A witness who was outside the rally in Pennsylvania where a shooter tried to assassinate Donald Trump on Saturday night said he tried to warn Secret Service agents to a man wielding a rifle, he spotted a “bear crawling” on the roof of a nearby building before gunshots echoed through the crowd.
“We’re pointing at the guy climbing up on the roof,” the witness, identified only as Greg, told reporters. BBC of the surreal moment. “We could clearly see him with a rifle.”
“I stood there pointing at him for two or three minutes,” he continued. “The Secret Service is watching us from the top of the barn, I’m pointing at the roof… and the next thing you know there are five gunshots.”
Former President Trump His rally in Butler was just minutes away when about 10 pops interrupted his speech, sending the crowd into chaos. The former president collapsed behind his podium, while supporters in red caps behind him screamed and tried to duck.
Secret Service agents immediately jumped onto the stage, eventually lifting Trump, whose face was dripping with blood. He raised his fist before officers helped him off the stage and into a security vehicle.
Trump has since said he is “Alright,” revealing in a graphic statement that he was “hit by a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear.”
“I immediately knew something was wrong as I heard a buzzing sound, gunshots and immediately felt the bullet tearing through the skin,” he said.
The shooting left one bystander dead and two others seriously injured. Law enforcement officials said a Secret Service sniper killed the shooter, who was outside the security perimeter.
The witness, who was wearing a red Trump 2024 visor, told the BBC that it was “absolutely” clear that the shooter – who he said was dressed in “soft colors” such as “tight, beige clothes” – was killed.
“The Secret Service blew his head off,” Greg said. “They went up on the roof, they pointed their guns at him to make sure he was dead, he was dead. And that’s it. It was over.”
Authorities are investigating the incident as an attempted assassination of the former president. The Independent called the Butler County Prosecutor’s Office for more information.
Others came forward to share their harrowing accounts of the chaos. Another witness, an emergency room doctor, recalled how he sprang into action to try to save a gunshot victim in the crowd.
“I heard the shots. To begin with, I thought they were cookies,” the doctor, who had blood stains on his shirt, said to a CBS News news reporter.
Someone was shouting “he was shot, he was shot”, so the doctor ran. The bystander was shot in the head and the doctor said he could see “brain matter.”
“The guy spun around and got stuck between the seats and got shot in the head here,” explained the doctor.
He then performed CPR and chest compressions on the man.
“I was the only one who did it,” he told CBS News. “There’s a helicopter coming to pick you up.”
Boston Globe reporter James Pindell said he noticed early on that Secret Service agents were pointing rifles at a location away from the crowd. But it was only when Trump was six minutes into his speech that there was a “loud popping noise.”
“When I looked up, the same officers were shooting in the same direction their weapons had been pointed the entire time. I knew they were shooting because I could see the smoke from their guns,” he wrote. “I had a clear view of the stage, but at that moment I was typing what Trump was saying. When I looked back at the podium, the agents appeared to have Trump on the ground, protecting him. Then other agents took the stage.”
He said the crowd was in complete “shock”, with most crouching down as they tried to take cover.
“After Trump was escorted to his car and people realized the rally was over and they were safe, the crowd turned on the media,” Pindell said. “The crowd was furious. Middle fingers were everywhere. They asked the press if they were happy and blamed the media. ‘You did it,’ they told reporters.”
