Former President Donald Trump was injured in a shooting at a rally on July 13. Prosecutors said Trump is fine, but gunman and one attendee are dead.
Trump's campaign issued astatementaftertheincident to ease the fears of the rally attendees. They said he was fine after a shooting at a rally in Butler, Penn. Reports showed that Trump is safe “President Trump thanks law enforcement and first responders for their quick action during this heinous act,” spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement. “He is fine and is being checked out at a local medical facility. More details will follow.”
The incident occurred whenTrump,theRepublican nominee for president, was showing off a chart of border crossing numbers during the rally before the Republican National Convention opens. That was when multiple bangs rang through the crowd.
Trump grabbed his ear and said 'oh' after the first pop rang out. As he ducking from the danger, two more pops rang out through the crowd.
Over the chaos, rally goers could hear somebody near the microphone yelling for Trump to 'get down, get down, get down', and agents tackled Trump to protect him.
A few moment later, Trump was seen reaching with his right hand toward his face and there appeared to be blood on his face. After he ducked behind the riser, agents from his protective detail rushed the stage and rally attendees screamed.
Once the chaos calmed down, Trump stood up and pumped his fist. The crowd cheered wildly to see that the former president was alright. His motorcade left soon after, while everybody waited to hear about Trump's condition.
Police then vacated the fairgrounds and declared the area a crime scene after Trump left the stage The White House said that President Joe Biden was briefed on the incident from Kimberly Cheatle, the Director of the United State Secretary Service, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and White House Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall.
Law officials identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old from Bethel, Penn. Crooks was shot and killed by the Secret Service.
Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old husband, father and firefighter, was also killedintheshooting.Reports show that when the first shot rang out, Comperatore yelled for his family to get down, then used his own body to shield them.
Donald Trump, Jr., Trump's eldest son, took to social media to update everybody on his father's condition. With a pic of Trump with his fist raised and a bloody face in front of an American flag, Trump, Jr. captioned the picture 'He'll never stop fighting to save America.
Thethreemenontheshort list for Trump's vice president also took to social media. Florida Senator Marco Rubio shared an image of Trump being escorted off the stage captioned 'God protected President Trump.'
Pennsylvania Governor JoshShapirosaidstatepolice were on hand at the rally site and were investigating.
“Violence targeted at any political party or political leader is absolutely unacceptable,' Shapiro said. 'It has no place in Pennsylvania or the United States.'
An independent investigation into the incident was launched. Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said he has faith in the Secret Service Agency go get to the bottom of the incident and find out how Crooks was able to get so close to Trump.
' “Since the attempted assassination of former President Trump, we across the government are focused with urgency to understand how it happened,” Mayorkas said at a White House briefing.