Former President Trump safe, doing OK after gunfire at rally
One rally attendee and the gunman are dead, according to the U.S. Secret Service.
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Sources close to Donald Trump have told News 12’s Tara Rosenblum that the former president is safe and doing OK after what appears to be an assassination attempt.
New details continue to emerge, but this is what we know right now.
One rally attendee and the gunman are dead, according to the Butler County district attorney. This information was later echoed by the Secret Service, which stated that the shooter was "neutralized" by its personnel.
Posting on his Truth Social media site about two and a half hours after the shooting, Trump said a bullet “pierced the upper part of my right ear.”
In a statement, a Trump spokesperson tells News 12:
“President Trump thanks law enforcement and first responders for their quick action during this heinous act. He is fine and is being checked out at a local medical facility. More details will follow."
President Joe Biden delivered an address after the rally.
“There's no place in America for this type of violence,” President Biden said in remarks. “It’s sick. It’s sick.”
Lawmakers were quick to condemn the violence following the rally.
“This is not how we decide elections in America,” said Republican Rep. Mike Lawler. “Political violence should not be tolerated by anyone and I think everyone needs to be reevaluating rhetoric this election.”
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also stated that he is glad former President Trump is safe and well.
Former Secret Service Agent Joe Russo, who was assigned protection detail of former vice presidents Dan Quayle and Al Gore, as well as former President Bill Clinton, spoke to News 12 about his observation.
“It seems like the shooting was occurring from beyond the security perimeter which would make sense because the Secret Service did have the magnetometers I saw there,” said Russo. “Which means that everybody in that crowd would have been screened for metal detection which would have been highly unlikely that a weapon could have passed through.”
The Secret Service recently posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the shooter “fired multiple shots toward the stage from an elevated position outside of the rally venue.
