Yeah, this, this is certainly clearing out now. And I'm just going to step aside to give you sort of a lay of the land of what we're seeing here. So if we could just push in on the podium right there, you can see that the sign has actually fallen off of the podium. This is where the former president was surrounded by secret service agents as he was then rushed off of this stage after we heard these popping sounds. You know, I want our camera to just veer here to the left.

You can already see here. You see law enforcement officials right now. They're putting up this caution tape around this area. This is very much an active scene at this moment. You see law enforcement officials.

They are taking notes. We're starting to see the presence of law enforcement officials increase as this area has now started to be cleared. Of course, you can see the amount of chairs that have been tossed and turned over. It just shows you how chaotic these moments were. I cannot stress this enough to hear those popping sounds.

And then all of a sudden to just see people just die for cover, people yelling, get down, get down. Cover your head. We did not know necessarily what those were. There are photos of the former president covering, gathering his ear. He did, as I mentioned before, after he was surrounded by secret service agents, he did get up.

He raised his fists. In the air was a sign to his supporters that were gathering here that he was okay. His supporters then cheered. But I can tell you there were several minutes after this where the crowd just didn't necessarily know what to do. As the former president was rushed off of the stage.

They didn't know whether or not they should quickly leave, rush out of here, whether or not they were safe, whether or not they could stay in place. The rally obviously officially ended after that. And then that's when we started to see people stream out of this area. Many, many members gathering here today, visibly shaken by what, by what occurred. We are now seeing a helicopter that appears to be landing closer to where we are here at this rally.

Just tense and chaotic moments that played out here in a situation that is still developing and unfolding with, as we still await details. More, what happened with Rachel Scott for us. Thank you so much. I do want to ask you quickly before I let you go here. You've been to so many of these different Trump rallies over the years.

Security is obviously incredibly tight. Tens of thousands of people go to these things. Can you just talk about what it's typically like when they search people as they go in?

Yeah, absolutely, whit. So in order to get into a rally with the former president, you do have to go through a Secret Service check. So you walk through a metal detector, similar to what you would walk through if you were at the airport. If you were about to board a flight, you are searched by Secret Service through a metal detector. Secret Service then goes through your bag as well to make sure that you do not have any items that are barred.

Typically, people aren't even allowed to bring in large backpacks or large items as well, because this is an event with the former president, and members of the press are allowed to bring our laptops in. But I could tell you that Secret Service takes this very seriously. They do screen every single person that enters these rallies. And because of that, the lines often get very, very long as they are waiting to get people cleared in order to enter these rallies. A security is utmost important for the Secret Service.

We have seen that at every single rally that we have gone in, into, we've seen people be turned away, maybe because they brought something that they weren't allowed to have, or maybe they had to leave something with Secret Service. They could not enter the rally. So they are diligently checking every member that enters these Trump rallies. Clearly, we do not know exactly what happened here today. We are still learning details, and, of course, we'll bring those to you as we have it.

But one thing I can tell you is there are definitely security precautions underway for anyone that wants to enter a rally or an event with the former president, with stand by for us. I do want to point out this photograph right here that we've been showing with former President Donald Trump pumping his fist. If you look closely, there does also appear to be some blood trickling down over his right ear. Again, we don't have confirmation on exactly what happened. We're waiting for more information from officials.

But there is that photograph. And you see the former president's face right there as Secret Service escorted him off the stage, off the podium, into the back of an suv, and then out of the area. And you see him as the incident happened, reaching for his right ear. Let's bring in John Carl, our chief Washington correspondent, if we can get back to him. He's in Milwaukee, the side of the Republican National Convention.

And John, I understand you were with Republican Party officials as this event unfolded. I was with, I was on the floor here of the convention where they're preparing. This is the site where Donald Trump is to officially become the republican nominee next week. The convention set to start on Monday. I was actually with the chairman of the Republican Party Michael Whatley, as this news happened of the shots ringing out, and he very quickly rushed off, took up, took a phone call, very hurriedly rushed off the floor.

Obviously a shocking development.

All right, John, thank you. I do want to go back to Rachel Scott, still on the scene, but I understand they're escorting the rest of the media and everyone out of the area. Rachel, what more can you tell us?

Yes, and we will join you once again when we get out of this area. Right now, Secret Service has told everyone in this area that they do need to leave. We can only take what we can carry. Everything else sort of needs to be left behind. They're closing off this area that you're seeing.

I'm gonna, I'm gonna get off the air now and escort out, and I will, and I will get back on with you when I can. WHITLEY all right, Rachel, thank you again for your reporting, and we're so glad that you and the rest of the team are safe again. This is that video. This is that moment, former President Trump pumping his fist to the cheers of the crowd there in Butler, Pennsylvania. I do want to mention again, because this was all coming at an event in Pennsylvania that was supposed to come before the Republican National Convention.

All eyes on the former president about his potential running mate. That decision was expected any day now. And we're hearing from some of these hopefuls, VP hopefuls, Senator JD Vance took to X calling for people to pray for Trump and everyone at the rally. He says, quote, everyone join me in praying for our President Trump and everyone there. I hope everyone is okay.

We also heard from Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who is also on the short list to be a potential running mate. He tweeted, quote, praying for President Trump and all those attending the rallye, Pennsylvania today. Let's go back to John Carl in Milwaukee. John, we're still getting some of these photographs coming in. Are you getting any more information about what actually happened?

No more information on what happened. I can tell you that officials here are scrambling to find out more. You mentioned that this comes as Trump is preparing. I mean, that the event there in Pennsylvania was to be the event leading into the convention there. What was happening just moments before this news broke out was officials scrambling to try to gage what President Trump's, former President Trump's timing would be into announcing his running mate with a bit of a scramble that he might do it, in fact, at that event in Pennsylvania.

So, you know, look, we've now heard, you mentioned hearing from JD Vance, hearing from Marco Rubio. We've also heard from Doug Bergam. So we've officially heard from all three of the people who were just with Donald Trump, waiting to hear his final decision about which one of them will be his running mate. All going to X to say that they are praying, you know, for former President Trump and for everybody at the rally, but not knowing what actually has happened, not knowing, you know, what, what has actually happened besides what we saw there in that incredibly horrifying video, hearing shots fired and former President Trump being brought down by Secret Service agents. All right, John, stand by for us.

We are getting some reportable information here from our producer, Josh Margolinhe. He is saying that the Secret Service is assessing. They have not confirmed it was actual shots or any kind, unclear where what appeared to be blood in that photograph is coming from. So if we show that photograph again, this was sort of the close up of former President Trump as he was being escorted off the stage. There it is again.

It appears to be blood. But we cannot say for sure exactly what happened, if that came from a shot fired, which we don't know, or if it came from when he was tackled to the ground. But we did see the former president reach for his right ear as the chaos unfolded at that event in Pennsylvania. Once again, this was supposed to come right before the announcement for his potential running mate pick. Many people were watching this event very closely to see what would happen.

Would he give any hints? Would there be any teases about, you know, who he might choose to be his running mate? As we head towards Election day again, all of that stopped abruptly by this chaotic moment at this rally in Pennsylvania. Let's bring in John Santucci, our investigative reporter. And John, you're very, you have very close contacts with the Trump family.

What reaction are you getting from them? What are they saying about what happened tonight? It is absolute panic within Donald Trump's inner circle right now, frankly, whit, because the lack of information you mentioned right there to our viewers, Donald Trump has spent much of the weekend talking to potential vice presidential picks. Much of his family is not with the former president right now. But I can tell you what, speaking to at least the president's eldest son, Donald Trump junior, they do not know what has happened at Pennsylvania, and they are trying to find information.

And that image, where I can tell you, multiple sources are telling me it is caused a great deal of panic. Obviously, as you mentioned, we, ABC News does not know exactly what happened at the rally, but that image of what appears to be blood running down the president's face has caused significant alarm. And look, we should note with that, you know, look, Donald Trump for many years when he was campaigning, I know in 2016 from his first campaign for the White House, always took extra precautions, you know, like as talked to so greatly about the Secret Service feeling protected, having them around him. You know, when he, of course, started his campaign before Secret Service protection, if we reported at the time Donald Trump wore a bulletproof vest, you know, he was very, very cautious about his safety. So I think just the fact right now that there is this panic right now in Trump world because of that lack of information, I think, as we are telling our viewers, we are trying to figure out in real time, it seems as though the president's inner circle, much of which, again, I should stress and is not with him in Pennsylvania, they are over in Milwaukee or making their way to the site of the convention, which is, you well know, happening beginning in less than 48 hours.

And John, also, as you know and you've talked about over the years, Donald Trump thrives on these massive rallies. This is a hallmark of his campaigns. And it's been that way for years. The more the merrier. I mean, he'll pack tens of thousands of people into a venue.

