Trump rally attendees react to shooting: “I thought it was firecrackers”

[Pelican Press 0]

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Trump rally attendees react to *********: “I thought it was firecrackers”

Eyewitnesses at a rally of former President Donald Trump’s described a chaotic scene on Saturday after he was rushed off stage with blood visible on his face after shots were fired. 

The Secret Service issued a statement that Trump is safe, while the campaign said the former president is “fine.” His campaign says he is being checked at a local hospital. The person believed to be the shooter is *****, a law enforcement official said. One spectator was *******, and two spectators were critically injured, a spokesperson for the U.S. Secret Service said in a statement.

Reporters on the scene in Butler, Pennsylvania heard between eight and 10 popping sounds, prompting rallygoers and others to get down and take cover. Secret Service officers immediately swarmed the former president, and blood was visible on the risers to the left of where Trump had been standing.

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Former President Donald Trump is rushed off the stage at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., on July 13, 2024 after witnesses heard shots fired.

Gene J. Puskar / AP

An eyewitness told reporters that they heard the former president say “gotta get my shoes” to Secret Service officers as he was ushered off the stage. Trump was taken away in a motorcade and could be seen holding up a fist as he got into the vehicle. 

Another eyewitness who said he was an emergency room physician said he saw a man who he believed was shot in the head. 

“I heard the shots. I thought it was firecrackers to begin with. Somebody over there was screaming ‘he’s been shot, he’s been shot,’ so I made my way over,” the emergency room physician, who had blood on his shirt, told reporters. 

****** scene tape was promptly set up following the incident to the left of where Trump had been standing. People attending the rally were escorted out of the vicinity. Witnesses saw a helicopter land within a few minutes.

David McCormick, the GOP nominee for Senate in Pennsylvania who sat in the front row of the rally on Saturday, told CBS News that he couldn’t determine where the shots were coming from and whether Trump was directly hit. 

“Clearly it was an ******* on – an ******** on his life,” McCormick said. 

Scott MacFarlane

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Scott MacFarlane is a congressional correspondent. He has covered Washington for two decades, earning 20 Emmy and Edward R. Murrow awards. His reporting has resulted directly in the passage of five new laws.

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#Trump #rally #attendees #react #********* #thought #firecrackers

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