BUTLER, Pa. — In the wake of an apparent attempt to kill him, former President Donald Trump on Sunday appealed for unity and resilience as shocked leaders across the political divide recoiled from the shooting that left him injured but “well.” ”.
A former fire chief who was attending the rally with his family was killed, as was the shooter. Two other people were also injured.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on Sunday identified the rally attendee who was killed as Corey Comperatore, a former area fire chief, and said he “died a hero.”
“His wife told me he dove into his family to protect them,” Shapiro said. He declined to discuss the condition of two other injured people.
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Trump said the top of his right ear was pierced in the shooting. His aides said he was “in great spirits” and doing well.
“I knew immediately something was wrong as I heard a buzzing sound, gunshots and immediately felt the bullet tearing through the 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 together and show our true character as Americans by remaining strong and determined and not allowing evil to win,” his post read.
The FBI identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, which is about 50 miles from the scene of the shooting. An FBI official said investigators have not yet determined a motive.
Secret Service agents fatally shot Crooks. The gunman attacked from an elevated position outside the rally site at an agricultural fair in Butler, the agency said.
One participant was killed and two spectators were seriously injured, authorities said. All were identified as men.
Law enforcement officials told the Associated Press that bomb-making materials were found inside the vehicle of the man suspected in the Trump rally shooting. Materials for making bombs were also found in his home. The two officials were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
Investigators believe the gun used by Crooks was purchased by his father at least six months ago, authorities said. Federal agents were still working to understand when and how his son obtained the gun and to gather additional information about Crooks, authorities said.
The bandits’ political leanings were not immediately clear. Records show Crooks was registered as a Republican voter in Pennsylvania, but federal campaign finance reports also show he donated $15 to a progressive political action committee on January 20, 2021, the day President Joe Biden took office.
Authorities told reporters that Crooks was not carrying identification, so they used DNA and other methods to confirm his identity. Police recovered an AR-style rifle at the scene, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation.
The attack was the most serious attempt to kill a president or presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981. It drew new attention to concerns about political violence in a deeply polarized country less than four months before the presidential election. And it could change the tenor and security posture at the Republican National Convention, which begins Monday in Milwaukee.
Organizers said the convention would proceed as planned.
Trump flew to New Jersey after visiting a local Pennsylvania hospital, landing shortly after midnight at Newark Liberty International Airport. Video posted by an aide showed the former president leaving his private jet flanked by Secret Service agents and heavily armed members of the agency’s counterattack team, an unusually visible show of force by his protection team.
Biden, who is running against Trump, was briefed on the attack and spoke with Trump several hours after the shooting, the White House said.
“There is no place in America for this type of violence,” the president said. “It’s sick. It’s sick.”
Biden on Saturday night cut short a weekend at his beach house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, to return to Washington. He planned to address the nation Sunday afternoon after a Situation Room meeting about the shooting.
Many Republicans were quick to blame Biden and his allies for the violence, arguing that the continued attacks on Trump as a threat to democracy had created a toxic environment. They pointed in particular to a comment Biden made to donors on July 8, saying “it’s time to put Trump on target.”
Authorities said the counterattack team killed the shooter. The heavily armed tactical team travels far and wide with the president and major party candidates and is intended to confront any active threats, while other Secret Service agents focus on safeguarding and evacuating the person at the center of the protection.
An AP analysis of more than a dozen videos and photos from the site of Trump’s rally, as well as satellite images of the site, shows that the gunman managed to get surprisingly close to the stage where the former president was speaking.
A video posted on social media and geotagged by the AP shows the body of a person wearing gray camouflage lying motionless on the roof of a building at AGR International, a factory north of the Butler Farm Show grounds where Trump’s rally was held.
The rooftop the person was standing on was less than 150 meters (164 yards) from where Trump was speaking, a distance from which a decent sniper could reasonably hit a human-sized target. For reference, 150 meters is a distance at which US Army recruits must achieve a human-scale silhouette to qualify with the M-16 rifle. The AR-15, as the shooter at the Trump rally did, is the civilian semi-automatic version of the military M-16.
The distance from which Crooks fired and his clothing led to initial speculation that the shooter had military experience. However, all branches of the military searched his records on Sunday and said, in response to an AP query, that they had no record of him serving.
Asked at a press conference whether authorities didn’t know the shooter was on the roof until he started shooting, Kevin Rojek, the agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, responded that “that’s our assessment at this point.”
“It’s surprising” that the shooter was able to open fire on 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 “taking every possible step to ensure their safety.”
Trump was displaying a chart of border crossing numbers when the shooting began after 6:10 p.m.
When the first pop sounded, Trump said “Oh,” put his hand to his right ear and looked at it, before quickly crouching on the floor behind the lectern. The people in the stands behind him also crouched down as screams echoed through the crowd.
Someone could be heard near the microphone saying, “Get down, get down, get down, get down!” as agents rushed the stage. They huddled on top of the former president to protect him with their bodies while other agents took up positions on the stage to look for the threat.
Afterwards, voices were heard saying “Sniper down” several times, before someone asked, “Are we ready to move?” and “Are we clear?” Then someone ordered: “Let’s go.”
Trump could be heard in the video saying at least twice, “Let me get my shoes,” with another voice saying, “I’m with you, sir.”
Trump stood up moments later and could be seen extending his right hand toward his face, which was stained with blood. He then raised his fist in the air and appeared to utter the word “fight” twice to his crowd of supporters, prompting applause and chants of “USA. USA. USA.”
His motorcade left the scene moments later. The video showed Trump turning to the crowd and raising his fist shortly before being placed in a vehicle.
In a statement Sunday, former first lady Melania Trump said that when she saw her injured husband, “I realized that my life, and Barron’s life, was on the verge of devastating change,” referring to her son. She said she was grateful to Secret Service agents and other law enforcement officials, and offered her “sincere condolences” to the families of the other victims.
When the shooting started, “everyone was on their knees or face down, because we all knew. Everyone became aware that this was a shooting,” said Dave McCormick, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, who was sitting to Trump’s right on stage.
When he saw Trump raise his fist, McCormick said, he looked over his shoulder and realized someone had been hit while sitting in the bleachers behind the stage.
Eventually, rescuers were able to pull the injured man out of a large crowd so he could receive medical care, McCormick said.
Reporters covering the rally heard five or six gunshots and many ducked for cover, hiding under tables. After the first two or three booms, people in the crowd seemed scared but not panicked. An AP reporter at the scene reported that the noise initially sounded like fireworks or perhaps a car backfiring.
When it became clear that the situation had been contained and that Trump would not return to speak, participants began to leave the venue.
Police soon told the remaining people to leave the scene and Secret Service agents told reporters to “leave now.” This is a live crime scene.
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 injured George Wallace, who was running as an independent on a campaign platform that has sometimes been compared to of Trump. This led to greater protection of candidates, even with threats persisting, namely against Jesse Jackson in 1988 and Barack Obama in 2008.
Presidents, especially after the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, have even greater layers of security, and Trump is a rarity both as a former president and a current candidate.
Republican Rep. Mike Kelly, who represents the area where the shooting occurred, attended the rally with his wife and grandchildren and was right behind Trump when he was injured. Kelly said he was “perplexed about how and what happened to the United States of America.”
“I just wish people would – tone it down,” he said. “Stop trying to find, blame someone. The guilt is somewhere in America’s psyche.”
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
