Eyewitnesses at former President Donald Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, described the scene after a shooting on Saturday left one person dead and two others injured in what is being investigated as a possible assassination attempt on Trump.
Rico Elmore, who spoke before Trump at the rally, told CNN how he leaped over a barricade to aid a bleeding individual after shots rang out.
"All we know is shots were fired, and then I jumped over the barrier and put my hand on the guy’s head that was profusely bleeding," Elmore said. Visibly shaken, he noted that he did not know the victim and was unharmed himself.
The shooting suddenly began as Trump addressed the crowd. In a post on Truth Social, Trump stated he was shot in the ear but was otherwise fine. The Secret Service reported that one rally attendee was dead, two others were critically injured, and the gunman, who fired from outside the venue, was “neutralized” by agents.
People present on the scene described the situation as one of panic and confusion after the shooting. Senate Republican candidate Dave McCormick, sitting in the front row, recalled that he saw the immediate attack on Trump and an injured person behind him.
"It was all of a sudden just chaos," McCormick said.
"The Secret Service immediately covered the president, jumped on top of him, and the crowd immediately went to the ground.”
“But you can imagine with that kind of incident happening, it’s very hard to know what’s coming. … It seemed like the shots were coming from my front – so the president’s left – which makes sense why the person behind me was hit. But I’m not sure if there were also shots coming from the other direction, so as you might imagine it was chaotic and confusing in the moment,” McCormick said.
Republican Rep. Dan Meuser, also in the front row, described the rapid succession of gunshots and the ensuing chaos. "Everybody started, certainly, screaming, asking for a medic, and honestly, it was a bloody scene," Meuser said. He praised Trump for standing up and giving a thumbs-up, which he said helped calm the crowd.
Joseph Meyn, a surgeon from Grove City, Pennsylvania, described how he helped carry a fatally wounded man out of the bleachers.
"Very shocking ... a lot of people just thought it was fireworks going off, I knew immediately it was gunfire," Meyn said. He added that he was filming Trump when he heard the shots and saw a man hit in the head, who died instantly.
The suspected shooter fired from a rooftop outside the rally venue, according to law enforcement sources. Photos from the scene showed Trump with an injury to his right ear and blood on his face. He was quickly ushered offstage by Secret Service agents.
In a statement, FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh assured that the new drone route would not impact beach safety. She emphasized that the city’s emergency departments were able to adjust quickly to the situation.
President Joe Biden, speaking from Rehoboth, Delaware, condemned the attack and stressed the need for national unity. "There is no place in America for this kind of violence," Biden said. "It's sick. It's one of the reasons we’ve got to unite the country."