And I've been to them before. You've been to many of them. Security is extremely tight. It is hard to imagine, you know, something like this playing out at an event like that. Talk about some of the security precautions that you're aware of at events like this one.

I went to every rally Donald Trump held in 2015 and 2016. I know Rachel is on the ground right now for ABC at this event. But I can tell you from any one of these rallies, Secret Service is intense. Everybody is going through a magnetometer. Think about when you go to the airport, anybody that has a bag, your bag is inspected.

If you have any liquid, they sometimes would make you pour them out, almost like boarding an airplane. That's what everybody at home should be thinking about right now with these rallies. It is so secure. And we must remember, too, with Donald Trump is unique in the sense that he has had Secret Service protection since the late 2015, early 2016, even before he became the republican nominee in that contest. Now here in this situation, he has protection for two reasons, one being the presumptive republican nominee, but obviously, as a former president, he has those protections, too with, so everything that you can imagine for the Secret Service right now is one evaluating how this could have happened.

But also, let's be clear. You know, we've been talking about how close we are to the election, but there is still such a significant amount of time to go. And you have to imagine now, both for campaigns led by Donald Trump and for President Joe Biden's campaign. Look, these are events that both men have to be doing consistently for the next several weeks and months leading up to November. You have to imagine, as tight as security is at these events already, this is going to cause a massive reevaluation with.

All right, John Santucci for us. Thank you, sue, so much. I do want to go back to Rachel Scott because Rachel was inside the venue. She was reporting for us right here on World News Tonight. Then we got the reports of this incident.

Rachel stayed with us for a while and then was escorted outside the venue. Forgive me one more time. My producer is talking in my ear. What was that? We do have a statement from the Trump campaign right now.

Bear with me. I'm seeing this for the first time. We're told that President Trump thanks law enforcement and first responders for their quick action during this heinous act. He is fine and being checked out at a local medical facility. More details will follow.

Again, that's from a Trump spokesperson. If we can go back to Rachel Scott. Rachel, I think you've been escorted outside. What are you seeing right now? We're still in the process of actually making our way outside of this rally.

At these rallies, there's so many people that oftentimes we don't get enough cell phone signal. And so now we have moved past one parameter and one area. Now we are moving out to where we came in. We're passing by different areas where they were checking us in. At this point, we're with a number of Trump supporters who are also trying to leave this area.

Secret Service is trying to clear this scene so they can continue investigating exactly what happened during this rally. And so we are clearing out now. We're heading back to our vehicles among, I would probably say, at least 100 or so Trump supporters who are also making their way out. I will tell you just candidly, talking to Trump supporters as they were leaving and people were waiting around asking what happened. People were checking on each other, asking if they were okay.

You know, you did have people that dove to the floor, that shielded themselves, put their hands over their head, were trying to cover their loved ones when they heard those popping noises. And so people were visibly shaken up. So it's understandable that some of the people wanted to hang back a little bit just to gather themselves before they eventually moved out. So Secret Service now pushing all of these people back toward their vehicles right now to completely clear this area. And still just a very chaotic scene that is still playing out here, just right where the former president's rally was.

All right, Rachel, thank you. Let's go back to John, Carl again in Milwaukee ahead of the republican national convention. But, John, you also have a statement from the Secret Service here with just a little bit more detail about what may have happened. A little bit. This is a statement from the spokesperson for the Secret Service saying an incident occurred the evening of July 13 at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania.

The Secret Service has implemented protective measures and the former president is safe. The former president is safe. This is now an active Secret Service investigation, and further information will be released when it's available. So we have now the word from a Trump campaign spokesperson and from the Secret Service that Donald Trump is okay. But let me tell you, this is exactly the type of incident, the incident that has had the Secret Service worried for a long time, the threat environment.

As we heard an interview with the head of the Secret Service just a short while ago on this week, the threat environment is as bad as it has been. Obviously, we hear it in the divisive rhetoric in this country, the deep divisions, but the threats, the actual threats are as high as they have ever seen it. And at a time when the Secret Service has stretched thin, I mean, this has been an ongoing issue. There were investigations, congressional investigations that go back to the second half of the Obama administration warning about the Secret Service and the challenges it is facing in terms of personnel, overtime demands, threat environment being as high as it is. So this is the kind of thing that, frankly, security personnel, Secret Service has been worried about with every public event that happens in this campaign, not just the Trump rallies, the events involving family, and the events involving the current president of the United States, President Biden and John.

And it's not just the Secret Service when it comes at these events. And you can see it as we're looking at some of this video play out. You have the Secret Service crowding around the former president, obviously like a human shield protecting him. But then you have law enforcement officers from different agencies. We see some in tactical gear that are always at these events ready to go and how they're responding.

And it just really highlights the chaos of the moment as these officers with long guns on the stage are looking around, pointing the guns out into the crowd, not knowing what's going on. And to your point, you've reported on this, I mean, going back to January 6 and beyond this idea that the threat level is so heightened right now in this country with the division and polarization that we're seeing politically. And we were still getting more information in. And we have heard now from the White House poll that President Biden has received an initial briefing on exactly what happened or at least what they've learned about what happened there in Pennsylvania. But, yes, you pointed, the Secret Service takes the lead in terms of protecting the president, protecting the president's family, in this case the former president and the former president's family.

But they have to coordinate with a whole range of law enforcement. And it's a very tricky, it's a very difficult environment. But those Secret Service agents, I've gotten to know them over the years, over my years in covering the White House, gotten to know them so well. They take very seriously their duty. And as you know, it's not a cliche.

It is their, it is the ethic that drives their work that they are there to take a bullet for the president. They are there to protect the president at all costs. They are there to do whatever they can. So when you see now, we don't, again, we don't know there were shots fired, what it was, but their job is to get between the president and the danger. And that's what you saw take place on live television there in Pennsylvania.

John, thank you. Let's go to the White House and bring back Mary Alice Parks. You mentioned that President Biden has been briefed on the incident. Mary Alice, what more can you tell us? Yeah.

When I just got off the phone with a spokesperson for the National Security Council, of course, they are worried about this as a national security incident. We know the president now has been briefed. He was leaving church, but is now back at his residence there in Delaware. We can say that, of course, he is tracking this with his senior advisors that are traveling with him. They are trying to learn what happened, too.

They are, of course, in touch with their secret service agents. The Secret Service. And like John, Carl was just saying, we now officially know that the president has been briefed and is tracking this closely. You know, we haven't been able to get a formal statement beyond that at this point, but I expect we will pretty soon, not only from the White House, but likely from the Biden campaign. Mary Alice, thanks.

And just a reminder to our viewers here, if you are just joining us, and you're seeing this video play out, all this happening at a rally for former President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. This is the moment the chaos played out. Witnesses describe loud popping sounds. And this is that moment when the former president reaches for his ear. People in the crowd start to duck pounces on the former president, shielding him with their bodies, essentially, in case anything, you know, projectile could hit the former president.

At this point, they finally get him to his feet. They bring him off the stage. It's still unclear exactly what those popping sounds were. We don't have any confirmation specifically what happened. We're waiting on that.

In the meantime, we did get these photographs of the former president holding his right ear and what appeared to be blood trickling down his face. Again, not clear. That's the photograph. Not clear if that's from the incident itself or afterwards as the Secret Service tried to rush him off the stage. We're still waiting to get more information, but still a dramatic moment as it played out at this rally in Pennsylvania.

Let's go back to Rachel Scott. Rachel was there when it happened. She was live on world news moments before. And then, Rachel, I know that you've been escorted out. Take us sort of where you've been taken at this venue and what you can see now.

So right now, what, we're not far from where this actually rally, this rally took place. So stick with me here. I want to give you just sort of a lay of the land here. So right where those porter parties are, and you see the flag that's hanging there, that is where the rally occurred. You see these white tents?

We talked a little about security. You asked me what the security precautions are when Trump supporters come to these rallies. They are checked. They go through their bags, they go through metal detectors. They are screened by Secret Service.

Right now, you have members of Trump, of Trump that were in this Trump rally that are leaving right along here, that are being escorted, sorted out of this area so that they can tighten this area off. I can tell you, we were inside, we were live on the air with you. And Secret Service asked everyone to leave. So we had as press to leave everything that we could on the riser. We're now being pushed a little bit further out, but just stay with me here.

We're just gonna keep walking. We had to leave our cameras inside. So our producer, Laylee Ipsa, is filming as we're walking and being escorted out of this rally. So just stick with us here. Just chaotic, intense moments that played out here and just the sense of panic that we heard, screams from people that were hearing these popping sounds and then ultimately got down for cover.

