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• Donald Trump said he was shot in the ear, and a bystander was killed during a rally in Pennsylvania.
• An eyewitness described to the BBC seeing a man with a rifle crawling on a nearby rooftop.
• The US Secret Service quickly came under scrutiny for failing to prevent the incident.

The US Secret Service has come under intense scrutiny following a fatal shooting that left former President Donald Trump wounded at his rally Saturday night.

The shooting, which killed one rally attendee and left two others critically injured, is being investigated as an assassination attempt.

The shooter was killed, the Secret Service said.

As news of the shooting was still breaking, notable figures were quick to question the Secret Service and its leadership following the shooting.

While the investigation remains in its early stages, law enforcement experts told Business Insider the historic shooting will certainly prompt a major review of Secret Service procedure.

Matt Shoemaker, a former intelligence officer at the Defense Intelligence Agency, went as far as calling the shooting a "major failure" of the Secret Service.

"I've been to these sorts of events before, and there are layers upon layers of security," Shoemaker said. "So for the alleged shooter to be on a rooftop, with a clear shot to the podium — it is mind-boggling to say that this was overlooked."

Trump said in a post on Truth Social several hours after the 6:15 p.m. shooting that a bullet hit the upper part of his right ear. In videos of the shooting, the former president could be seen clutching his hand to his bloodied face and later raising his fist triumphantly while being escorted off the stage by the Secret Service.

A Secret Service spokesperson directed Business Insider to public statements posted by the federal agency on social media and declined to answer specific questions about the incident.

US Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi, in a post on X, wrote that the suspected shooter "fired multiple shots toward the stage from an elevated position outside" the venue of former President Trump's rally.

"US Secret Service quickly responded with protective measures, and the former president is safe and being evaluated," Guglielmi's statement continued, noting that the FBI had been notified about the shooting.

In a separate statement, the FBI indicated it would be taking the lead on the investigation. Representatives for the FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

In a press briefing shortly after midnight, FBI special agent Kevin Rojek noted "it is surprising" that the shooter managed to fire several rounds before being neutralized by the Secret Service.

Representatives for the Secret Service were not present at the press conference to respond to questions about the incident.

Shoemaker told BI it appeared that the presence of the shooter "slipped through the cracks," despite firsthand reports of a witness who told the BBC that he saw and attempted to alert authorities to the presence of a man with a rifle on a roof nearby the rally.

"Maybe they didn't pay too much attention to it. Maybe they did take it seriously, but there just wasn't enough time before the shots rang out," Shoemaker said. "But the fact that the shot even happened — that the only thing right now that is saving the Secret Service is the fact that President Trump was not killed, which means that they were relying on pure luck that the individual that they're charged with protecting did not die — if they're relying on luck, it means that there is a problem and it means that there's a failure somewhere."

Shoemaker wasn't alone in his assessment that the shooting would prompt a major examination of the Secret Service's policies and procedures.

Ken Gray, a retired FBI agent and lecturer in the criminal justice department of the University of New Haven, told Business Insider that, given the fact that the shooter was outside the cleared rally event, he expects future events will need to "expand the perimeter of the secured zone or move indoors." 

However, Gray noted it is "too early to make an assessment" about whether the incident should be considered a complete security failure, especially given the flood of unconfirmed information circulating about the shooting online.

Among the highest-profile critics was Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who, for the first time, publicly endorsed Trump and criticized the Secret Service director, Kimberly Cheatle. Cheatle previously served as the head of security for the soft drink company Pepsi before leading the Secret Service.

"So before being put in charge of protecting the PRESIDENT, she was guarding bags of Cheetos …" Musk wrote in a post on X that included a screenshot of her biography and work history.

Trump's campaign, as well as the Republican National Committee, have indicated the party's planned convention in Milwaukee this week will proceed following the rally shooting. It is unclear what if any, modifications will be made to the security procedures at the event.

An investigation and more visible security measures

Shoemaker said he expects to see bulletproof glass surrounding the former president in future public appearances, as well as a more pronounced use of drones for aerial surveillance at his events.

"I would expect this to at least initial reports of basic findings to be released within the next 48 to 72 hours," Shoemaker said. "If they take longer than that, it's going to raise a lot of questions, just in terms of what the problem is — is the problem that they don't have enough expertise looking at this?"

GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson vowed in a post on X that the House would investigate the "tragic events" that occurred at the rally.

