards away from the stage at Butler Farm Show grounds.

Donald Trump was standing on a stage behind a podium, six minutes into his speech at an outdoor rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, talking about immigrants under a clear sky and in broiling heat.
Suddenly there was a volley of "pops" - what sounded like gunshots. Trump immediately clutched his right ear, looked at the blood on his hand, and then quickly dropped to the ground behind the podium.
The crowd screamed and those in the bleachers behind him crouched.
A half dozen Secret Service agents ran onto the stage and piled on and around Trump, who was kneeling behind the podium. Other law enforcement officers armed with rifles also took to the stage.
There was a second volley of apparent gunshots.
The Secret Service agents kept Trump on the ground for 25 seconds. Someone could be heard shouting: "Shooter is down!"
Someone else yelled: "Move!" as many in the crowd continued to scream.
The agents raised Trump to his feet, his red "Make America Great Again" baseball cap no longer on his head, his hair disheveled, his ear bloodied, and streaks of blood smeared on his face.
"Let me get my shoes. Let me get my shoes," Trump said, as the agents lifted him from the ground. He then said: "Wait, wait, wait", before he started pumping his fist.
One agent raised his arm above Trump's head, to shield it from more potential shots.
Trump continued to pump his fist towards the crowd, mouthing "fight." Many in the crowd began chanting "USA, USA".
As the Secret Service agents surrounded Trump and moved him to a nearby black SUV, Trump continuously raised his fist as they pushed him into the vehicle, to more chants of "USA!"
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump holds a campaign rally in Butler
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump is assisted by U.S. Secret Service personnel after gunfire rang out during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, U.S., July 13, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
Shane Chesher, 37, who had been sitting directly behind Trump, said, "It sounded like pop, pop, pop. I thought it was a prank, like fireworks. Then I watched it get real very quickly when President Trump went down and Secret Service came in and more shots went off."
He said children close to him were screaming. "Everyone started panicking. It was chaos."
Chesher, who came from his hometown of Pittsburgh for the rally and handles maintenance at a church, said the sight of terrified children around him prompted him to say the Lord's Prayer. Once he started, others joined in.
"It was such a powerful moment. I think it gave people a lot of peace."
An eyewitness told the BBC he saw the shooter climb on the roof of a low-rise building just outside the security perimeter with a rifle and shout to nearby police officers to alert them to the potential threat. Police initially seemed confused and did not immediately respond to the warning, he said.
"Next thing you know, five shots rung out," he said.
"Secret Service blew his head off. They crawled up on the roof, they had their guns pointed at him, made sure he was dead, he was dead, and that was it, it was over."
Ben Maser was outside the rally perimeter, listening to Trump, when he noticed two officers seemingly looking for someone. Maser, a 41-year-old welder, started scanning the area too.
"I saw the guy on the roof. I told the officer that he was up there. He went about looking for him," said Maser.
Maser said he could not describe the man on the roof but saw he was wearing a grey T-shirt.
Jim Moore, 57, was in the grandstand behind the stage when the shots were fired. He said a man about five rows up from him was shot and went down. He said agents came and escorted him behind the grandstand, where they tended his wounds.
"The guy right behind us got shot. After they got Trump out of the way, they took him and walked him down - he was walking - they took him behind the bleachers and laid him down," said Moore, who is from Beaver County, Pennsylvania.
Two women in their seventies sitting near the stage told Reuters they saw two people go down in the bleachers after the shooting and police tending to them.
The attack on Donald Trump raised questions about how the Republican presidential candidate is protected on the campaign trail and what caused the apparent security lapses at Saturday's rally.
While information about the incident is still sparse, at least one person interviewed by the BBC said he had tried to alert police and the U.S. Secret Service, to no avail, to an apparent sniper climbing onto a nearby roof outside the security perimeter of the rally venue in Butler, Pennsylvania.
As a former president and the Republican presidential candidate, Trump is protected primarily by the Secret Service.
During most of Trump's campaign stops, local police aid the Secret Service in securing the venue. Agents from other agencies within the Department of Homeland Security, such as the Transportation Security Administration, occasionally help.
It is no easy task. Many Trump rallies feature thousands of audience members, take place in the open air, and last for hours.
Before the event, agents scan the venue for bombs or other threats, and Trump invariably arrives in a fortified motorcade.
Law enforcement officials typically put up barriers as a perimeter and require all attendees to go through a metal detector to enter the venue. Armed protective agents search all attendees' bags and even wallets. Many rallygoers are patted down by hand.
Saturday's attack, however, appeared to have been committed by a gunman located outside the secured perimeter, according to initial media reports.
A local resident who was present at the Saturday event and asked to remain anonymous said he saw what appeared to be two Secret Service agents perched on a nearby roof ahead of the event. He said the agents had been scanning the area with binoculars beforehand.
"They kept looking over to the left behind the event before Trump came on stage. They seemed very focused on that area,” said the attendee.
The Secret Service said shortly after the shooting that it had begun an investigation and briefed Democratic President Joe Biden, though the agency did not immediately respond to additional requests for comment regarding its protocols.
The Pennsylvania State Police referred questions to the Secret Service, which did not immediately respond.
In the moments after Trump was injured, the former president was quickly surrounded by Secret Service personnel who formed a human shield, while heavily armed agents in body armor and toting rifles also took to the stage and appeared to scan the area for threats.