Now, this area is sort of being cleared out, but this was the way in which you had trump supporters enter this rally before they were screened. I could tell you just hours ago, this was filled with long lines of people, people waiting to get in, people who are excited to see the former president right now. Now you have people that are just confused, that are in a state of panic, that are wondering sort of what happened and what unfolded. I will also note it's extremely hot day here in Pennsylvania. You had a number of people that felt like they were already being overheated, so much so that the seats toward the front of the rally were actually prioritized for those who felt like they needed to take a seat or those who were elderly or those who felt like the conditions were just getting too much for them.

As we were on the air, what you saw the scene, as I took you through it, you saw those chairs being toppled over. That was a sign of just how much panic there was in the moment with people just trying to get to the ground. But for now, here is what I can tell you. We've cleared out of this area. We know that secret Service has roped it off with.

This has now just become a gathering point for people that were in the rally. As I mentioned to you before, with there's so many people that are inside of these rallies that oftentimes the cell phone reception isn't really great. So we see a lot of people that are out here that are on the phones, probably connecting with their loved ones and families, letting them know, letting them know that they're okay, letting know they're probably leaving this area as well. But this is the current scene right now. We've been escorted out.

We were told to leave everything there for now, and we were told that we'd be able to go back inside to gather the rest of our belongings once police have cleared the area. Rachel, first of all, we are so glad you and your team are okay. Your reporting has just been excellent throughout this entire campaign, and especially tonight as well. Tell us a little bit more about what happened in the crowd. You described this a moment earlier, but we have some new viewers likely joining our coverage.

You said that after those popping sounds occurred, that it did appear that law enforcement rushed a specific area or person in the crowd.

Yeah. So it was this sort of split screen that we saw play out with first. Initially, we heard this series of popping noises. Then we heard screams from the crowd, people shouting, get down, get down. We were on the press rise, or we had just finished doing world news tonight with you.

We were live on the air, and just minutes after the former president took the stage, this is when all of this happened. He had only been on the stage for a matter of minutes. So you hear these popping noises. And then after that, what we hear were screams. We all looked turned over our shoulders.

Of course, we see secret agent, secret Service agents swarm the former president. They rush and shield him, essentially using their bodies as shields to get the former president down. Also, then, if I'm standing on the riser, it was over my right shoulder. What we saw was then Secret Service agents and law enforcement officials swarm another area that was on the riser. And there we saw, I'm not sure if it was one person.

I am not sure if it was multiple persons. But what we saw was Secret Service and law enforcement agents swarm that area in particular and then escort someone out of that area. So we have no idea necessarily what exactly happened during that time. We know that there were people that were just getting down during that moment, and there were screams. Then it took several minutes.

First we saw the former president being rushed out. Obviously, what we saw was the former president. You've seen those images. He stood up, he put his fists up, and it was a sign and signal that he was okay. The crowd then cheered.

And then after the former president was rushed into his own vehicle and that vehicle was taken away, then we saw that separate area clear where secret service agents and law enforcement agents had surrounded possibly another individual, and that person was then taken away. It was only then, then did we start to see the crowd sort of clear. And there was this sort of moment where people didn't necessarily know what exactly to do, whether or not it was safe to leave. People were looking around asking if it was okay. We're hearing helicopter right now.

You could see it there. That's taking off right now. Then we saw law enforcement officials. They came out, they started putting crime scene tape to rope off that area. Members of the press, we were sort of the last ones that were escorted out and told to leave.

We were told to leave everything behind. But there were certainly these moments where people were just very confused, didn't know exactly what happened, and were rushing to just sort of exit the area as Secret Service and law enforcement officials were trying to block off the area where this occurred with.

All right, Rachel Scott, for us, again with those remarkable moments as they played out these images as well, with the former president pumping his fist, what appears to be, again, we're not sure, can't confirm what appears to be blood dripping down his face and the cheers of the crowd as Donald Trump got back up onto his feet and was then led away by the Secret Service. Let's bring in our chief justice correspondent Pierre Thomas, who's been watching all of this time and time again. You've been talking about the political threat level, the environment in this country for months. Again, still a lot of information that we're waiting to get here, Pierre. But talk about what your law enforcement sources are telling you.

And we're also getting more information about the former president's condition. Indeed, I've talked to a number of sources, and the one thing that they're fairly comfortable saying is that they do not believe that former President Trump sustain any sort of life threatening injury. They are being very careful about what they can release until they can get more full accounting officials in Washington reaching out to the authorities there. We're told that the White House has been briefed. President Biden has been briefed.

The homeland Security secretary is waiting additional information as well. So right now, law enforcement is converging, trying to get information because, as you said, with the threat environment right now is critically high. Law enforcement super worried about the potential of violence. And they're being careful right now because they don't have all the details. But that has been in the backdrop for days now.

Security for the conventions will be super high, in part because of concerns about incidents like this, whatever this turns out to be. And Pierre, to your point, it's worth pointing out this response that we got from a Trump spokesperson, too, because they said that president, after thanking law enforcement first responders, they said, they called it a heinous act. But they did say that the former president is fine and being checked out at a local medical facility. Pierre Thomas, stand by for us. I want to go back to John.

Carl. John, I understand you're getting word from the governor of Pennsylvania. Yes, we're getting a wide range of reaction. And before I get to that, I just want to reiterate, playing off of what Pierre just said, the statement that we heard from the Secret Service, very important because this is the bottom line here. The secret Service has implemented protective measures and the former president is safe.

So, yes, no life threatening wounds. The former president is safe. That's what we're hearing from the Secret Service. That's what we're hearing from the Trump campaign. We are also hearing from the governor of Pennsylvania, who, by the way, is a Democrat, the governor, Josh Shapiro.

He's been briefed on the situation as the governor where this all took place. And he has put out a statement saying violence targeted at any political party or political, any political party is absolutely unacceptable. It has no place in Pennsylvania or in the United States by the way. We're hearing from several others in the political world, democratic governor of California, Gavin Newsom, and saying, violence has no place in our democracy. My thoughts are with President Trump.

Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan, another Democrat. There's no place for political violence in this country. I am horrified. Bipartisan statements of concern for former President Trump and condemning whatever has happened here. Steve Scalise, this one's also interesting.

As you remember, Congressman Steve police, the number two Republican in the House himself, was shot at a practice for a congressional baseball game seven years ago, sustained very serious injuries, was really touch and go for some time. He put out a statement saying, I'm praying for President Donald Trump. There is never any place for political violence. So as you can see across the political spectrum, condemnations of whatever is happening here, concerns for the former president and the bottom line, former President Trump, by all indications, is now safe and no life threatening injuries here. John, can I follow up on that?

Because I do think that the wording here is interesting from the various statements that we're getting. That statement saying the former president is safe, the Trump spokesperson saying the former president is fine. What they're not saying here is that he was not hurt or injured in any way. Again, we're still waiting for these details coming in. We're trying to kind of, you know, read between the lines here.

And we don't want to speculate, but you work with the Trump campaign all the time and communicating with them. What does that say to you about this level of communication right now? Well, frankly, wait. My sense is that the Trump campaign is doing, the individuals there that we're speaking to are basically doing exactly what we're trying to do here, which is to get more information. And in a situation like this, the first priority for the Secret Service is to make sure the president is safe, to get him to safety, and then to treat him.

Their first priority is not getting us information. So we've gotten the very basic information, which is that he is safe. They have implemented further protective measures and that the injuries here are not life threatening. But beyond that, we just don't know. And frankly, I think even those very close to Donald Trump at this point are trying to get further detail about exactly what happened and how he's doing.

All right, John. Carl, we're going to go to John Santucci now, who I know has been communicating with the Trump campaign. John, you were with us earlier. What more are you learning tonight? So right now, what I can tell you that members of Donald Trump's family, so far as I understand it, have not spoken to the former president directly.

According to my sources, they have been receiving calls and updates from people that were on the ground with the former president and also, I'm told, with received briefings from the Secret Service. Remember, these are in some cases, as we were talking about earlier with John and Carla, the fact that Donald Trump has had Secret Service protection for so many years, so many of these agents have been around the former president, his children, for nearly a decade. So there is a very close relationship. And thus, I do think that's part of the reason why the family has been getting such up to minute information, if you will. I can also tell you that for the most part, there is a bit of a sigh of relief, if you will, in the sense that everyone is being told that same word.

Fine. You know, of course, that image causing alarm that many people within Donald Trump's inner orbit that were not physically with him, I do think that's really important. As we spoke about earlier with, you know, this is a rally that normally many close allies, many members of the president's family usually join him for these big events. But of course, so many of them are either getting ready to or already on the ground out in Milwaukee preparing for the start of the republican convention. You know, I will just say a little bit wit because I think it's important.