"The American people deserve to know the truth," Johnson wrote. "We will have Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle and other appropriate officials from DHS and the FBI appear for a hearing before our committees ASAP."

The FBI will lead an official investigation into the incident, according to a statement released Saturday evening. The agency indicated it is "close" to identifying a suspect in the shooting, but a formal identification is pending confirmation through a DNA test.

• In American history, four out of 46 US presidents have been assassinated.
• Other presidents, including Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, escaped attempts on their lives.
• Former President Donald Trump says he was shot in the ear at a Pennsylvania campaign rally on Saturday.

Four out of 45 US presidents have been assassinated over the course of American history.

Many more chief executives escaped assassination attempts thanks to heroic bystanders, diligent guards, misfiring pistols, and sheer luck.

Most recently, former President Donald Trump said he was struck in the ear during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday after a shooter opened fire from a nearby rooftop. A spokesperson said Trump was "fine" following the incident. The FBI said they are investigating the shooting as an assassination attempt.

Two presidents who were assassinated escaped previous attempts on their lives.

On a hot August night in 1864, a sniper shot Lincoln's hat off his head — missing his skull by inches — as he took a solo ride on his favorite horse "Old Abe," according to "1864: Lincoln at the Gates of History." Lincoln was later shot and killed by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth, just five days after the surrender of Robert E. Lee.

Almost a century later, in 1960, retired postal worker Richard Paul Pavlick crammed his car with dynamite and plotted to ram the vehicle into Kennedy's limo in Palm Beach, Florida, Smithsonian magazine reported. He was motivated by his intense hatred of Catholics and the Kennedy family, but backed off when he saw that the president was with his wife and young children. Pavlick was later arrested and institutionalized until 1966, three years after Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald while visiting Dallas, Texas.

These 13 other presidents all experienced serious assassination threats and ultimately survived — and these are only the most dramatic, most-publicized instances. Undoubtedly, the Secret Service has thwarted many more over the years.

Here are 13 presidents who escaped attempts on their lives.

Andrew Jackson survived an assassination attempt in 1835 when the shooter's gun misfired.

On a misty January day in 1835, Richard Lawrence, an out-of-work house painter who believed he was the 15th-century English king Richard III, walked into the US Capitol Building.

President Andrew Jackson was leaving the funeral of a House representative when the English national confronted him in the East Portico, brandishing a pistol.

He raised the gun at Andrew Jackson and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened.

"Let me alone! Let me alone!" Jackson yelled at Lawrence, Smithsonian magazine reported. "I know where this came from."

Lawrence discarded the weapon, produced a second pistol, and aimed the new gun at Jackson. It also misfired.

According to legend, Jackson subsequently flew at the man and thrashed him with his cane. Whether or not that's true, Lawrence's assassination attempt was unsuccessful. Smithsonian magazine reported that national anthem lyricist Francis Scott Key prosecuted his trial, where he was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Lawrence spent the rest of his life institutionalized.

Time reported that the chance that both perfectly functional pistols would misfire was about one in 125,000. Jackson's survival may have depended on the dampness in the air that day.

President Theodore Roosevelt was saved by the length of his speech after an assassin shot him in the chest with a .38-caliber revolver in 1912.

In 1912, Roosevelt was running for the presidency on the Bull and Moose ticket. Saloon-owner John Schrank had begun stalking the former president after having an unusual dream.

According to "Killing the President: Assassinations, Attempts, and Rumored Attempts on U.S. Commanders-in-Chief," Schrank wrote: "In a dream I saw President McKinley sit up in his coffin pointing at a man in a monk's attire in whom I recognized Theodore Roosevelt. The dead President said, 'This is my murderer — avenge my death.'"

Fortunately, Roosevelt had his notes with him when he was shot on October 14 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin — 50 pages of them, folded in his breast pocket next to his metal glasses case. These objects slowed the bullet and saved Roosevelt's life.

The ex-president continued to speak after letting his audience know he'd been shot, according to the Theodore Roosevelt Association.

"I don't know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot; but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose," he said in his speech.

He continued: "The bullet is in me now, so that I cannot make a very long speech, but I will try my best."

He finished the rest of his speech with a bullet in his ribs, where it remained until his death in 1919.

In 1928, President Herbert Hoover was nearly killed while visiting the Andes.

In 1928, President Herbert Hoover was nearly killed while visiting the Andes.

Argentine anarchists attempted to blow up his train, but the would-be assassin was seized before he could plant the bombs on the tracks.

