Former President Donald Trump was injured Saturday evening during his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in what the FBI says was an assassination attempt.
The gunman and at least one audience member are dead, the Secret Service said, and two other attendees are critically injured.
Trump said on social media that he was shot and hit by a bullet in the “upper part of my right ear.” The Secret Service said the former president is safe after he was rushed off the stage with blood on his face.
The FBI has identified the gunman as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. Authorities say he fired multiple shots from a building rooftop just outside the rally venue, before he was killed by Secret Service agents.
Eyewitnesses described a “bloody” and chaotic scene. “It’s pure insanity,” said one rally attendee.
President Joe Biden spoke with Trump after the shooting. Biden denounced the violence in remarks Saturday night and said in a statement earlier that he’s “grateful” Trump is safe.
Biden, who was planning to stay in Delaware for the weekend, returned to the White House earlier than planned so he can continue receiving briefings from law enforcement.