by Sharon Rondeau
(Jul. 13, 2024) — After being whisked to a medical facility following a shooting at his Butler, PA rally early Saturday evening, 45th president and 2024 presumptive Republican nominee Donald J. Trump issued a statement recounting the moment he “felt the bullet ripping through the skin” in the area of his right ear while addressing a large crowd of supporters.
Reports issued since the attack have said one individual was killed and one or two people “critically injured” as affirmed by Fox News’s Sean Hannity just after 9:00 p.m. EDT during continuous coverage of the incident.
According to the Associated Press via Fox News, the shooting is “being investigated as an assassination attempt.”
“I want to thank The United States Secret Service, and all of Law Enforcement, for their rapid response on the shooting that just took place in Butler, Pennsylvania,” Trump posted on TruthSocial at 8:42 p.m. “Most importantly, I want to extend my condolences to the family of the person at the Rally who was killed, and also to the family of another person that was badly injured. It is incredible that such an act can take place in our Country. Nothing is known at this time about the shooter, who is now dead. I was shot with a bullet that 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. Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening. GOD BLESS AMERICA!”
At approximately 8:50 p.m., Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi posted on “X” that the shooter was “neutralized” and “deceased” and that an “investigation” is under way.
Several months ago on his 11:00 a.m. ET Rumble broadcast, former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino shared he learned that the agency might not be prepared for the assassination attempt he believed could be in the offing against Trump given the political climate of the country and impending presidential election in November.
At 9:18 p.m., Hannity reported that a person accompanying Trump into the hospital after the attack said the former president walked in on his own and was “fully aware” of “what had just happened.”