BUTLER, Pa. — Former President Donald Trump was rushed off the stage with blood on the side of his head and his ear after shots were fired just minutes into his rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
Trump’s campaign said he was safe. He said in a post on Truth Social about 2½ hours later that a bullet “pierced the upper part of my right ear.”
“I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin,” Trump wrote. “Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening.”
A spectator at the rally is dead, and two were critically injured, Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said. The shooter is dead, he said.
Trump thanked law enforcement in his online statement and extended condolences to the families of the people killed and injured.
“It is incredible that such an act can take place in our Country,” he wrote.
The shots were fired from outside the Secret Service security perimeter for the rally, according to three senior U.S. law enforcement officials.
The suspected shooter fired from an elevated position outside the rally, Guglielmi said in the Secret Service statement. He added that Secret Service personnel “neutralized the shooter.”
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said in a statement shortly after 11 p.m. that Trump “has now left the Butler area.”
Trump was about six minutes into his speech when he reached for the side of his face as popping sounds rang out. He crouched down as Secret Service agents rushed the stage and surrounded him. He was quickly escorted into a vehicle, walking off the stage with agents on all sides.
Trump pumped his fists in the air as he was escorted off the stage. The crowd cheered as he raised his arms.
Reporters saw smoke and heard what they initially thought were fireworks before everyone ducked and law enforcement encircled Trump.
Screams rang out from the audience as the scene unfolded.
Follow live updates on the Trump rally shooting
A doctor attending the event told NBC News that he saw a man suffer a gunshot wound to the head and helped carry him from the site of the rally. Speaking in a parking lot near the event, a mother and her son who were attending the rally told NBC News that they saw people in the crowd who were injured and carried away. And in the hours after the shooting, Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, said in an interview on Fox News that his nephew was grazed on his neck by a bullet at the rally.
People remained at the scene for 10 to 15 minutes after Trump was taken away, after which they were told it was an active crime scene and all attendees were escorted out.
The FBI is leading the investigation, according to a statement from the bureau. They are working alongside U.S. Secret Service, as well as state and local law enforcement.
Law enforcement is investigating the incident as an assassination attempt.
There is no sign that the attack has any link to a foreign actor, a U.S. official said.
Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said 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,” Cheung said. “More details will follow.”
Trump senior advisers and leaders of the Republican National Committee released a statement later Saturday night saying that the former president “looks forward to joining you all in Milwaukee as we proceed with our convention to nominate him to serve as the 47th President of the United States.”
The Republican National Convention, where Trump is set to officially become the GOP presidential nominee, is set to begin on Monday.
Biden, political world react
President Joe Biden spoke with Trump later on Saturday, according to a White House official. He also spoke with Shapiro and Butler Mayor Bob Dandoy.
In remarks delivered from Delaware, Biden called the attack “sick” and thanked law enforcement in remarks delivered on camera.
“There’s no place in America for this kind of violence. It’s sick. It’s sick,” Biden said. “It’s one of the reasons why we have to unite this country. We cannot allow for this to be happening.”
“Everybody must condemn it,” Biden added.
Asked by a reporter whether he believed that the attack on Trump was an assassination attempt, Biden responded that he didn’t “know enough” to say at the time.
“I have an opinion, but I don’t have any facts,” he said, adding that he wanted to gather all of the facts first.
Biden also said in a statement that he is praying for Trump. He said he has been briefed on the shooting.
“I’m grateful to hear that he’s safe and doing well. I’m praying for him and his family and for all those who were at the rally, as we await further information,” Biden’s statement said. “Jill and I are grateful to the Secret Service for getting him to safety. There’s no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it.”
Biden learned about the attack when he was coming out of church services, according to a person familiar with the timeline of events. He wanted to address the nation as soon as he was fully briefed, the source added.
Vice President Kamala Harris has also been briefed, she said in a statement.
She said she her husband, Doug Emhoff, “are relieved that he is not seriously injured. We are praying for him, his family, and all those who have been injured and impacted by this senseless shooting.”
She added that “violence such as this has no place in our nation,” urging everyone to “condemn this abhorrent act.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said in a statement on X that he has been briefed by law enforcement. He condemned the attack as a “horrific act of political violence at a peaceful campaign rally,” saying it “has no place in this country and should be unanimously and forcefully condemned.”
Johnson said in a later post that the House would conduct a “full investigation of the tragic events today.”
House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., said in a statement on X that he was “calling on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to appear for a hearing.”
In a letter to Cheatle, Comer requested that she voluntarily appear at a committee hearing on July 22.
In the minutes after the incident unfolded, politicians began posting on social media that they were praying for Trump, including three vice presidential contenders, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.
Donald Trump Jr., one of the president’s children, wrote on X that his father will “never stop fighting to Save America.” His message was accompanied by a photo of his father pumping his fist with blood on his face.
Democratic leaders also released statements expressing horror.
“I am horrified by what happened at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania and relieved that former President Trump is safe,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on X. “Political violence has no place in our country.”
Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor, condemned the attack on X, as well.
“Violence targeted at any political party or political leader is absolutely unacceptable,” Shapiro said. “It has no place in Pennsylvania or the United States.”
Shapiro added that he has been briefed on the situation and that state police were on the scene, working with federal and local partners.
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. urged Americans to pray for Trump.
“Now is the time for every American who loves our country to step back from the division, renounce all violence, and unite in prayer for President Trump and his family,” Kennedy said.
Former Rep. Gabby Giffords, D-Ariz., who was shot in 2011, released a statement condemning political violence.
“Political violence is terrifying. I know,” she said. “I’m holding former president Trump, and all those affected by today’s indefensible act of violence in my heart. Political violence is un-American and is never acceptable — never.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., who was shot and injured in 2017 when a gunman opened fire on Republicans during a baseball practice, condemned “incendiary rhetoric” ahead of the attack about a second Trump term being a threat to the country.
“That incendiary rhetoric needs to stop, because all it takes is one person who’s just unhinged to hear that and go act on it, and think that that’s their signal to go take somebody out,” Scalise said during a Fox News interview.
Trump’s campaign is in a “complete communications lockdown,” according to a message sent to staff members by James Blair, the political director for the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee.
“Everything is OK,” Blair wrote. “We have no details to share at this time but will follow up soon with more information.”
A Biden campaign official told NBC News that the campaign is also “pausing all outbound communications and working to pull down our television ads as quickly as possible.”
This is a breaking news story and will continue to be updated.
Dasha Burns and Jake Traylor are reporting from Butler, Pa.; Megan Lebowitz from Washington, D.C.; and Chloe Atkins, Tom Winter and Jonathan Dienst from New York City.