You know, and you and I talked about this earlier, as much as Donald Trump loves this rally, I have been told by sources for the last week Donald Trump has been in one of the best moods of late, and in part because of all the speculation and attention that this rally was getting, because this was the rally with, as you know, we reported at one point it was possible that Donald Trump was going to reveal his vice presidential pick. Now, of course, that didn't happen because of what we have on site. But I also can tell you that Donald Trump has said he wanted to keep this grand reveal to Monday when the convention was beginning. But nevertheless, I do just think it speaks to the president's state of mind going into this rally. We know from all of our years of covering Donald Trump, these are the events he loves the most.

He thrives off of the crowd, the audiences. He'll often say he yelled at the fire commissioner to let more people in. But nevertheless, we must stress these events are so guarded by the Secret Service and anybody that comes into them, of course, going through magnetometers, going through screening. But I think that you are going to have to imagine even for Donald Trump, who takes his own personal security very the price possession. Very careful, always listening to the Secret Service.

I will be very curious, of course, now leaning into those reports and what I'm hearing from my sources, that he's fine, how a Donald Trump rally changed changes going forward. And, you know, I was reminded by a colleague of ours with, you know, there have been scares before at rallies of Donald Trump. You know, people have yelled things. I was at a rally once, almost positive it was in Las Vegas where someone yelled a gun. And the president at that time, candidate Trump, was rushed off stage in 2016.

But never have we seen something like this that has caused such a scare, such an alarm for the former president and his family with, yeah, regardless of what happened here, as we're watching these images come through, they are quite remarkable and frightening, given the political environment that we've been in lately. Let's go back to the White House, because, Mary Alice Parks, I understand you're getting word from, from Hakeem Jeffries. Well, we just saw a statement, obviously, from the highest ranking Democrat there in the House. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffrey put out a statement saying, my thoughts and prayers are with the former president. I am thankful for the decisive law enforcement response.

America is a democracy. Political violence of any kind is never acceptable. I know you've been talking to John, Carl and others about some of the other Democrats that, of course, been weighing in. This goes beyond partisan politics. People in Washington, of course, across the political spectrum, hoping and making sure that the former president is okay and congratulating law enforcement like Hakeem Jeffrey said, therefore, their, their decisive response.

I can tell you that here on the White House campus, Secret Service, very tight lipped, which is their standard posture. They don't talk to us about security protocol. That's a part of their protocol to keep their plans to themselves. That's a part of how they keep presidents safe. The White House campus is not on lockdown.

There are still tours going on. Is it often the case on the weekends? I can tell you they've pushed back the perimeter at the White House. There is not protesters or tourists walking on Pennsylvania Avenue, but that happens from time to time. And the Secret Service would not confirm that they did that in response to this incident.

But I will tell you it happened right around the same time. The press that's traveling with the president in Delaware said that they noticed what seemed to them to be a heightened security protocol with the president at Delaware in Delaware. He's at his residence there at Rehoboth beach. That's to be expected. I would imagine there would be absolutely a heightened protocol, though.

The president is so guarded. But like I said, secret Service does not normally talk to us about their plans, how they work to keep the president safe. And at this point, they are being very tight lipped about what happened. Yeah. Again, unclear exactly what the heightened protocol is, but we definitely know that when an incident like this happens across the board, we see changes made to law enforcement and additional protections to some of the people who they deem might be vulnerable in a moment like this.

Let's go back to Rachel Scott, who's still there in Pennsylvania. Rachel, I understand you've been speaking with people who are at the rally with you. Yeah. And these two trump supporters are just making their way out. Tell me what you saw and what you heard.

You said that you heard the popping sound and you got down. At first you think, like, maybe firecrackers, but it continued. It continued. And then somebody yelled, get down. We got down.

We got down, and we huddled and we started praying. And we just started praying and thank God. A little while later, we got up. When we saw other people get up, we saw Trump get up, raise his fist like, I'm okay. And we just, we just, we just, we kept praying.

We kept praying. But I got a birthday card to trump his birthday flag day. And right before I said I got a card to him, security was going to give it to him here. And in the card, it said that George Washington. So you kept, you kept praying.

And what about you? How did you feel when you heard those sounds? What did you do? I felt really bad. I worried about our grandchildren that were kind of.

What kind of, of life are they gonna have if this goes on, if people don't have the right to say what they want? You told me that you were near the very front. You weren't very far. No, we were like, from here to where that thing is. And you got down.

You said you got down immediately. Yeah, yeah. Everybody yelled, get down. My daughter in law, Lisa, she said for us to hurry up and get down, and she called her husband because he was standing right by the pool and he got done also. We were just, it's a scary situation when someone does something.

You don't have our, you know, you don't. How can I say it? You have to have God in your heart to be able to have freedom and everything. But this is, this was just sad for a lot of people. It was.

Well, we're happy you both are okay. Thank you so much for speaking with us. Please get home safe. And so that is just a little bit of the reaction and some of what we've been actually hearing from a lot of the Trump supporters. Those two people that I just talked to, one woman told me that she was here with her family.

They were very close to the stage. She said that all she just heard were just get down, get down. And they said immediately they just started praying, hoping that everything was going to be okay. They were in the front just now. It's been spent, I believe it's been over a half an hour.

They are just now being able to escort out of this area, partially because you had a lot of the elderly people who gathered here, elderly Trump supporters who sat in those front rows are just sort of making their way out now, being escorted out. But everyone that I've been talking to, it as they're leaving, they're still shaken up. They're asking us if we know what had happened there. Everyone's checking on each other, asking if one another is okay. This is a crowd that's still visibly shaken up.

And I think that she made a really good point, whip, because at these rallies, the former president's podium is not far away from the crowd. Donald Trump is someone who loves a big crowd. He loves these rallies. He wants to feel his supporters very close to him. And so those, those pops were very ringing for a lot of those Trump supporters that were there.

We all heard them. Our press riser was not very far off as well. And then immediately everyone just took cover until we were able to finally get up and leave that area with it. RACHEL Scott, once again. And while we don't know exactly what happened, we do know for sure it was a frightening and chaotic moment for all the people who are there.

And Rachel, bringing that to us from those witnesses who are in the crowd talking about getting down on the ground and praying and hoping for the best. Let's bring in our ABC News contributor, Reince Priebus, of course, former head of the RNC, also former chief of staff under former President Trump. And Reince, just your take on these images and what you're seeing today and what people within the Trump campaign are telling you now.

Reince Priebus, this is whit in New York. Can you hear me?

All right, forgive us for having some technical difficulties as we're trying to reach Reince Priebus. Let's go back to John. Carl, once again in Milwaukee. Our chief Walker, Washington correspondent, John's there, ready to cover the Republican National Convention. The news, John, in the next 48 hours was supposed to be who was going to be former President Trump's running mate.

And we were going over the short list of candidates who it could be. And there was so much attention around this event. There was the possibility that Trump could hint to his possible pick. And a lot of people were watching this very closely. And now this horrific incident playing out.

Yeah. And by the way, separately with this event is one of the, one of the most secure places in the country right now, is they have basically fortified the entire area for several blocks around this convention center. And what we just noticed over the last ten minutes or so is some kind of apparently military helicopter kind of circling above. I'm sure just, I mean, this place is already secure before what, what happened today. But you can imagine the level of concern just got ramped up even more so.

But, but look, this is a shocking event. I mentioned to you a short while ago that I was on the floor of the convention talking to the Republican National Committee chairman, Michael Whatley, when this news broke. He got a, you know, a phone call came in and quickly rushed off the floor, everybody trying to figure out what happened. We do have a full statement from the Trump campaign. We had some of this information earlier, but now a full statement from the Trump campaign saying, President Trump thanks law enforcement and first responders for their quick action during this heinous act.

He is fine. Important words. He is fine and is being checked out at a local medical facility. More details to follow. That is from Steve Chung, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign.

It matches what we have heard from the spokesperson for the secret Service saying that the former president is safe. The former president is safe. And it's very important to point out that we still, at this point, don't know exactly what happened. We don't even know for sure if the popping noise that everybody is assumed and assumes was gunfire. We don't, we can't confirm that was gunfire.

We know we saw that, those incredibly dramatic pictures. We see the blood coming from the former president's ear. We don't know what that's from. I mean, it's possible. Remember, he has a whole phalanx of Secret Service agents who are essentially jumping on him and bringing him down.

It's quite possible he could have been injured in some way during the process of the secret Service protecting him from more severe injury. So we just don't know. But the fact that this incident happened, happened on live tv, that you hear the popping that seems to be apparent gunfire. I have in my hands just a raft of statements from political leaders across the political spectrum condemning the very idea of political violence and hoping for the safety, praying for the safety of the former president, who we now hear both from the Secret Service and from his campaign, appears to be safe and doing fine. One statement that came that has, I think, some resonance beyond the others is from Robert F.

Kennedy junior, who, of course, is running a mounting a third party campaign for president. Robert F. Kennedy Junior, of course, was old enough to see what happened to his father during the 1968 democratic primary when he was assassinated. Just after the California primary, RFK junior putting out a statement saying, quote, 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, his family. That from Bobby Kennedy junior.

