BUTLER, Pa. (AP) — Immediately after an attempt to kill him, former President Donald Trump on Sunday called for unity and resilience as shocked leaders across the political divide recoiled from the shooting in which he was injured but ‘fine’.
A former fire chief who was attending the rally with family was killed, as was the shooter. Two other people were also seriously wounded.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee said the top part of his right ear was pierced the shootingHis staff said he was in “excited mood” and doing well.
“I knew something was wrong right away, I heard a whooshing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet rip through my skin,” he wrote on his social media site. “There was a lot of bleeding.”
In a subsequent social post on Sunday, Trump said that “it was only God who prevented the unthinkable from happening.”
“At this time, it is more important than ever that we stand united and show our true character as Americans, remain strong and determined, and not allow evil to win,” his message said.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro on Sunday identified the slain participant as Corey Comperatore, a former area fire chief, and said he “died a hero.”
“His wife told me he went to his family to protect them,” Shapiro said, declining to comment on the condition of two others who were injured.
The FBI identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, which is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the shooting scene. An FBI official said investigators had not yet determined a motive.
Secret Service agents fatally shot Crooks. The gunman struck from an elevated position outside the rally site at a farm show in Butler, the agency said. The community is about 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of Pittsburgh.
Law enforcement officials told The Associated Press that bomb material was found in the vehicle of the man suspected in the Trump rally shooting. Bomb material was also found in his home. The two officials were not authorized to disclose details of the investigation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
Investigators believe the gun Crooks used was purchased by his father at least six months ago, law enforcement officials said. Federal agents were still trying to determine when and how his son obtained the weapon and to gather additional information about Crooks, officials said.
Crooks’ political leanings weren’t immediately clear. Records show Crooks was a registered Republican voter in Pennsylvania, but federal campaign finance reports also show that on Jan. 20, 2021, the day President Joe Biden was sworn in, he gave $15 to a progressive political action committee.
Authorities told reporters that Crooks had no identification on him, so they used DNA and other methods to confirm his identity. According to a person familiar with the case, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation, law enforcement found an AR-style rifle at the scene.
The worst assassination attempt since 1981
The attack was the worst attempt to kill a president or presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981. It has refocused concerns about political violence in a deeply polarized U.S. less than four months before the presidential election. And it could change the tone and security posture at the Republican National Convention, which begins Monday in Milwaukee.
Organizers said the conference would proceed as planned.
Trump flew to New Jersey after a visit to a local hospital in Pennsylvania, landing at Newark Liberty International Airport shortly after midnight. Video footage posted by an aide showed the former president exiting his private jet flanked by Secret Service agents and heavily armed members of the agency’s counterassault team, an unusually visible show of force by his protective detail.
Biden, who is running against Trump, said the two men had a “brief but good” conversation Saturday night. Biden cut short a weekend at his beach house in Rehobeth Beach, Delaware, to return to Washington, where he said during an address Sunday afternoon that “there is no place for this kind of violence in America.”
“We cannot let this happen,” Biden said, adding that he had ordered an independent investigation into security at the meeting. Biden said he would speak again from the Oval Office on Sunday evening.
Many Republicans were quick to blame Biden and his allies for the violence, arguing that continued attacks on Trump as a threat to democracy have created a toxic environment. They pointed in particular to a comment Biden made to donors on July 8, in which he said, “it’s time to put Trump in the crosshairs.”
Officials said the counterassault team killed the gunman. The heavily armed tactical team travels with the president and major party nominees and is meant to counter active threats, while other Secret Service agents focus on protecting and evacuating the person at the center of the protection.
An AP analysis of more than a dozen videos and photos from the Trump rally scene, as well as satellite images of the location, shows the shooter was able to come surprisingly close to the podium where the former president spoke.
A video posted on social media and located by the AP shows the body of a person lying motionless on the roof of a building at AGR International, a manufacturing facility just north of the Butler Farm Show grounds where Trump’s rally was held.
The rooftop where the person was lying was less than 150 meters (164 yards) from where Trump was speaking, a distance at which a decent sniper could reasonably hit a human target. For reference, 150 meters is the distance at which U.S. Army recruits are required to hit a scaled human silhouette to qualify with the M-16 rifle. The AR-15, like the one the shooter at the Trump rally was carrying, is the semi-automatic civilian version of the military’s M-16.
