A man fired “multiple shots” toward the stage during former President Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday evening, killing one spectator and critically injuring two others, according to the Secret Service.
Trump was rushed off the stage, blood visible around his right ear. He was taken to a hospital, and the Secret Service said he was “safe.” The Secret Service also said its personnel had killed the shooter.
“This evening we had what we are calling an assassination attempt against our former president, Donald Trump,” Kevin Rojek, a special agent at the FBI, said during a news conference at the Butler Township Police Department.
Here’s what we know about the shooting.
The former president
Trump ducked quickly after the shots began and as members of the crowd began to scream. Secret Service agents then rushed Trump off the stage. As he was escorted to his motorcade, Trump, whose face and right ear were bloodied, pumped his fist in a defiant gesture to the crowd.
He later said in a post on Truth Social, his social media platform, that he had been “shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear.”
In his social media post, Trump wrote, “I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening.”
There was no immediate statement from medical personnel on the former president’s injuries or condition. Later that night, an aide to the former president posted a video on social media that showed him walking off his plane unaided after he had landed in New Jersey. His injured ear was out of camera view.
The Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee said that the former president would attend the Republican convention in Milwaukee, which is scheduled to begin Monday.
The suspected shooter
The Secret Service said the shooter had fired “from an elevated position outside of the rally venue.” An analysis by The New York Times suggested that the gunman had fired eight shots.
Law enforcement officials recovered an AR-15-type semiautomatic rifle from a deceased white male they believe was the gunman, according to two law enforcement officials.
In a statement, the FBI identified the man as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. Authorities said they were still trying to uncover his motive.
The Secret Service has not said how it killed the shooter. It wasn’t immediately clear if he had any accomplices.
(Eric Lee | The New York Times) Audience members react as a person is injured at a rally for former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pa., on Saturday, July 13, 2024.
The casualties
Michael T. Slupe, the Butler County sheriff, said the spectator who was killed was an adult male who was probably attending the rally with his family. Slupe said the man had been in the bleachers when he was shot and that he believed the man had died at the scene.
The two people who were critically injured were taken by helicopter to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, according to Dan Laurent, a hospital spokesperson. Authorities did not immediately release further information on the spectators’ injuries.
Rep. Ronny L. Jackson, R-Texas, Trump’s former White House doctor, said on social media that his nephew had been injured at the rally.
The young man was treated at the rally’s medical tent and released, Jackson wrote on the social platform X, saying that “his injury was not serious and he is doing well.”
The scene
The shooting happened as Trump was holding a large outdoor rally on the grounds of the Butler Farm Show in Butler, a town of 13,000 people, about 34 miles north of Pittsburgh. Trump had been showing supporters a chart about the number of border crossings just minutes into his speech when the shots rang out. Attendees screamed, “Get down, get down!” and “Shots fired!” The Secret Service quickly cleared the press area, moved the crowd out and declared the area a crime scene. There was confusion as the crowd dispersed. Some Trump supporters held hands and prayed and then chanted “USA!”
The reaction
World leaders and elected officials across the United States, Republican and Democrat, forcefully condemned the shooting as an affront to democracy.
President Joe Biden, in a nationally televised statement, expressed gratitude that Trump had been swiftly evacuated and said, “There’s no place in America for this kind of violence.” He later spoke to Trump, according to the White House. The Biden campaign said it was pulling down its television ads as a sign that it was putting politics aside in the aftermath of the shooting.
Former President Barack Obama called on Americans to “use this moment to recommit ourselves to civility and respect in our politics.” Republicans also deplored the violence, with Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky saying: “Tonight, all Americans are grateful that President Trump appears to be fine after a despicable attack on a peaceful rally.”
It was unclear Sunday morning how a would-be assassin had managed to open fire in the vicinity of a presidential candidate, raising questions about security preparations and potential failures.
The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability said that it would be investigating the attempted assassination and that Rep. James R. Comer, R-Ky., chair of the panel, had asked Kimberly Cheatle, the director of the Secret Service, to testify at a hearing July 22.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