But again, bottom line, we hear from the campaign, the president is fine. Those were the campaign's words from the Secret Service. The former president is safe. John. Carl, once again, thank you.

I do want to go back to Rachel Scott, who's still there in Pennsylvania, outside the venue where all of this occurred. Rachel, you've been talking to witnesses, people who are there at that rally. What more are you hearing? Mm hmm. And people are still mingling around here, waiting to leave this area.

This is Gabby. Gabby, you told me you were in the second row. Describe what you saw. I think I. Well, I mean, I saw, like, all the, like, secret service, like, kind of COVID Trump.

They did a really good job about that, making sure he was protected, telling everyone to get down. So I think they did take a good care of, like, making sure everyone was, like, understanding what was going on and, like, being serious, but not freaking everybody out. What was your initial reaction when you heard those popping noises? To get down? Yeah, so I actually, like, my boyfriend pushed me on the ground and, like, went on top of me, which was, like, really nice.

But I think a lot of people, I think, were a little, like, too shocked to understand what was going on originally, for sure. But I think, I think everyone listened pretty well and it was handled pretty well. Did you see some of that commotion that was playing out on the other side of the bleacher where we saw law enforcement agents sort of swarm around another individual? Or did you ultimately just rush out? No, we were there for a minute because they did tell us to go back down again just in case.

I think that was good because it helped, like, calm people down. But I think one of the stands that I was next to, they did, like, carry out a man, and there was another one that might have been injured. I'm not 100% sure, but definitely one at a least. And on the other stand, on the other side, because I was on the right, on the left, there were, like, a bunch of, like, men in uniform, like, surrounding someone. So that was interesting to see.

You said that you were very impressed by the speed in which secret service was able to get on that stage within seconds of all of us hearing those popping sounds. Yeah, absolutely. They did a great job. I definitely felt protected in the situation. The sniper was on it, watching on guard.

Everyone on the scene, like, did a great job. I mean, like, of course, it was, like, nerve wracking in the moment, but I never felt like I was in danger, which was cool. They were on the president, which I'm very thankful of, and they did a great job protecting him and getting him out as quick as possible. He is doing good, which is good. Yeah.

We all felt that moment for a minute where we all rushed down, we were all taking cover, and then it was panic that set in. Then after a minute, we, Paul popped up, and we saw the former president. He was being escorted off the stage, and he kind of raised his fist, pumping it up in the air as he was being escorted off that riser and back into his vehicle. What did you make of that? Actually, I had the honor of being right in front when they were escorting.

So the exit that they were taking, I was right in front of, and I got to see him, like, footing his fist up and everything. That was really awesome to see, like, even relieved, also, like, having such a good, strong, like, charisma about him, even in a hard time. Yeah. Can I just ask you now, being on this end, we've been escorted out of this area. How are you feeling right now?

I've been talking to a lot of people leaving. They're still a little shaken up about it, a little bit confused about what happened. Trump supporters come from all over the country to come to events like this, and within minutes, we heard those popular noises, and that rally was over. Mm hmm. They did a great job escorting everybody.

I mean, I'm probably one of the few that are like, I'm so glad I was here and got to witness this. I thought they did a great job, and I was really appreciative. It any, like, security or police that I've seen, I've tried to, like, go up and congratulate them because, like, that's a hard job, and, like, you have to be ready at any moment, at all times, like, that kind of thing. So it was really cool to, like, see them actually get to do their job. And they did a great job.

And I, I mean, I'm still here for now. Gotta wait for my ride. It's, I feel fine. Yeah, they did a good job, Gabby. We so appreciate it.

So that is just the scene that's playing out here. We still have a number of Trump supporters that are making their way out. There were obviously hundreds and hundreds of people here, so they're now clearing out. As I mentioned before, cell phone service can be a little tough in that area. So people are finally starting to get cell phone service, make their way back to their vehicles.

But every Trump supporter that we have talked to sharing that sense of relief, hearing that the former president is okay, but also that sense of gratitude, wit for secret service, for law enforcement agents that were able to quickly rush in and take control of that situation with, well, Rachel, stand by because we're getting some significant developments right now. The district attorney of Butler county telling ABC News the shooter is dead. Also, there's more here saying that one bystander is confirmed dead and possibly a second bystander dead as well. So again, that's from the district attorney Richard Goldinger of Butler county telling ABC News the shooter is dead. So this is the first time that we've had any kind of confirmation from a law enforcement source that shots were fired.

And now learning that there are potentially, again, according to the DA, some fatalities associated with this incident at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania. Let's go back to our chief justice correspondent Pierre Thomas. Pierre, you've been talking to your law enforcement sources. This is a major event. Well, clearly, if this information holds up from the district attorney who is the chief prosecutor for that area, that a bystander is dead and that the so called shooter is dead as well, greatly enhances the concern that law enforcement would have about this situation.

We've been with the secret Service in recent days with working with them, looking at their security plan for both conventions, the RNC and the DNC convention. And I can tell you, one of the things, things that they wanted to put forth in the conversations with me is that they believed that the threat environment was quite dangerous and that all their training was geared toward dealing with events like this. They showed us the training of how they would move the president in the event of an attack. They showed what would happen if the president were fired on or if his motorcade were fired upon. They have drones that will be doing surveillance, not been something in theory that they've been worried about.

This has been an actual concern. And now that this has happened, law enforcement, which was already on a hair trigger will now be at a threat level that we probably haven't seen in quite some time with. And, Pierre, again, if this report is true, a shooter confirmed to be dead, a bystander as well, and potentially somebody else. I mean, this is going to raise major questions about what went wrong, how this could possibly happen. And in this heightened threat environment that you talked about, all the training, all the preparation, knowing the conventions are coming up, this would be a massive security failure.

Well, the question will be, what kind of security do they have for people in the crowd? You know, did they have magnetometers? You know, those kind of questions will need to be resolved and answered. And again, we don't yet know all the details of how this unfolded. You know, there are just so many scenarios where you could have law enforcement responding to the popping sounds.

So again, the Secret Service right now, their mode is protect, protect, protect. That was their primary concern, was to get the president out of harm's way, get him removed, briefing us, getting information to us is so secondary. But trust me, the Justice Department, FBI, all these different agencies are trying to get information so they can assess the threat environment and look at security across the board, because this is not going to be viewed just as an isolated incident. This potentially impacts everything going forward with. And you see how quickly, again, our viewers looking at this video of the moment as it occurred, you see how quickly it happened.

And initially, the reaction from the crowd. And one of the first things you see the former president do is reach for his right ear, then goes to the ground, and then you see this human shield of Secret Service agents jumping on top of him before they escorted him out. And at this, the immediate aftermath here, people are confused in the crowd, looking around, not clear what's going on. So major, major questions as we get more information tonight, but again, that from the district attorney, that it appears the shooter is dead and at least one bystander dead, too.

Oh, forgive me. I'm getting information as I'm coming on. We have Dave McCormick on the phone right now with us, who is at the rally.

Yep. Running for senator. And, Dave, forgive me, as I'm just getting this information. You were at the rally. If you could just walk us through what you heard and what you saw.

Yeah, hi. Yes, I was, I'm the republican nominee for the Senate in Pennsylvania. I was in the front row, and President Trump had just announced me and said he was going to have me come up on the stage and said, well, wait a minute. And then there were a number of shots, I think probably seven or eight shots.

It wasn't clear whether they would come from one place or two places, at least I couldn't tell. And immediately there was a swarm of Secret Service officers that got on top of, knocked down President Trump and got on top of him. And then he stood back up and you sort of saw this fist come out, sort of defiant, that it looked like he was okay, but you couldn't tell for sure. It looked like there was some blood, but it wasn't obvious. And then the entire crowd went to the ground because we weren't sure whether the shots were done.

And then, unfortunately, over my shoulder, someone had clearly been hit. I was on the ground and up in the bleachers, probably three or four bleachers behind me. It looked like there was a man who was severely injured. There was a lot of blood, and his people around him were trying to administer, first Aidan and then the police. Some police officers came in and carried him out and presumably took him to get first aid.

That's really all I could see. I don't know if there were other people injured, and I don't know if there was anybody apprehended, because, as you might imagine, once that happened, the crowd was very chaotic and it was very hard to know what was going on. And we're still there at the rallye, just sitting, trying to get out because the traffic is so backed up. And Dave, your account seems to confirm some of this reporting that we're getting about a shooter and potential bystanders who were hurt. Just talk more about your initial reaction.

I mean, seeing this, you're running for Senate in the state of Pennsylvania. You're about to walk up on the stage, you're getting introduced by the former president, and then you hear these shots ring out and the chaos in the crowd. What was going through your mind in that moment? Well, you know, it takes a minute to process. People started to panic all around.

