A Trump supporter saw a man with a rifle crawling on top of the roof of a building behind the campaign rally stage in Butler, Pennsylvania where former President Donald Trump was apparently hit by a bullet in an assassination attempt on Saturday.
According to an eyewitness, as reported to the BBC, rally-goers outside the event spotted a man “bear crawling” across the roof, carrying a rifle.
The witnesses frantically alerted law enforcement and were surprised when Mr. Trump was not immediately ushered from the stage.
“We’re pointing at the guy, crawling up the roof,” the witness said. “He had a rifle, you could clearly see he had a rifle. I’m thinking to myself, why is Trump still speaking? Why have they not pulled him off the stage?”
The witness said he alerted Secret Service on the roof to the crawling man with the rifle, but Mr. Trump was not removed from the stage.
“The next thing you know, five shots rang out,” the witness said, adding he is “100 percent” certain the shots came from the rifle of the man crawling across the roof.
SEE ALSO: Trump survives assassination attempt amid volatile 2024 presidential race
Mr. Trump is “safe” and “fine,” and the shooter is dead, Butler County law enforcement said.
Mr. Trump’s ear appeared bloodied after shots rang out. He ducked behind his podium and was then rushed into an SUV by Secret Service agents. He pumped a fist to the crowd and appeared to shout “Fight! Fight.”
Horrific first-person stories started flooding in.
Another man, who had a bloody USA T-shirt and identified himself as an emergency department physician, said he thought it “was firecrackers to begin with.” But then he said he heard someone yell out that someone had been shot.
“The guy had spun around, was jammed between the benches,” the man told a reporter for CBS News. “He had a headshot here, there was lots of blood, and he had brain matter.”
He said he performed CPR on the man.
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.