Republican and Democratic leaders, as well as some international friends and foes, expressed shock Saturday night following the news that gunfire had broken out during a Donald Trump campaign rally in Pennsylvania — and relief that the former president had survived the attack.

Notable officials, including former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, praised the fast action of the Secret Service and expressed gratitude that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee appeared to be OK.

“As one whose family has been the victim of political violence, I know firsthand that political violence of any kind has no place in our society. I thank God that former President Trump is safe,” former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. “As we learn more details about this horrifying incident, let us pray that all those in attendance at the former President’s rally today are unharmed.”

Pelosi’s husband was bludgeoned with a hammer in 2022 by a man who broke into their home.

Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., said he had spoken to his father on the phone and “he is in great spirits.” “He will never stop fighting to save America, no matter what the radical left throws at him,” Trump Jr. said in a statement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on X: “Sara and I were shocked by the apparent attack on President Trump. We pray for his safety and speedy recovery.”

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who has an adversarial relationship with Trump, said during a campaign event broadcast on state television that he wished Trump a speedy recovery: “May God bless the people of the United States and give them peace and tranquility. We have been adversaries, but I wish President Trump health and long life, and I repudiate that attack.”

Obama, Trump’s immediate predecessor in the White House, shared the views of others who have held the presidency, writing on social media: “There is absolutely no place for political violence in our democracy. Although we don’t yet know exactly what happened, we should all be relieved that former President Trump wasn’t seriously hurt, and use this moment to recommit ourselves to civility and respect in our politics. Michelle and I are wishing him a quick recovery.”

President Joe Biden said: “There’s no place in America for this type of violence. It’s sick. It’s sick.”

Bush praised the Secret Service for their “speedy response” to the violence. “Laura and I are grateful that President Trump is safe following the cowardly attack on his life,” Bush wrote on X.

Photos: Shooting at Donald Trump rally in Pennsylvania

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U.S. Secret Service agents converge to cover Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Sen. John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat, blasted the violence in his home state.

“I am appalled and condemn in the strongest terms this violence in Butler,” he wrote on X. “I extend my condolences to those injured and wish a speedy and full recovery for Mr. Trump.”

The messages of concern and relief were mixed with accusations that Biden was responsible and the beginning of calls that the criminal cases against Trump be stopped.

Trump was convicted in New York in May on 34 charges in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor who said the two had sex. He is awaiting trials in federal courts in Washington, D.C., and state court in Georgia on allegations of plotting to overturn a lost election, and a federal case in Florida that accuses him of illegally stowing classified documents at his Florida estate.

Posting on X, Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee called for “President Biden to immediately order that all federal criminal charges against President Trump be dropped, and to ask the governors of New York and Georgia to do the same.”

At least one Republican House member, Rep. Mike Collins of Georgia, laid the blame on Biden, saying, “The Republican District Attorney in Butler County, PA, should immediately file charges against Joseph R. Biden for inciting an assassination.” Collins, a freshman member of Congress from a district east of Atlanta, has a history of provocative social media statements.

Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, who has been identified as a potential vice presidential running mate for Trump, said on X that the violence was “not just some isolated incident. The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”

Donald Trump was shot in the ear during a Saturday campaign rally, streaking the Republican presidential candidate's blood across his face and prompting his security agents to swarm him, before he emerged and pumped his fist in the air, appearing to mouth the words "Fight! Fight! Fight!"