After learning of the thwarted plot, Hoover tore the front page story from the newspaper so his wife Lou Henry Hoover wouldn't worry, according to the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum. The 31st president is said to have quipped that while he was unconcerned, "It's just as well that Lou shouldn't see it."

President Franklin D. Roosevelt survived a shooting in Miami in 1933.

Seventeen days before Franklin D. Roosevelt's first presidential inauguration, the president-elect disembarked from his yacht and made a short speech in Miami, Florida on February 15, 1933. The Chicago Tribune reported that Chicago mayor Anton Cermak then approached Roosevelt for a short chat afterwards.

At that moment, anarchist Giuseppe Zangara opened fire. Roosevelt emerged from the attack unscathed, but Cermak was mortally wounded, along with onlooker Mabel Gill.

It's unclear who Zangara intended to assassinate. He was arrested and went to the electric chair after 10 days on death row.

Ten years later, Soviet officials claimed to have uncovered a Nazi plan to murder Roosevelt and other world leaders at the Tehran Conference, according to "Eureka Summit: Agreement in Principle and the Big Three at Tehran, 1943."

Harry S. Truman evaded two attempts on his life.

Harry Truman's daughter, Margaret Truman Daniel, alleged in her father's biography that a Zionist gang had sent him and several other White House officials mail bombs in 1947, The New York Times reported. The alleged incident was never publicized and apparently ended with the Secret Service defusing the explosives.

The more famous attempt on Truman's life came about on November 1, 1950. Puerto Rican nationalists Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola attempted to storm the Blair House, where Truman lived while the White House was being renovated, according to the Harry S. Truman Library.

Torresola and White House police officer Leslie Coffelt died in the attack. Truman commuted Collazo's death sentence to life, which was then commuted to time served by Jimmy Carter in 1979.

A man targeted President Richard Nixon in 1974 by attempting to crash a plane into the White House.

Arthur Bremer, who ultimately shot and paralyzed Alabama governor George Wallace, first considered targeting President Richard Nixon, The Washington Post reported.

A more high-profile Nixon assassination attempt came about on February 22, 1974. Samuel Byck shot and killed a police officer at the Baltimore-Washington International Airport, raced through the security checkpoint, and broke onto a Delta flight to Atlanta, The New York Times reported. Hours earlier, he had mailed a tape to the Washington Post detailing his plan to hijack an airliner and crash it into the White House, in order to kill Nixon.

Once on board the aircraft, he shot both pilots, killing one, after he was told that they could not take off. Police shot Byck through the plane's window, and he killed himself before he could be arrested.

President Gerald Ford survived two back-to-back assassination attempts in California in September 1975.

At a packed park in Sacramento, California on September 5, 1975, Manson Family member Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme drew a gun after Ford reached into the crowd to shake her hand.

There was no round in the firing chamber, so the gun misfired, NBC News reported. Fromme was grabbed by the Secret Service. After receiving a life sentence, Fromme was released from prison in 2009, two years after Ford's natural death.

Only a few days later, self-proclaimed radical Sara Jane Moore shot a revolver at Ford in San Francisco on September 22. The shot missed thanks to the efforts of ex-Marine and bystander Oliver Sipple, who grabbed Moore's arm, the San Francisco Gate reported. Moore was paroled in 2007, a year after Ford died.

Police arrested a man who sought to assassinate President Jimmy Carter in 1979.

On May 5, 1979, police arrested drifter Raymond Lee Harvey outside the Civic Center Mall in LA, 10 minutes before Jimmy Carter was scheduled to give a speech there.

Harvey had a starter pistol with several blank rounds, The Atlantic reported. Harvey claimed to be part of a cell that sought to assassinate Carter, but due to his history of mental illness, the men he named as co-conspirators were later released.

John Hinckley Jr., who would later attempt to assassinate Ronald Reagan, also considered shooting Carter in 1980, but backed out, the Dayton Daily News reported.

President Ronald Reagan came close to losing his life in an assassination attempt on March 30, 1981.

The New York Times reported that John Hinckley Jr. opened fire as the president walked to his limousine from the Washington Hilton around 2:30 p.m. on March 30, 1981. Press Secretary James Brady suffered brain damage from the attack and eventually succumbed to his injuries years later, and Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy and DC police officer Thomas Delahanty were also wounded.