You could feel people were very scared. And so everybody just dropped to the ground. And it felt very obvious that the president was under assault and very much at risk. And it wasn't clear that he was okay to begin with. And then once it started to sink in, you're thinking, are there still shooters out there?

Are they going to target other people? And it's just like these situations. I was in the military previously. You realize over time that this facts start to come together. So you got to be careful not to draw too many conclusions early on.

But I think what we all felt was a sense of, oh, my lord, everybody's in danger because there's clearly a shooter, at least one shooter in the crowd and maybe more. And really, I think, scary for everybody who was there and shocking, even more than scary, just shocking because you were in the middle of this rally and it was kind of fun and people were enthusiastic and all of a sudden was turned upside down. What does this say to you about our state of division and the politics in this country right now? Well, you know, I don't want to draw any conclusions before I know more about it. But, you know, obviously it's, you know, if you're a public official, if you're a presidential candidate and, you know, your safety's at risk, that's scary for all of us, no matter what party you're in.

And so I think it's, you know, it's a, it's a moment to take stock. And, you know, you had 15,000, it seemed, you know, it was a huge crowd. I was told by the law enforcement people there are 15,000 people who were enthusiastically supporting their candidate. And all of a sudden, the former president, his life is at risk. And what were peaceful people in the audience are wounded, potentially fatally.

That's unacceptable. And it's not a matter of party. That's just unacceptable in our great country. Dave McCormick, thank you for your time. We are so grateful that you are, sadly, as we get this news that potentially some bystanders who are there, at least one, according to the DA, may have been killed.

Dave McCormick, thank you for your time. I do want to bring in Donald Mihalic, who is an ABC News contributor, former Secret Service. Donald, just walk us through. You've seen the images right now. Obviously, Secret Service agents train for this at this moment.

But what can you tell us about what played out here? Well, you know, the secret Service, this is what they train for. This is what they prepare for. Even the preparatory phase for any of these, any of these events is a week or more in planning. And part of the preparation is if an incident happens, whether it's an attack on a protectee or another major incident that could impact the event.

What we saw here was something happened, and it sounds like from the butler's DA that potentially a shooter was involved. So it would be an attempted assassination. Shots fired at the protectee, and the Secret Service moved in expeditiously to form a body bunker around the protectee and evacuate the protectee off the stage and move the protectee to a hard location. And then standard procedure, take the protectee to the hospital to be checked out. Everything on the video looks textbook of what the Secret Service trains to do, which is why they're the world's renowned experts with protection and how they're supposed to perform.

It's a sad day in America that this happened, but thankfully, it sounds like President Trump is okay, and hopefully they find out why this individual did this and they can get to the bottom of it. And, Donald, I know we're still getting more information and trying to get confirmation about exactly what happened, but the way you framed it really stood out to me that the Secret Service would treat this as an attempted assassination, something this country has not seen in a very long time. What defines that in terms of the training and the moment and the response? Well, threats against public officials have gone up exponentially over the last couple of years, as your previous guest pointed out. And that threatened matrix has contributed to these attacks on public officials, local, state, federal.

We've seen that increase across the board. In this situation, if there's an attempted assassination against one of our protectees, it just elevates what's going on in the country, what's going on in the world. And it drives a lot of the Secret Service's protective methodology, because the threat matrix around public officials has become so exacerbated and so increased that they have to make sure that they mitigate each and every facet of at an event, which is why even though at times people complain about some of the security measures at these events, the Secret Service ends up having to dot all I's and cross all t's to make sure that every aspect of an event is secure. Well, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

I want to bring in Elizabeth Newman, now former Department of Homeland Security in the Trump administration. What more can you tell us about the security procedures and how perhaps the investigation might play out from here? Well, we're going to be seeing a lot more digging into the suspect, the shooter, who we have been told has passed. We're going to be looking to find out where he has been, find out where he obtained the weapons that he used, looking into phones and computers and his online engagement. We know just historically, the last ten years, most mass attacks, most lone actor attacks do tend to radicalize online.

They spend a lot of time online. They plan their attacks from various sites online. So I imagine secret Service and their supporting law enforcement agencies will be digging into his online profile as well as where he's been the last few days, if he has any associates, if anybody had indications that something was wrong. We know that most mass attackers tend to have leakage before they commit an attack, which is why we always ask the public if you detect that somebody in your life is not doing well, and they start to mention things that are concerning, like they might be trying to plan something to take their own life or to take somebody else's life to please call police. And that's really important after an event like this.

We often do have copycats or we have other people that are inspired to retaliate to whatever they perceive might be a political action. So this is a time for calm and for the public to stay vigilant. And if you have any concerns about in your life to somebody in your life that might need help, to don't hesitate to call law enforcement and get help for that person. Elizabeth Newman, thank you so much. I want to go back to Pierre Thomas in Washington.

Pierre, I understand. And President Biden now has also been briefed by the secret Service. And we talked with numerous people today about this heightened level of vigilance, heightened security, threat level. Now that we're getting reports that potentially there were shots fired, a shooter was killed and maybe a bystander, that changes everything, doesn't it now? It does, indeed.

We're being told by our sources that President Biden is being briefed by Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas and Secret Service Director Cheadle. That gives you a sense of the amount of concern here going forward. And I can tell you with the attorney general and the FBI director, but the attorney general in recent weeks has been openly concerned, telling the staff about his fears about this spike in threats, spike in threats aimed at political figures in this country, that along with the ongoing war in Israel, the resurgence of ISIS, and basically a lot of sources have been telling me their hair has basically been on fire because, as the FBI director said, he's never seen a situation where virtually every threat zone is elevated. And right now, because this has the potential of being an assassination plot, we don't know the details of that yet. That is nothing officially confirmed.

But that's, I can tell you it will be looked at in that way. This is only going to increase the concerns that we're in this very sinister and concerning moment that law enforcement is going to have to factor in going forward. I think every rally that the president, President Biden, President Trump does going forward is going to have to be reassessed in terms of the level of security that is provided with Pierre Thomas. Thank you. I do want to bring in Aaron Katersky, our senior investigator correspondent, who's also been talking to law enforcement sources on this.

And Aaron a. Big part of the conversation in the last half hour or so since we've been getting more information is, is whether or not this was some kind of assassination attempt. What are you learning from your sources? While it's certainly not being confirmed as such yet, whit, I can tell you that officials who've been briefed on the situation in Pennsylvania are telling us here that they are investigating this now as a possible assassination attempt. The sources told ABC News lies.

Rounds were apparently fired from outside the security perimeter, which may help explain the dynamics at play here. And we know that magnetometers were in place for the event, but it's believed one of the angles of investigation now is that live rounds were possibly fired from outside the security perimeter. And that's where the investigation stands at the moment. And, Aaron, you have also been to a lot of these different events, not just various political events from former President Trump, but also his court hearings in New York and the security measures that have been in place at each and every one of them. Talk more about the typical response and how law enforcement would prepare for an event like this.

The planning for these events is always evolving, and it is sometimes months, if not years in the making, especially for a planned event like a political convention or some kind of rally. And this is what the secret service does on a daily basis. And I know colleagues have talked to you, whit, about the heightened threat environment and how that environment is dynamic. It's been elevated ever since October 7. And the political climate in the country has certainly made authorities concerned.

We don't know anything about what may have factored into all of this, of course. So this is still very early, but this is now being investigated as a possible assassination attempt. And the suspicion now is that live rounds were fired, apparently from outside the security perimeter. Aaron Kutursky, thank you. And once again, to our viewers, who may just be turning in, wondering what's going on here, this incident happening in Butler, Pennsylvania.

This was supposed to be a major rally for former President Trump ahead of the Republican National Convention. There were hints that perhaps he might select a possible running mate in the next 48 hours or so. So a lot of attention was on this specific event. And then we heard from witnesses and from our Rachel Scott, who was inside the venue, who said that they described the repeated popping sounds that sounded like gunshots. Then you see in these images and the videos, the Secret Service swarming around the former president who reached for his right ear as he went down behind the podium, those Secret Service agents then forming somewhat of a human shield over him before escorting him off the stage.

And here you see in these images when Trump got up onto his feet, there were cheers from the crowd. He started pumping his fist as that blood started to trickle down from the top of his right ear and again from the district attorney in Butler county telling ABC News, and this is the only source far that we've had about the specific, the shooter being killed and a possible bystander standard and maybe another who was also injured in this shooting. But the district attorney giving us that information saying that they were looking into this right now and told that there was chaos out there as they were investigating the next steps in this case. So once again, if you're just joining us, the former president spokesperson tells us that he is fine, he is safe right now, but no information in terms of an apparent injury, although we did see that blood in some of the photographs that we've seen flash across the screen here. This is a developing story.

