A suspected gunman who opened fire during a rally Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania, for former President Donald Trump was fatally shot by a Secret Service sniper, authorities said.
One rally attendee was killed and two more were critically wounded, the Secret Service said in a statement Saturday night.
The suspect was shot and killed by a member of a Secret Service counter-assault team, two law enforcement sources told CBS News. The gunman was outside of the cordoned-off rally area about 200 to 300 feet from the rally, and was standing on an elevated structure believed to be a shed, the two sources said. The shooter was armed with an AR-style rifle, law enforcement sources said.
Several shots rang out while Trump was speaking on stage at about 6:15 p.m. local time. Video showed the former president immediately touch his ear and then crouch to the ground, with his Secret Service agents rushing the stage. Some blood could be seen on his face as he stood up and held up his fist to the crowd. He was rushed out to his motorcade and the Secret Service later confirmed that he was safe.
It is still being determined if Trump was struck by a bullet or debris, a law enforcement source said. In a post to his Truth Social platform, Trump said he was “shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear.”
He went on: “I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin.”
Authorities are investigating the shooting as an attempted assassination, law enforcement sources told CBS News. At this point, the Secret Service is leading that investigation with the FBI assisting, sources said.
Rep. Mike Kelley of Pennsylvania, who was standing backstage watching Trump speak, told CBS News, “I believe a lady who was next to me was hit, other people were hit.”
Dr. Jim Sweetland, an emergency room physician who was at the rally and witnessed the shooting, told CBS News by phone that he administered first aid to a man who had sustained a gunshot wound to the head.
“He was shot in the head, his body was twisted around and wedged between two benches that were in the stands,” Sweetland said. “He was not breathing, he did not have a pulse. He appeared gravely ill.”
With the help of three people, Sweetland said he was able to get the victim onto a bench and then began administering CPR and chest compressions.
“There was a lot of blood that was spilt on the stands where he lay, as well as brain matter,” Sweetland said.
Two Pennsylvania State Police troopers then approached, gathered up the victim and took him, presumably to an ambulance, Sweetland said.
Republican Senate candidate David McCormick, who was in the front row of the rally, also saw one person shot.
“It was really hard to tell, there was a lot of blood, so it wasn’t clear where the bullet had struck him, and how severe the wound was,” McCormick told CBS News. “He looked to be unconscious, but even that’s not entirely clear to me.”
The shooting comes just two days before the start of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
This is a developing story and will be updated.