The shooter was dead, one rally attendee was killed and two other spectators were injured, the Secret Service said in a statement. The incident was being investigated as an assassination attempt, a source told Reuters.
Trump, 78, had just started his speech when the shots rang out. He grabbed his right ear with his right hand, then brought his hand down to look at it before dropping to his knees behind the podium before Secret Service agents swarmed and covered him. He emerged about a minute later, his red "Make America Great Again" hat knocked off, and could be heard saying "Wait, wait," before agents ushered him into a vehicle.
"I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear," Trump said on his Truth Social platform following the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, about 30 miles (50 km) north of Pittsburgh. "Much bleeding took place."
The shooter's identity and motive were not immediately clear. Leading Republicans and Democrats quickly condemned the violence.
The Trump campaign said he was "doing well." Bloomberg reported he had been released from the hospital.
The shooting occurred less than four months before the Nov. 5 election, when Trump faces an election rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden. Most opinion polls including those by Reuters/Ipsos show the two locked in a close contest.
Biden said in a statement: "There’s no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it."
Biden spoke with Trump following the shooting, a White House official said.
Republican U.S. Representative Ronny Jackson of Texas told Fox News his nephew had been wounded at the rally.
The shooting raised immediate questions about security failures by the Secret Service, which provides former presidents including Trump with lifetime protection.

WITNESS ACCOUNT

Ron Moose, a Trump supporter who was at the rally, described the chaos: "I heard about four shots and I saw the crowd go down and then Trump ducked also real quick. Then the Secret Service all jumped and protected him as soon as they could. We are talking within a second they were all protecting him."
Moose said he then saw a man running and being chased by officers in military uniforms. He said he heard additional shots but was unsure who fired them. He noted that by then snipers had set up on the roof of a warehouse behind the stage.
The BBC interviewed a man who described himself as an eyewitness, saying he saw a man armed with a rifle crawling up a roof near the event. The person, who the BBC did not identify, said he and the people he was with started pointing at the man, trying to alert security.
Item 1 of 12 Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump gestures with a bloodied face as multiple shots rang out during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, U.S., July 13, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
[1/12]Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump gestures with a bloodied face as multiple shots rang out during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, U.S., July 13, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
The shots appeared to come from outside the area secured by the Secret Service, the agency said. The FBI said it had taken the lead in investigating the attack.
Reuters Graphics
Reuters Graphics

REPUBLICANS, AND DEMOCRATS DECRY VIOLENCE

Trump is due to receive his party's formal nomination at the Republican National Convention, which kicks off in Milwaukee on Monday.
"This horrific act of political violence at a peaceful campaign rally has no place in this country and should be unanimously and forcefully condemned," Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said on social media.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he was horrified by what happened and was relieved Trump was safe. "Political violence has no place in our country," he said.
Biden's campaign was pausing its television ads and halting all other outbound communication, a campaign official said on Saturday.
Americans fear rising political violence, recent Reuters/Ipsos polling shows, with two out of three respondents to a May survey saying they feared violence could follow the election.
Some of Trump's Republican allies said they believed the attack was politically motivated.
"For weeks Democrat leaders have been fueling ludicrous hysteria that Donald Trump winning re-election would be the end of democracy in America," said U.S. Representative Steve Scalise, the No. 2 House Republican, who survived a politically-motivated shooting in 2017. "Clearly we’ve seen far-left lunatics act on violent rhetoric in the past. This incendiary rhetoric must stop."
Hardline Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said, "Democrats wanted this to happen. They’ve wanted Trump gone for years and they’re prepared to do anything to make that happen."
Trump, who served as president from 2017-2021, easily bested his rivals for the Republican nomination early in the campaign and has largely unified around him the party that had briefly wavered in support after his supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, attempting to overturn his 2020 election defeat.
The businessman and former reality television star entered the year facing a raft of legal worries, including four separate criminal prosecutions. He was found guilty in late May of trying to cover up hush money payments to a porn star, but the other three prosecutions he faces -- including two for his attempts to overturn his defeat -- have been ground to a halt by various factors including a Supreme Court decision early this month that found him to be partly immune to prosecution.
Trump contends without evidence that all four prosecutions have been orchestrated by Biden to try to prevent him from returning to power.
Republican U.S. Senate candidate David McCormick, who was seated in the front row at the rally, said he had started to go up on stage when Trump said he would have him come up later.
"Within a minute or two, I heard the shots ... It was clear it was gunfire," he told Reuters in an interview. "It felt like it was an assassination attempt ... It was terrifying."

Reporting by Nathan Layne, Brendan McDermid and Soren Larson in Butler and Jeff Mason in Washington, Pennsylvania; additional reporting by Jarrett Renshaw, John Kruzel, Daniel Wallis, Jasper Ward, David Morgan, Trevor Hunnicutt, Rami Ayyub and Caitlin Webber; Writing by Susan Heavey and Scott Malone; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Daniel Wallis

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