Reagan was shot once in the chest and suffered serious internal bleeding and a punctured lung. He received emergency surgery at George Washington University Hospital, where he remained for several weeks.

After the attack, Reagan famously retained his sense of humor. He's quoted as telling his wife, "Honey, I forgot to duck" and jokingly asking whether the surgeons due to operate on him were Republicans, Time magazine reported.

Hinckley claimed to have carried out the attack to impress actress Jodie Foster, whom he was stalking. He was institutionalized and released in 2016, after being deemed to no longer pose a threat to others.

President Bill Clinton was the subject of several assassination plots during his stint in the White House.

Three assassination attempts alone occurred in 1994. Ronald Gene Barbour sought to kill Clinton on his daily jog through the National Mall, The New York Times reported.

Later that year, Frank Eugene Corder rammed a red and white single-engine airplane onto the White House lawn in an attempt to kill Clinton, The New York Times reported. Corder died in the crash, while the Clintons were unharmed.

A month later in October, Francisco Martin Duran slipped a suicide note into his pocket and fired numerous shots at the north lawn, the Los Angeles Times reported. A group of tourists ultimately tackled Duran and he was arrested.

An assassination attempt later took place abroad during Clinton's visit to Manila in 1996. A bomb was discovered under a bridge that the president's motorcade was scheduled to travel over. The bomb plot was the work of al Qaeda, Reuters reported.

A grenade was thrown near the stage where President George W. Bush and Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili spoke in 2005.

Robert Pickett, an ex-IRS employee with a history of mental illness, fired several bullets at the White House in February 2001, before a Secret Service agent shot him in the knee, The New York Times reported. President George W. Bush was exercising in the residential area of the White House at the time. Pickett was treated in a Bureau of Prisons psychological institution for two years following the incident.

A few years later, in 2005, Bush had a closer call while traveling abroad.

Bush and then-Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili appeared at a 2006 rally in Tbilisi, Georgia. During the event, Georgian national Vladimir Arutyunian tied a red handkerchief around a live hand grenade and threw it at the presidents and other officials, The Washington Post reported.

However, the explosive didn't detonate. The handkerchief had blocked the grenade's safety lever. Arutyunian escaped from the rally, and later killed a Georgian agent during his arrest. He was sentenced to life in prison for the assassination attempt.

Barack Obama

While Barack Obama was still a presidential candidate in 2008, two white supremacists named Paul Schlesselman and Daniel Cowart conspired to murder 102 African American men — while driving around in a getaway car with the words "Honk if you love Hitler" scrawled on it.

CBS News reported that their conspiracy would culminate with planning the assassination of Obama, but police uncovered the detailed plot and arrested the duo long before they were close to launching their cross-country murder spree.

Later, in 2011, Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez opened fire on the White House after claiming that Obama was the anti-Christ, The Washington Post reported. He crashed his car while escaping, and was later arrested and sentenced to 27.5 years in jail. The Obamas were not in the White House at the time of the shooting.

In April 2013, a letter addressed to Obama tested positive for ricin, a deadly poison. James Everett Dutschke was sentenced to 25 years in jail for the ricin mailing plot, Politico reported.

Then, in 2015, CNN reported that three men — Abror Habibov, Abdurasul Juraboev, and Akhror Saidakhmetov — had been arrested after plotting to kill Obama and bomb Coney Island in their efforts to join ISIS.

Donald Trump said he was struck in the ear when a shooter opened fire during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday

Former President Donald Trump was rushed offstage after shots rang out during a rally on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. He was photographed raising his fist in the air with blood smeared on his face.

Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social that he was shot by "a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear." One bystander died and two others were critically injured in the shooting, which is being investigated as an attempted assassination.

Authorities have not yet confirmed that Trump was shot in the ear.

The shooting wasn't the first attempt on Trump's life. At a 2016 campaign rally in a Las Vegas strip hotel casino, Michael Steven Sandford attempted to grab a police officer's gun. As he was taken into custody, the British national told officers that he was hoping to assassinate then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.

The Guardian reported that Sandford has a history of mental illness, which Judge James Mahan acknowledged in his hearing, saying that Sandford needed help and wasn't a "hardened criminal" — or even intent on assassinating Trump.

"I know saying sorry is not enough," Sandford told the court, the Guardian reported. "I really do feel awful about what I did. I wish there was some way to make things better. I have cost taxpayers so much money. I feel terrible."

On May 6, KYT 24 reported that Sandford had been deported to the UK, after being in US custody for about 11 months.

