MULTIPLE shots rang out at Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, with the Republican presidential candidate grimacing and raising his right hand to his right ear as shots rang out, video footage showed.
Body guards then crowded around Trump as he ducked below the podium and armed officers took up positions at the front of the stage. Trump repeatedly raised his fist to the crowd and shouted as he was escorted to a vehicle by the US Secret Service.
CNN reported that Trump was injured, but gave no other details. It was not clear how or what injuries he may have sustained. Video showed him with blood on his right ear and the right side of his face.
A spokesperson for Trump, Steven Cheung, said in a statement that the former president was “fine and is being checked out at a local medical facility.”
A spokesperson for the Secret Service, Anthony Guglielmi, said in a statement that Trump “is safe” after “an incident occurred” at his rally in Pennsylvania. He did not provide further details.
“This is now an active Secret Service investigation and further information will be released when available,” the Secret Service said in a post on X.
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Trump had been showing a chart of numbers about border crossings, which his audiovisual staff placed on screens above the stage, when the apparent shots rang out.
The former president ducked quickly after the noises began, with the sound coming from the bleachers to the left of where he was standing at a lectern. The noises came in two groups, and smoke rose from that section of the bleachers.
As members of the crowd began screaming, Trump was tackled by Secret Service agents. Officials shouted for the crowd to duck and cover, whisking members of the news media off the press riser where they had been watching Trump’s speech.
After a brief pause, Trump rose, surrounded by a group of uniformed Secret Service members. He pumped his fist to the crowd, and then was rushed off the stage and ushered into his motorcade, which quickly left the venue, the Butler Farm Show.
After he departed, a group of officials wearing camouflage escorted someone off a set of bleachers to the left of the podium where Trump was speaking. Police officials began cordoning off the area with crime-scene tape as the rally’s attendees began clearing out, and blood was visible on the bleachers.
The Secret Service asked members of the news media to leave roughly 20 minutes after Trump left the stage, declaring the rally site a crime scene.
Craig Cyrus, 54, of New Castle, Pennsylvania, was sitting about 30 yards away from the grandstand when he noticed movement among law enforcement snipers, who were perched on surrounding rooftops. They were looking intently at something to the left, in the direction of a water tower.
“I saw them with their binoculars,” Cyrus said, “then they got their guns.” Shots rang out but he said he did not know which were from the person apparently shooting or from the snipers.
Armed law enforcement officers were also seen on a roof near the stage where Trump was standing.
The venue was abandoned with chairs knocked over and yellow police tape around the stage and a helicopter flew above and law enforcement walked through the area, according to the video feed.
Representatives for Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
President Joe Biden has received an initial briefing on the incident, the White House said.
This is a developing story. NYTIMES, REUTERS
