Shooter opens fire at Trump during rally
Shooter opens fire at Trump during rally
A gunman opened fire at former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally Saturday, injuring him and causing him to be rushed offstage in a dramatic scene just days before he’s set to be nominated as the Republican presidential nominee.
Few details are known about the shooting or the shooter, who was “neutralized” by the Secret Service, the agency said. Another member of the audience was also killed. Trump, who was rushed to the hospital, says he is “fine.” Video during the incident showed blood flowing from around 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 wrote on social media. “Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening. GOD BLESS AMERICA!””
Law enforcement officials have told multiple news outlets the shooting is being investigated as an assassination attempt.
FBI Special Agent Kevin Rojek said investigators are “close” to confirming the identity of the suspect in Saturday’s “assassination attempt” against former President Donald Trump — but that they do not yet have “an identified motive.”
“At this time, we are not prepared to identify who the shooter is,” Rojeck said. “We are close to that identification, and as soon as we are 100% sure who that individual is, we will share that information.”
He added that “it’s a matter of doing biometric confirmations… trying to run his DNA.”
Information about the shooter’s motive, however, might take longer to nail down.
“We do not have an identified motive, but investigators are working tirelessly to identify what that motive was,” Rojeck said.
Asked whether the shooter was a “lone wolf,” Lt. Col. George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police said that “we have one shooter tentatively identified, but we’re not stopping there. It will be some time before we can conclusively answer that question.”
Bivens also confirmed that apart from the suspected shooter, who was killed at the scene, one adult male victim was killed and two other adult males were “critically wounded.” Bivens declined to identify the victims because extended family members were still being notified.
Pressed repeatedly for more details, Rojek said “there’s going to be a long investigation into exactly what took place and how the individual was able to get access to the location, what type of weapon he had — all that is really days, weeks and months of investigation.”
“But he got off four or five shots,” a reporter responded.
