Suspected assassination attempt on Trump at rally; gunman killed
Former United States President Donald Trump was the target of a suspected assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday, just days before he was to accept the Republican nomination for the third time. Visuals from the rally show a bleeding Trump surrounded by Secret Service agents before being hustled to his SUV as he raised his fist in a show of defiance. The shooter, identified only as a white male, has been killed.
Shooter neutralized, Trump and spectators injured
The Secret Service confirmed that the shooter "fired multiple shots toward the stage from an elevated position outside of the rally venue" before being "neutralized" by agents. The assailant in light-colored military fatigues fired as many as eight rounds from an AR-style rifle from a rooftop adjacent to the venue. Besides Trump, one spectator was killed and two others critically injured in this incident.
Visuals from the rally
Bullet grazed his ear
Trump's campaign said he was "fine" following the shooting, which pierced the upper part of his right ear. "I knew immediately that something was wrong....I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place," the GOP nominee wrote on his social media site. A source told Reuters that the incident is being investigated as an attempted assassination. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) will be leading the investigation into the shooting.
No place in America for this type of violence: Biden
Meanwhile, Trump's Democratic rival and President Joe Biden called the shooting "sick" and said "there's no place in America for this type of violence." Indian PM Narendra Modi also strongly condemned the attack "on my friend," adding, "Violence has no place in politics and democracies." The incident was the most serious assassination attempt on a president or presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan was shot at by a gunman in 1981, which left him seriously wounded.
