Donald Trump said he was shot in the right ear during the horrific assassination attempt at his Pennsylvania rally and that he knew something was wrong when he heard a “whooshing” sound.
The former president said he immediately felt the bullet “going through my skin” in a statement from the hospital just hours after the terrifying scene occurred.
The 77-year-old was carried off the stage by Secret Service with blood covering his face and then punched his face and shouted “fight, fight, fight” after gunshots rang out in front of thousands of MAGA fans.
The gunman and one member of the crowd were killed and two others were taken to hospital in critical condition after the shooting that occurred at 6:15 p.m. Saturday night.
The suspect fired at least eight shots from outside the protest’s security perimeter after witnesses said they saw a man with a rifle crawling across a roof.
“I was shot with a bullet that went through the top of my right ear. I knew immediately something was wrong because I heard a whistling sound, gunshots, and immediately felt the bullet go through my skin. There was a lot of bleeding so I realized what was happening,” the former president wrote on his Truth Social account.
Donald Trump said he was shot in the right ear during his rally
Trump was rushed to a hospital after shots were fired at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, leaving one spectator dead.
Photos show the former president clutching his ear as gunshots rang out. Blood could be seen running down his face.
The shots rang out shortly after Trump began addressing the crowd in the critical battleground state.
In the moments after the shooting, voices could be heard screaming as Secret Service agents pushed Trump to the ground and covered him.
The 45th president was seen with blood coming out of his ear.
Seconds later, the blood-covered lawmaker raised his fist in the air to indicate he was OK, while surrounded by Secret Service agents, before being led away.
In his statement, Trump thanked the Secret Service and extended his condolences to the family of the person who died at the rally.
The shooter who fired at least eight shots at Trump, wounding him, is dead, and a rally-goer also died in Saturday’s horrific bloodshed.
“I want to express my condolences to the family of the person who was killed at the protest, and also to the family of another person who was seriously injured. It is unbelievable that such an act could happen in our country. Nothing is known at this time about the shooter, who is now dead,” Trump said.
Authorities said the incident was being investigated as an attempted murder.
Trump was mid-sentence, saying “Look what happened” when gunshots began ringing out shortly before 6 p.m. ET, with terrified screams filling the air as he and onlookers threw themselves to the ground.
An extraordinary photograph shows Donald Trump on the ground at the Butler Show Grounds in Pennsylvania on Saturday after he was injured in a shooting that left two people dead.
Donald Trump is seen with his fist in the air beneath a Stars and Stripes flag after Saturday’s shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, where the president was wounded and the shooter and a bystander were killed.
Bystanders are seen after the shooting. The man in the blood-spattered white T-shirt is an emergency room doctor who told CBS News he tried to help a bystander who was killed in the shooting. The dead bystander was on the ground just behind the man in the blood-spattered white T-shirt.
Dramatic images across the world showed sounds of explosions as the 2024 presidential candidate stood on stage addressing a large crowd of supporters.
Trump could be seen crouching as screams rang out and fans in MAGA shirts behind him threw themselves to the ground.
Secret Service agents rushed onto the stage to cover the president. He was eventually ushered off the stage and into his motorcade.
Trump could also be heard repeatedly asking, “Let me get my shoes.”