A shooting at Donald Trump‘s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania is being investigated as an attempted assassination of the former president and presumptive Republican nominee, law enforcement officials say.
Other than Trump, two people were critically injured and one was killed. All were adult males.
The attack came amid a febrile election race, laden with personal insults and barbs over their records in office.
The FBI says it will be the lead law enforcement agency investigating the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.
The bureau says it will be working with the Secret Service and local and state law enforcement.
Attorney General Merrick Garland has said the ATF, the US attorney’s office in the Western District of Pennsylvania and the Justice Department’s national security division are also investigating
One attendee was killed and two were critically injured. Trump said on social media that a bullet “pierced the upper part” of his right ear before agents whisked him off stage.
The Secret Service said it killed the suspected shooter, who attacked from an elevated position outside the rally venue.
The FBI named Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the subject involved in the assassination attempt. The agency said the investigation remains active and ongoing.
Kevin Rojek, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Pittsburgh field office, said late Saturday: “Tonight we had what we’re calling an assassination attempt on our former president, Donald Trump.”
“We do not currently have an identified motive,” he added.
The FBI was not prepared to release the identity of the shooter, who died at the scene.
Rojek said they received no specific threats ahead of the shooting.
Asked if law enforcement did not know the shooter was on the roof until he began firing, Rojek responded, “that is our assessment at this time.”
“It is surprising” that the shooter was able to get off as many rounds as were fired, Rojek said. He added that “all the details of that will come out later investigation.”
Asked whether there was anything about the venue that made it particularly difficult to secure, State Police Lt. Col. Bivens deferred to the Secret Service, which was not present at the news conference.
Bivens said he wouldn’t speculate when asked “how close a call” it was for Trump.
State Police have identified the person killed and people injured but are not prepared to release names, State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro also said Trump had left the area of Butler, where the rally was held.
Shapiro said Trump was “under the protection of US Secret Service and with the assistance of the Pennsylvania State Police.”
“Lori and I are thankful that his team reports that he is fine and we continue to wish him a full and speedy recovery,” the governor added.
The Republican speaker said the House will conduct a full investigation of the attack, saying, “The American people deserve to know the truth.”
“We will have Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle and other appropriate officials from DHS and the FBI appear for a hearing before our committees ASAP,” Johnson said.
The White House said President Biden spoke with former President Donald Trump on Saturday evening.
No further details were provided on the call.
Rep. Dan Meuser was in the front row with other Republican elected officials and candidates when the shots rang out.
“It was pretty clear after the first pop that it was gunfire,” he told AP.
“My eyes were glued” on Trump he said.
“It was just a lot of mayhem, and just a terrible, terrible tragedy, a terrible shame.”
Meuser said he had been able to meet with Trump earlier in the evening and said the former president was “loose” and “cool,” and joking with him.
The congressman said he appreciated the outpouring text and calls from Republican and Democratic colleagues – including the Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro checking on him – but still felt angry and even a “little helpless” about the situation.
“The level of lack of civility and hostility, maybe this will send a ringing signal to all those to cool it,” he said.
The President Joe Biden arrived early Sunday after cutting short a weekend trip to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware to receive briefing at the White House.
President Joe Biden has condemned the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, calling on all Americans to denounce such “sick” violence.
The US president was quick to call for unity in the hours after a gunman shot Trump in the ear, killed one member of the crowd and injured two others at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The gunman was shot dead by Secret Service agents.
In a statement issued within an hour of the attack, Mr Biden said there was “no place in America for this. We must unite as one nation to condemn it. It’s sick, it’s sick”.
Seeking to present a united front, Mr Biden said in televised comments from his home in Delaware that “everybody must condemn” the violent scenes in Butler.
“We cannot allow for this to be happening. We cannot be like this. We cannot condone this,” he added.
He said he was “grateful to hear that he’s safe and doing well. I’m praying for him and his family and for all those at the rally. Jill [Biden] and I are grateful to the Secret Service for getting him to safety.”
The White House later said Mr Biden spoke to his Republican election rival by telephone after he had left hospital, while Biden campaign managers said they were pulling television adverts as quickly as possible in the wake of the attempt on Trump’s life.
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