• Jeff Bezos offered words of support to Donald Trump after the Saturday rally shooting.
• The Amazon founder broke a 9-month silence on X to send the message.
• Trump has previously mocked Bezos and The Washington Post, which the Amazon founder owns.

Jeff Bezos commended Donald Trump after a rally shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, breaking a nearly nine-month hiatus on X.

"Our former President showed tremendous grace and courage under literal fire tonight. So thankful for his safety and so sad for the victims and their families," the Bezos wrote on X. The last post he shared on the site was from October 2023.

Big Tech figures were quick to condemn the Saturday shooting, which left at least two people, including the shooter, dead.

But Bezos's words of support are particularly notable considering the former president has had a long-standing public feud with the Amazon founder.

In 2019, Trump mocked Bezos, calling him "Jeff Bozo," appearing to revel in his impending divorce with MacKenzie Scott. The former president also bashed The Washington Post, which Bezos owns.

"So sorry to hear the news about Jeff Bozo being taken down by a competitor whose reporting, I understand, is far more accurate than the reporting in his lobbyist newspaper, the Amazon Washington Post," Trump wrote on January 13, 2019. "Hopefully the paper will soon be placed in better & more responsible hands!"

Amazon recognized this public feud in a federal complaint after the company lost a $10-billion contract with the Department of Defense to Microsoft. At the time, the company alleged that Trump's "repeated public and behind-the-scenes attacks" against Amazon and Bezos were the reason why Amazon Web Services lost a valuable contract to its competitor.

The Department of Defense canceled the contract in 2021 and sought a multi-cloud deal with Amazon and Microsoft.

Andy Jassy, the CEO of Amazon since 2021, also condemned the Saturday shooting.

"It's hard to digest what happened in Pennsylvania today. Just awful. My thoughts go out to the victims' families. Glad that President Trump is safe and hoping he recovers quickly," Jassy wrote on X.

A Trump spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

A photograph of President Donald Trump rising his fist in defiance after he was shot at his rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday has become a rallying cry for Republicans.

The picture, taken by Associated Press photographer Evan Vucci, shows a blood-covered Trump holding up his fist against a backdrop of the American flag while being shielded by Secret Service agents.

Donald Trump Jr. posted the image on X with the caption, "He'll never stop fighting to Save America."

His brother, Eric Trump, followed up by posting the same image with the caption, "This is the fighter America needs!"

Florida Senator Marco Rubio shared both of their posts, before sharing the photo again with the caption, "God protected President Trump." Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy echoed his sentiments, sharing the photo with a similar caption: "Grateful to President Trump for his sacrifice. Grateful to God for protecting him."

Conservative activist and prominent Trump supporter Candace Owens also posted the picture. "No words. Donald J Trump for President of the United States," she wrote. "This election is now over."

Venture capitalist and congressional candidate Blake Masters posted it and wrote, "He's going to make America great again."

Rising Christians Union chairman and Trump supporter Shakeel Jahangir shared the photo overlaid with an image of the cross alongside the words, "Trump just won… we will make America Christian again."

"We learned one very important thing tonight — President Donald Trump is willing to die for this country. Willing to die for this movement. Willing to die for us," YouTuber and commentator Benny Johnson captioned the photo, calling for Americans to "vote for the guy who is willing to die for what he believes in."

Elon Musk formally endorsed Trump after the shooting.

Two people, including the suspect, died in the shooting, and two others are reported to be severely injured. Democratic leaders including President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have condemned the shooting.

• A spectator was killed in a shooting at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
• Eyewitness shared that the deceased spectator's family was right next to him as he was shot.
• Trump later said was shot in the ear but is fine.

An eyewitness shared his account of watching a spectator get fatally shot at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.

Trump was shot during his speech at the rally. Two people — including the suspect — were killed at the event, and two more are in critical condition after the shooting.

Speaking to NBC's Dasha Burns, a witness named Joseph said that he was situated to the very far left of the podium where Trump was speaking. "The man beside me suffered a gunshot wound to the head," he told NBC. "He was instantly killed."

"Half the people thought it was fireworks, but I knew it was gunshots straight away," he continued.

According to Joseph, the deceased spectator's family members were right next to him and had to watch the situation unfold in front of them. "They were in shock…two of them were relatively hysterical," he said.

He went on to state that another woman next to them looked like she got hit on her forearm.