I want to bring in Brad Garrett, who's one of our law enforcement contributors. Brad, you're familiar with many investigations of a large scale. We've heard right now from a number of sources that law enforcement are, they're at least looking at this, Brad, as a potential assassination attack. How does an investigation like that move forward from here? So obviously, what the real key is, is it contained?

Do you know enough at this point? Is this a loan shooter? Is this shooter part of a group? So you want to look at that immediately, you know, based on what the local district attorney is saying, if that is accurate, that you have a shooter down and maybe two other people down, you know, that may get answered, I will tell you, through law enforcement, because it's very conceivable that the shooter and these two, quote unquote, bystanders would be shot by law enforcement because they're going to go to the shot and there's going to be people, there's going to be snipers around these locations. And so they maybe just immediately beat it in on somebody.

But to your question about where they're going to go from here, that's going to be the real key. Is this just some disgruntled guy that doesn't like the former president or is he part of a group that doesn't like the former president, which then could obviously spin into something else. But this may be a lone actor. We just don't know yet. Brad Garrett, stand by.

Again, we're still waiting on some more information here, but I do want to just, just forgive me. I'm going to bring you back for just a follow up question on that exact point, whether they're looking to see if this was a lone actor, if others may have been involved, as I'm still getting information right now, but from, from the law enforcement perspective, one thing that I thought was interesting there, and we talked about this with, with John Carl earlier, is it's not just the Secret Service. Right. You have multiple law enforcement agencies on the ground at these major events, and they all, Secret Service takes the lead, but they're all working together. We saw some of them come up onto the stage in tactical gear and long guns.

How do those partnerships play out in the minutes, the hours and the days after an event of this magnitude? So certainly during the event itself, you're exactly right. Secret Service only have so many people, and they're going to coordinate this with the city, county and state jurisdictions. In, obviously, this case, the state of Pennsylvania. They will have practiced, trained prior to this event.

And maybe because the president does hold, a lot of rallies have worked together before to cover all the different angles. Obviously, the Secret Service are going to be the immediate response and around the president. But the next layer or two layers or rings around security are going to be quite possibly other law enforcement agencies. And to my previous conversation with you, it may have been one of them that got to the shooter or the, or these two, quote, unquote, bystanders. But that's the real key.

Now, obviously, people reacted quickly. I'll say one other thing. Without knowing anymore with that, the shooter may have been some distance away, which is certainly fortunate for the former president. If he'd have been any closer, this would be a bigger tragic event, of course. But the whole key right now is this shooter and what's he all about?

Absolutely. Brad Garrett for us. We appreciate it. I do want to go to Leonard Verdetto, who is an eyewitness who was there at the rally today. He's joining us now on the phone.

Leonard, can you hear me? Yes, I can hear you, sir. How are you doing? Thanks for having me on. Absolutely, Leonard, we're so grateful that you are okay.

Can you just walk us through what happened and what you saw? Sure. Absolutely. So everybody was excited to see the former president coming out. We were all, you know, excited, and, you know, we were all happy.

We were all joyful. You know, we were all there for each other. You know, then the former president was giving his speech, and moments later, there was some, you know, popping sounds that were going off. There were about maybe six or seven to eight shots that were happening. No, none of us really registered at the time.

But then all people were saying, get down, get down. Even I was saying, get down. Other people were saying, get down as well. And, you know, we were all praying. We were praying to Yeshua, the Lord Jesus, and we were praying to him to keep us safe, keep us protected.

But unfortunately, what happened was, you know, someone did get shot. What I do here is that I think two people did get shot, you know, to the best of my knowledge, and I believe that, you know, the former president, which I'm glad he is safe. So, Leonard, and again, we don't have all these things confirmed yet. So, you know, this is your perspective here, but when you say that you believe that two people were shot, could you actually see people, potential victims? What to what I, what I seen, and to the best of my knowledge, sir, is that, you know, and again, I was hearing it from other news sources as well.

But what that I seen first, I seen that there was blood on a couple of people. You know, someone was shot just like about 5ft right behind us, to be honest. So we were that close. And thank God we weren't shot either. And where were you located?

Were you? But we're looking at the video right now. This is the former president being brought back to his feet after those shots were fired. Were you on, on the stands behind Donald Trump or were you in front of him? If you're looking.

Exactly, Adam would be on the left side. Actually, we were the left side of the other stands where you seen those big tvs. So, so left side of the stands of facing the president or behind the former president? Facing the president. We were more on the sides looking on the side of the president.

So facing him.

Leonard, let me just ask you, too. Obviously, this is, this, we've been talking about this, the division in this country, the polarization. But here you are, obviously, you're exercising your right to support whichever politician you believe in. And you go to an event like this, you don't expect there to be violence. What's in your heart right now?

Well, what's in the heart right now is I'm encouraging the american people to pray to Lord Jesus, because right now our country is divided. I'm a young, I'm a millennial generation. I'm 30 years old. And this is my first time being at a Trump rally. And the reason why I'm supporting the former president is because of the policies that he has to keep the country safe and secure, borders and everything like that.

So that's why I stand for what e stands for. And I encourage the american people to pray, the Lord Jesus, that we need to be united as a people. We need to repent, and we need to be healed as a nation, because right now our nation is not going down a good road. But I encourage people to pray because prayer is a powerful thing. Well, Leonard Verdetto, we are so thankful that you are okay and that you were able to make it out of there safe.

Thank you again for your time. We truly appreciate it. I do want to bring in another witness who was there at this rally today, Robert Rozano. Robert, can you hear me? Yes, sir, I can.

Walk me through what you saw, what you heard. And how close were you to the former president as these reported shots rang out? We were myself and a good buddy of mine. We were four rows back from the center. The former president, former president was facing directly at us, and he was.

It was. It was a good crowd. You know, everyone was pretty electric. It had been a long day. You know, the heat was kicking in a little bit, but people were happy.

You know, people were happy to see the former president speak. And, you know, he came out to God bless America. And the crowd was electric. And, you know, it was probably a good 1015 minutes into the speech that we started to hear what sounded like gunshots ring out. And we probably heard a good three or four gunshots that sounded like they were of a smaller caliber, followed by two to three more much powerful shots, which most folks assumed that it had been from the secret Service.

I know as soon as the gunshots rang out, most of us had hit the ground. You know, it was a scary situation. You know, you're in a fishbowl, you know, with the former president, and you don't know, you know, where the shots are coming from and who they're coming from. And it was, it was a pretty traumatic situation, I think, for everybody. But what we did see following the shots was we saw the president hit the ground.

We looked up to the top left hand side of the stands that were right behind him. And, you know, it looked like there were several folks that were still down. It looked like there was some blood that had been there. We also saw some law enforcement folks that had carried out what looked like the body of an individual following that President Trump. He stood back.

Robert, are you still with me? I think we just lost Robert Rozano's connection there. But the account that he gave, pretty terrifying, considering that after the president, former president was then removed from the stage, it looked like there were people still down in the stands. And we have heard those reports from several witnesses now that there was blood in the stands, that several people had to be carried out. And again, the reports from the district attorney there in Pennsylvania telling us that at least one bystander was killed in this incident, perhaps a second, and that the shooter is dead.

We're still waiting on more information from other sources to put all of that together. But I do want to bring in our chief chief global affairs correspondent Martha Raditz, whos been following this. And, Martha, youre getting more reaction tonight. Martha, more reaction and just in from former President Obama saying theres absolutely no place for political violence in our democracy, although we dont yet know exactly what happened, we should all be relieved that former President Trump wasnt seriously hurt and use this moment to recommit ourselves to civility and respect in our politics. Michelle and I are wishing him a quick recovery.

There are multiple reactions such as that, whit and everyone, of course, glued to the television watching this event play out over and over. Ive been talking to people I know in the military who are trained in weapons. And they too, said this was probably far away from President Trump and yet clearly a very, very dangerous situation. If, in fact, he was grazed by a bulletead, that would explain why others were injured and possibly killed as well. This person, this colleague from the military said that he believed they probably listening to those sounds again and again said the shooter probably got off a couple of rounds because we heard those sounds, those explosive sounds, those sounds of gunfire.

Several of them said the shooter likely got off a couple of rounds before he was then probably taken out by the secret Service or whoever was outside that perimeter. But it's true. I mean, we've said this all afternoon. It is almost impossible to completely protect someone as hard as you try. And, Martha, what you're saying and what your sources are telling you lines up with what we've been hearing throughout the night, too, from the witnesses, that they heard several pops that sounded like gunfire.

The first couple were quieter and then like the louder shots that came afterwards, which some have suggested, including Brad Garrett, our law enforcement expert, also described as potentially law enforcement firing back at the shooter. Exactly. And I think, I think that is likely what will play out. We obviously have a lot to learn in the coming hours and the coming days, but that makes sense. And also, when you look at President Trump, former President Trump put his hand to his ear and hear that sound.

