Bloodied Donald Trump carried from stage after deadly shooting at rally

Donald Trump has described how a “bullet ripped through his skin” at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday night, after a gunman fired a volley of bullets at him from a nearby roof.

The Republican nominee, 78, dropped to the ground amid the sound of shots and screaming a few minutes into his address to thousands of supporters.

A bullet appeared to have grazed his ear, and blood dripped down his face as he was led away by US Secret Service agents with one arm lifted defiantly in the air.

Witnesses reported that a man armed with a rifle had climbed on a nearby roof as the former president delivered remarks at his last rally before the Republican National Convention on Monday.

One audience member was killed in the attack, and two others were injured. 

The gunman, who was identified by the FBI as Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old man from Pennsylvania, was shot dead by Secret Service snipers moments after he opened fire.

The FBI confirmed that the incident was an assassination attempt against Trump. 

The former president, who was assessed by doctors at a nearby medical centre, said he had been hit but not seriously hurt.

“I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear,” he wrote on Truth Social, his online platform. 

“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 realised then what was happening. GOD BLESS AMERICA!”

As he was ushered away, he said: “Fight! Fight!”

Joe Biden, the US president, spoke to Trump by phone on Saturday evening and gave a brief statement from his home state of Delaware, where he had been spending the weekend. 

“There’s no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it,” he said, describing the attack as “sick”.

“It’s one of the reasons we have to unite this country,” he added.

A Secret Service spokesman said an immediate investigation had been launched, and the Butler Farm Show Grounds near Pittsburgh, where the assassination attempt took place, has been designated a crime scene.

Graphic images circulating on social media show the apparent shooter lying dead on the roof of a nearby building. The New York Times reported that he appeared to have been carrying an AR15-style assault rifle.

Wearing a red Make America Great Again cap, the former president was discussing a chart detailing border crossing numbers when gunshots were heard.

Trump appeared to grab his ear amid the sound of bangs and screams from audience members.

He was then seen ducking behind the podium as terrified audience members scrambled to the ground behind him.

Secret Service agents instantly swarmed around him, while officers carrying rifles stalked the stage.

Officers could be heard shouting “shooter’s down, we’re good to move” before Trump was helped up to his feet, his hair dishevelled.

Sir Keir Starmer joined world leaders in condemning the attack.

“I am appalled by the shocking scenes at president Trump’s rally and we send him and his family our best wishes”, the Prime Minister said.

“Political violence in any form has no place in our societies and my thoughts are with all the victims of this attack.”

Barack Obama called for “civility and respect” in US politics, and said he and his wife Michelle wished Trump a “quick recovery”.

“There is absolutely no place for political violence in our democracy,” he said.

“Although we don’t yet know exactly what happened, we should all be relieved that former president Trump wasn’t seriously hurt, and use this moment to recommit ourselves to civility and respect in our politics.”

However, some Republicans immediately blamed Mr Biden for the attack, accusing him of whipping up opposition to his political rival.

JD Vance, who is one of the front-runners to be Trump’s running mate, said the fatal shooting was “not just some isolated incident”.

“The central premise of the Biden campaign is that president Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to president Trump’s attempted assassination,” he said.

Mike Collins, a GOP congressman from Georgia, called for Mr Biden to be prosecuted.

The incident came ahead of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Monday, where Trump will formally receive the party’s nomination for the 2024 presidential race.

Donald Trump Jr, Trump’s eldest son, posted a photo on X, formerly Twitter, of Trump, his fist raised and his face bloody in front of an American flag, with the words: “He’ll never stop fighting to Save America.”

Eric Trump, another of the former president’s sons, posted the same image, remarking: “This is the fighter America needs!”

The incident raised immediate questions about the security protocols at the event. 

As a former president, Trump is entitled to protection from the US Secret Service, and all attendees at his rallies are screened with metal detectors.

However, eyewitnesses said the shooter was stationed on a nearby roof, outside of the security perimeter. 

Video footage of the shooting appears to show that Secret Service snipers noticed the gunman only after he had fired the first shots.

One witness, who was not inside the rally, told the BBC he had tried to alert police officers to the shooter for several minutes before he opened fire.

“We noticed a guy bear crawling up the roof of the building beside us, 50ft away from us,” he said.

He said he was “100 per cent sure” the shot had come from the man on the roof who was then killed by Secret Service agents.

“They crawled up on the roof, they had their guns pointed at him [and] made sure he was dead. He was dead, and that was it, it was over,” he said.

Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, said he would hold an evidence session for officials responsible for Trump’s security to brief Congress.

They include Kimberly Cheatle, the director of the Secret Service, and other officials from the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI.

Ms Cheatle was among the officials that briefed Mr Biden on the incident on Saturday night.

The White House said that the president would return to Washington in light of the attempt on Trump’s life, while the Biden-Harris campaign said they would pull all political ads immediately.

Trump received an outpouring of support in the hours after the attack, including from Elon Musk, the billionaire Tesla chief executive, who used the moment to officially endorse him for the first time.

Sharing a video of the moment Trump pumped his fist on the air, he wrote: “I fully endorse president Trump and hope for his rapid recovery.”

The incident is expected to have a major impact on the 2024 election, after weeks of national polls that show Trump is narrowly ahead of Mr Biden in terms of public support.

Following his shooting in 1981, shortly after taking office, Ronald Reagan received a poll boost of eight percentage points.

A US Secret Service spokesman said: “An incident occurred the evening of July 13 at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania.

“The Secret Service has implemented protective measures and the former president is safe. This is now an active Secret Service investigation and further information will be released when available.”