"Trump in the Bullseye"

 

Supporters of former US President Donald Trump wait for the start of a campaign rally  Getty Images

"I knew that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin."

"Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening."

"It is incredible that such an act can take place in our country."

(former) President Donald Trump, Republican candidate for U.S. Presidency

"He had a rifle, we could clearly see a rifle."

"We're pointing at him, the police are down there running on the ground -- we're like, 'Hey man, there's a guy on the roof with a rifle', and the police did not know what was going on."

Witness account

"The bullets rattled around the grandstand, one hit the speaker tower and then chaos broke."

"We hit the ground and then the police converged into the grandstands."

Chris Takach, firefighter from Steubenville, Ohio

"The first thing I heard is a couple of cracks."

"Just a sad day for America. After we heard the shots got fired, then the hydraulic line was spraying all around, you could see the hydraulic fluid coming out of it."

"And then the speaker tower started to fall down."

"Then we heard another shot that, you could hear, you knew something was, it was bullets. It wasn't firecrackers."

Dave Sullivan, firefighter from Steubenville, Ohio

Shouts of "get down!" reverberated, a stricken message throughout the crowd assembled in their thousands to hear another campaign speech from Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican candidate for the upcoming presidential American vote. The failed assassination attempt to take Mr. Trump's life did take a life, just not his. The Secret Service stated that one spectator was killed, shot in the head by a bullet meant for the candidate's head, and two others were critically wounded.

The event took place at rally venue in Butler, Pennsylvania. The sharpshooter had positioned himself on the roof of a one-story structure. It wasn't that his aim wasn't accurate evidently, but that Mr. Trump in that critical moment, moved his head slightly, just enough that the bullet grazed his ear rather than enter his cranium to hit his brain. That shot was followed by a series of others, aiming wildly into the crowd surrounding the candidate.

The shooter, not a rally attendee, there specifically for the purpose of killing the Republican candidate, was engaged by and shot to death by U.S. Secret Service agents; members of the U.S. Secret Service counter-assault team, a heavily armed tactical team that travels everywhere with the president and with major party nominees. The unit's task is to confront any active threats, leaving other agents to focus on safeguarding and evacuation.

An AR-type rifle was recovered at the scene. Blame for the violence by Republicans centered on President Joe Biden and his Democratic allies for their sustained verbal attacks on Trump that characterized him as a threat to democracy. The creation of a toxic political environment, they pointed out, led to the current situation. The president himself commented to donors a mere few days earlier that "its time to put Trump in the bullseye". 

 

The U.S. Secret Service is investigating how a gunman armed with an AR-style rifle was able to get close enough to shoot and injure former President Donald Trump at a rally Saturday in Pennsylvania, a monumental failure of one of the agency’s core duties.  AP

 

"There's no place in America for this type of violence. It's sick. It's sick", said President Joe Biden, in condemnation of the act that seemed to have been carried out by a patriotic young American man of great suggestibility. While speaking to the crowd with the use of a chart of numbers of border crossers, the shooter aimed at Mr. Trump to fulfill his destiny as a failed executioner of a man who presided over American affairs prior to the incumbent whom he is now challenging for the presidency.

A popping sound rent the air as Mr. Trump spoke, causing him to place his right hand to his right ear, people behind him in the stands, shocked. "Oh", said Trump, feeling his ear while two more pops were heard as he crouched down and more shots followed. "Get down, get down, get down, get down!" was being shouted. Agents grasped at the former president, placing themselves around the man to shield him with their own bodies, while other agents took up positions searching for the presence of the threat.

 

Soon was heard "shooter's down" and people began to stand upright and move about. Trump rose to his feet, reached again to his face as blood spread on his face. He pumped his fist to the air mouthing "Fight" toward the crowd of supporters as loud cheers broke out followed by chants of "USA, USA, USA!" As Secret Service agents hustled him away and into his waiting SUV, he turned again to the crowd and defiantly raised a fist before speeding off.

Police began telling people to leave the venue while Secret Service agents informed reporters to get "out now. This is a live crime scene". 

Donald Trump pumps his fist in the air, moments after an assassination attempt on him  Getty Images