Multiple gunshots were heard at the scene. Before he was rushed off the stage by Secret Service agents, a bloodied Trump raised his fist into the air and mouthed the words "Fight, fight."

Biden condemned the shooting in a statement, saying, "There's no place for this kind of violence in America." Meanwhile, Elon Musk gave Trump his public support, saying he "fully endorses" his presidential bid and hopes for a rapid recovery.

House Oversight Chairman James Comer posted on X that the Secret Service has been contacted for a meeting, presumably to discuss the security failures that were involved in the incident. He also called on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to appear for a hearing.

• Shots were fired at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, killing at least two people.
• Tech CEOs and billionaires are condemning the shooting, with some voicing their support for Trump.
• Billionaires Mark Cuban and Elon Musk, who have feuded over political views, denounced the shooting.

Prominent tech CEOs and billionaires condemned the shooting at a Trump rally on Saturday, with some voicing their support for former President Donald Trump.

At least two people, including the suspected shooter, were killed on Saturday after shots were fired at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, according to a statement from the Secret Service. Two other rally attendees were critically injured, the agency said.

The shooting immediately drew reactions from top lawmakers, the Biden administration, and business leaders across the political spectrum.

Billionaire Mark Cuban, who has voiced support for President Joe Biden for a second term, wrote on X in the hour of the shooting that he hoped "the former president is Ok and no one else was injured."

"And let's hope they catch the idiot who did this. This is not the way," Cuban wrote. "And thank you to the Secret Service who put themselves in harms way to protect the former President."

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who has feuded with Cuban over hot-button political issues, chose the moment to announce his endorsement of Trump. Musk previously said he would avoid financially backing a 2024 candidate, but Bloomberg reported this week that he donated to a pro-Trump super PAC.

"I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery," Musk wrote on X.

Some tech investors, including venture capitalists David Sacks and Shaun Maguire, reaffirmed their support for the former president on social media.

"There's not a braver man in America than Donald Trump," Sacks wrote on X.

Marc Andreessen, cofounder of Andreessen Horowitz venture capital firm, posted a cryptic image of an American flag on X following the incident. He has yet to publicly endorse a 2024 candidate but has been critical of the Biden Administration.

Big Tech CEOs also took to social media to denounce the shooting.

Apple CEO Tim Cook, who typically prefers to maintain some semblance of neutrality and diplomacy in US politics, condemned the shooting.

"I pray for President Trump's rapid recovery. My thoughts are with him, the other victims and the Trump family. I strongly condemn this violence," he wrote on X.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg similarly said on Threads that he is praying for a "quick recovery for President Trump."

Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO, called the incident on X a "horrific event" and said "there is simply no place for any type of violence in our society."

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said in a statement posted on X that he was "thankful President Trump wasn't seriously injured."

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, who hasn't publicly endorsed a 2024 candidate but was optimistic about his company's prospects regardless of the election outcome, wrote on X that he wished a quick recovery for Trump and condemned "political violence."

"A full and speedy recovery to President Trump. May his body be healed, his mind be soothed, and his soul be comforted. May he be blessed with strength and courage, and return to health soon. There is no room in our country for political violence," he wrote.

• Trump in a post on Truth Social spoke out about the shooting at his Pennsylvania rally.
• He thanked law enforcement, the Secret Service, and sent condolences to the victim's family.
• Trump wrote that he was shot, saying he "immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin."

Several hours after a shooting during his rally in Pennsylvania, former President Donald Trump in a post on social media confirmed he had been struck in the ear during the incident.

"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 wrote in a post on Truth Social. "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."

He added: "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!"

Photos from the shooting show Trump with blood on his face. He can be seen defiantly raising his fist before being whisked off stage by Secret Service agents.

Per a Secret Service statement, one spectator was killed at the rally, and two remain critically injured. The shooter was "neutralized" by the Secret Service personnel, the statement said.

• The Biden campaign said it's pausing "outbound communications" after a shooting at a Trump rally.
• Biden also condemned the incident, calling it "sick."
• Trump was escorted offstage Saturday after shots rang out.

President Joe Biden will be pausing campaign communications following a shooting incident at a Donald Trump campaign rally on Saturday.

"The Biden campaign is pausing all outbound communications and working to pull down our television ads as quickly as possible," a Biden campaign official told Business Insider in a statement.

The official did not clarify the exact reason behind the campaign's decision to pull down the ads.

The White House also released a statement condemning political violence.