The distance from which Crooks fired and his clothing led to early speculation that the shooter had military experience. However, all branches of the military searched their records Sunday and said in response to an AP query that they had no record of his service.
When asked at a press conference whether police didn’t know the shooter was on the roof until he started shooting, Kevin Rojek, the agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh office, replied that “that is our assessment at this time.”
“It is surprising” that the shooter was able to open fire on the stage before the Secret Service killed him, he added.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, whose department oversees the Secret Service, said officials were engaged with the Biden and Trump campaigns and “took every possible measure to ensure their safety and security.”
A meeting disrupted by gunfire
Trump displayed a graph of border crossing numbers as the gunfire began after 6:10 p.m.
When the first pop sounded, Trump said, “Oh,” and raised his hand to his right ear, looking at it, before quickly sitting down on the floor behind his lectern. The people in the stands behind him also crouched down as screams rang out through the crowd.
Someone could be heard at the microphone saying, “Get down, get down, get down, get down!” as officers rushed to the podium. They climbed on top of the former president to shield him with their bodies while other officers took up positions on the podium to search for the threat.
Then, voices were heard several times saying, “The shooter is down,” before someone asked, “Are we ready to go?” and “Are we safe?” Then someone commanded, “Let’s go.”
In the video, Trump could be heard saying at least twice, “Let me get my shoes,” while another voice said, “I got you, sir.”
Trump stood up moments later and was seen reaching for his face, which was covered in blood, with his right hand. He raised his fist in the air and appeared to mutter the word “fight” twice to his supporters, prompting loud cheers and then chants of “USA. USA. USA.”
His motorcade left the venue shortly afterward. Video footage showed Trump turning to the crowd and raising a fist in the air just before he was put into a vehicle.
In a statement Sunday, former first lady Melania Trump said that when she saw her husband injured, “I realized that my life, and Barron’s, were about to undergo devastating change,” referring to their son. She said she was grateful to the Secret Service agents and other law enforcement officials, and offered her “heartfelt condolences” to the families of the other victims.
Witnesses heard several gunshots and took cover
When the shooting started, “everybody got down on their knees or in their prone position, because we all knew. Everybody became aware that this was gunfire,” said Dave McCormick, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, who was seated to Trump’s right onstage.
When he saw Trump raise his fist in the air, McCormick looked over his shoulder and saw that someone had been punched while he was sitting in the stands behind the podium, he said.
Eventually, emergency workers were able to carry the injured person out of the large crowd so he could receive medical attention, McCormick said.
Reporters covering the rally heard five or six shots, and many took cover under tables. After the first two or three blasts, people in the crowd seemed startled but not panicked. An AP reporter at the scene reported that the noise initially sounded like fireworks or perhaps a car returning fire.
When it became clear that the situation was under control and Trump would not speak again, the audience slowly left the room.
Police quickly told those who remained to leave the scene, and Secret Service agents told reporters to “leave now. This is a live crime scene.”
Political violence shakes America awake again
The dangers of campaigning took on new urgency after the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in California in 1968, and again in 1972 when Arthur Bremer shot and seriously wounded George Wallace, who was running as an independent on a platform that has sometimes been compared to Trump’s. That led to greater protection for candidates even as the threats continued, notably against Jesse Jackson in 1988 and Barack Obama in 2008.
Presidents, especially since the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, have even more layers of security, and Trump is a rarity, both as a former president and current candidate.
Republican Rep. Mike Kelly, who represents the area where the shooting occurred, was at the rally with his wife and grandchildren and was standing right behind Trump when he was wounded. Kelly said he was “in a state of bewilderment about how and what has happened to the United States of America.”
“I just want people to — slow down a little bit,” he said. “Stop looking for someone to blame. The blame is somewhere in the psyche of America.”
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Colvin, Balsamo and Price reported from New York. Long reported from Washington. Tucker reported from Westport, Conn. Associated Press writers Will Weissert, Michael Biesecker, Alanna Durkin Richer, Lisa Mascaro and Tara Copp in Washington, and Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pa., contributed to this report.