"I'm grateful to hear that he's safe and doing well…There's no place for this kind of violence in America," Biden said in the White House statement. "We must unite as one nation to condemn it."

Biden later addressed the nation, calling the incident "sick."

Following the shooting, the Secret Service announced that Trump was "safe."

Potential Trump vice presidential pick, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, criticized the Biden campaign on X, claiming that its messaging resulted in the "attempted assassination" of Trump.

Per a Secret Service statement, one spectator was killed at the rally, and two remain critically injured. The shooter was "neutralized" by the Secret Service personnel, the statement said.

• A man who said he was a witness to the shooting that injured Donald Trump described the scene to the BBC.
• The man said he saw the shooter crawling on the roof of a nearby building with a rifle.
• He said he heard five shots and also saw the Secret Service kill the shooter.

A man who said he witnessed the shooting at a rally for former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday told the BBC in a video interview that he saw a man with a gun crawling along the roof of a nearby building outside the rally and later saw the Secret Service kill the suspect shooter.

The man told the BBC he'd gathered with friends before the rally and said they were watching it from outside the fenced-in location.

"We noticed a guy bear crawling up the roof of the building beside us, probably 50 feet away," he told the BBC. "So we're pointing at the guy crawling up the roof…he had a rifle; we could clearly see him with a rifle."

The man told the BBC he and his friends were pointing at the man to the Secret Service and alerted local police.

"The police were like, 'Huh, what?' Like they didn't know what was going on," he said. "I'm thinking, why is Trump still speaking? I'm pointing at the roof… for two to three minutes, and the Secret Service is just looking at us.

"Next thing you know, five shots ring out," he said.

The BBC interview asked if he was certain the shots came from the roof.

"100%," the man said. "We were telling the police, we were telling the Secret Service."

The BBC asked what happened to the shooter.

"They blew his head off," he said. "Secret Service blew his head off."

Business Insider could not immediately confirm the details of this witness's account.

The gunman and an attendee at the rally were killed, according to a local district attorney. Trump appeared bloodied in the shooting. The Secret Service has since released a statement saying the former president is safe.

• Donald Trump was removed from the stage after a shooting at his rally.
• The incident is drawing a flood of supporting words for Trump across the political aisle.
• But at least one Republican lawmaker is already spreading conspiracy theories about the incident.

A shooting at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday is drawing a flood of condemnation against the incident, supporting words for the former president, and, in less than an hour, unsubstantiated claims of a conspiracy.

Prominent Republican and Democratic lawmakers were quick to condemn what's being characterized as an act of "political violence."

"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," President Joe Biden said in a statement. "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."

A Biden campaign spokesperson said in a statement to Business Insider that the campaign is working to "pull down our television ads as quickly as possible."

The shocking Saturday incident left one rally attendee and a suspected shooter dead, multiple outlets reported. Law enforcement officials told the AP that the shooting is being investigated as an attempted assassination.

The incident quickly sparked GOP lawmakers and backers to re-affirm their support for Trump.

"God protected President Trump," Sen. Marco Rubio posted on X.

Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, also condemned the incident and offered supporting words for Trump.

"I wish Donald Trump, and anyone else who may have been hurt, a speedy recovery," Sanders said in a statement on X.

The shooting also drew Elon Musk, who has been shy to publicly support a presidential candidate, to announce on X that he will be endorsing Trump. Bloomberg reported this week that the billionaire donated to a pro-Trump super PAC.

Some Trump supporters, however, were quick to find a scapegoat for the incident, blaming mainstream media and even spreading baseless claims that the shooting was a coordinated attack.

Venture capitalist David Sacks, who hosted a Trump fundraiser in San Francisco in June, said on X that the shooting was a result of extreme rhetoric, amplified by mainstream media, from the left.

"This is the vile hyperbolic hysterical rhetoric — endlessly amplified by the mainstream media — that invited every lunatic in the country to take matters into their own hands," Sacks wrote in reply to an X post from Biden in which the president said "Americans want a president, not a dictator."

The identity of the suspected shooter or his political affiliation remains unknown.

And at least one prominent GOP lawmaker is suggesting conspiracy theories about the shooting.

Rep. Mike Collins of Georgia wrote on X within the hour of the shooting that "Joe Biden sent the orders," replying to a social media post citing a statement from the president that said that "it's time to put Trump in a bullseye."

A spokesperson for Collins did not immediately respond to a request for comment.