It sounds like it was a while getting to him. So that also would tell you that it was beyond the security perimeter. And that is a big area, a wide open area. People could probably stand quite far away from there. And of course, we know there are long weapons out there, Robert.

And as weve been hearing from law enforcement tonight, they are treating this as a potential assassination attempt, again, trying to get more information, but that's how they're treating it right now. Until they get those extra details, let's bring in our chief White House correspondent Mary Bruce. And I understand that you now have a response specifically from President Biden. The president Witt is out with this statement, and he notes, of course, that he has been briefed on this. He is watching this unfold from his beach house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

And the president says in this statement, I'm going to read it to you. He says, quote, I'm grateful to hear that he's safe and doing well, praying for him and his family and for all those who are at the rally. As we await further information, the president goes on to say, Jill and I are grateful to the Secret Service for getting him to safety, adding, there's no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it. Of course, we know this, this moment comes at a point in our nation's history when political rhetoric in this country is extremely divisive.

And we are already seeing this incident being politicized. Some Republicans pointing a finger at the president already argue, arguing, of course, baselessly, that President Biden is somehow to blame for this, noting, of course, that President Biden has put at the center of this campaign the argument that Trump is a danger to democracy. But tonight, the statement from the president just now, of course, grateful that Donald Trump is safe and doing well, praying for him, and thankful, of course, for the Secret Service for getting him to safety. All right. That statement from President Biden, Mary Bruce, thank you.

I want to go back to John Santucci, our executive editorial producer. John, you've been in touch with Trump's family.

How is this son of the former president? He tells ABC News when he has spoken to his father in just the last couple of moments, describes former President Trump as being in good spirits. Good spirits. He is still at the hospital, according to his son. And he told me with his father is, quote, never gonna stop.

Now, obviously, you know, this is the first time we've heard of the family being in touch with the former president. And as we've been reporting here on ABC with you with, for much of the last few hours, we know that many of the family was not with Donald Trump at this rally. Of course, some of them getting ready for the republican convention starting Monday out in Milwaukee. Donald Trump Junior, of course, a frequent presence by his father's side, probably the most politically active of the Trump children in this state of affairs. Of course, his daughter Ivanka has not been on the trail.

She was someone that went to the White House when Donald Trump took the presidency in 2017. But Donald Trump junior has been that fixture in republican politics by his father's side, a very active fundraiser for his father. And, of course, someone that, you know, at a rally like this would have normally been there if not speaking with alongside his father. So, of course, my understanding with that immediately, the family has been trying to reach him. And now they have indeed made contact with their father, who, again, just to reiterate, ABcDehe has learned is, quote, in good spirits, according to the former president's eldest son, Webb and John, forgive me if I didn't hear you earlier, you know, talking about the former president being in good spirits and he's doing fine.

Are we getting any word yet on whether he was injured in any way in this incident? So I asked Donald Trump junior his understanding when I spoke to him over the phone what happened. He said it remains unclear. Even the former president was not clear on exactly what happened. You know, Donald Trump junior and his siblings, I'm told from other sources, I did not ask Donald Trump junior this, but I know from multiple other sources have been in touch with the Secret Service trying to get updates themselves as to what has happened.

But as our team, I know you spoke to Aaron Kutursky and others than Josh Margolin here at ABC News, they are still, it's an active investigation, still trying to understand what happened. One thing Donald Trump junior did say to me, we were on the phone and says, no, it was his father made a remark that it was a lot of blood. But again, not something, from my understanding of the conversation I had with the president's former president's eldest son, not something that was heightened along, if you will, right as we reported, a statement that came out from the Trump campaign that he is, quote, fine. When I had that conversation with Donald Trump junior, which seemed to emphasize that things are okay, remaining under observation, a situation still unfolding as to what happened, but nevertheless, the former president ok. And again, according to his son, with in good spirits, John Santucci, our executive editorial producer, with word from the Trump family tonight.

We are just coming up at the top of the hour. It is 08:00 p.m. in the east. 05:00 p.m. in the west.

If you're just joining us right now, as if this campaign couldn't get more historic and unprecedented, what law enforcement officials are now investigating as a possible assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump. That is the moment you see in the video right there, all this playing out in Butler, Pennsylvania. This was a major campaign event that Donald Trump was hosting before the Republican National Convention was set to take place in Milwaukee this week. All eyes were on this rally as there was word that a potential running mate pick would be made within the next 48 hours or so. And many people were watching this to see, see if the former president would hint as to who he was going to pick.

And instead, several minutes into the rally, multiple reports of shots fired, what witnesses described as popping sounds. And then you saw the former president right there, ducking down, diving behind the podium, and then Secret Service rushing towards the former president, jumping on him and forming sort of a human shield as other law enforcement officers jump on the stage. You see them there with the long guns and the tactical gear, looking into the crowd. And then these remarkable images coming in. The former president with what appears to be blood dripping from his right ear, being escorted off the stage.

There was also a moment there with the former president pumping his fist as the crowd started cheering when they saw that he was okay. The president then escorted into his motorcade, taken off to a nearby medical facility. Reports from the Trump campaign and the Trump family telling us that the former president is doing fine, that he's okay, that he's receiving medical treatment, but never giving us any specifics as to whether or not he was, he was injured in any way beyond what we can see in this video. The DA in Butler county there, Pennsylvania, telling ABC News that the shooter is dead. Also telling us that at least one bystander was killed and perhaps another witnesses that we've heard from tonight talking about blood in the stands behind the former president and people being carried away.

It's unclear exactly what happened. We're still waiting on multiple sources from law enforcement to tell us, you know, whether the threat is over. That's unclear. But again, the source information that we're getting right now is that law enforcement is treating this as a potential assassination attempt, attempt against the former president until they get information that it wasn't. Let's go back to Rachel Scott, who's our senior congressional correspondent, also has been covering the campaign for us.

Rachel was inside the arena during this event and while we were on the air for world news. And it was minutes later when she heard those shots ring out Rachel, you've now been escorted outside. You've been with us the entire evening. What are sources telling you now? Yeah, this is the scene that's happening right now.

We are escorted outside of the Trump rally. We are still not far from where those shots rang out inside. I just want to show you right here, there's been so much conversation about the security. These white tents right here, this is where Trump supporters were screened by secret Service. This is typical at a Trump rally, standard with events with the former president.

You go through magnetometers, you go through metal detectors, your bags are then searched. There are certain items, like large bags, that are prohibited from being entered into this facility. And then you were screened, and you go inside of these rallies, off into the distance there. This is the area that is now an active crime scene. We were inside the moment that this happened.

We were on air with you live wit for World News Tonight. Then the former president took the stage. Within several minutes of the former president being on the stage, we heard these popping noises, one right after another after another, after another. And then there were those screams. We heard screams, screams from the crowd.

People yelling, people shouting to get down, people shouting, gunfire, gunfire, cover. We, along with other Trump supporters, then ducked for cover. We, we took off going below the riser. We covered ourselves, covered our heads. We watched as Trump supporters tilted out of their chairs, covered themselves as well, shielded themselves.

We've talked to a number of Trump supporters. One telling me all she could do was just close her eyes and pray. She just said she was praying and praying, hoping that everything would be okay. Those screams went on what felt like for several minutes. I know it was just only a matter of seconds, but it really encapsulates just sort of the frantic terror and the chaos that people were feeling in that moment, confused about what was going on.

Initially, we did hear shots of gunfire and get down, but we did not know for sure. Then within just a few moments after we saw that image and we were there live, we witnessed it along with the former president's supporters who were in the crowd. The former president who was protected and shielded by secret service agents who was knocked to the ground, they protected him. He then rose up. We saw him put his fist up in the air.

The crowd then cheered. Many people telling me they were relieved to see that the former president was okay. He was then escorted into his own vehicle and he was taken away immediately. Meanwhile, our eyes then went over, over to the bleachers. As you know, during these Trump rallies, the former president loves a crowd.

He has his supporters all around him. He wants these to feel as intimate as possible, even though there are hundreds and hundreds of people there. So off over to the bleachers. What we then noticed were secret service agents and law enforcement officials. They were swarming what appeared to be one or possibly two individuals.

And that is when all of us just sort of remained in that area. Law enforcement officials, officials were telling everyone to still stay down to make sure they could get the situation under control. After several more moments, we did see law enforcement officials and secret service agents then take one individual away. I did notice that there was blood on the bleachers on that side on that area. And then that was the moment where people started to clear out of that area.

We saw law enforcement officials come out with crime tape. They started taping off the area. We continue to be live with you on the air, reporting what we saw and what we were learning in the moment. And then we saw Trump supporters start to file out one by one. Those crowds are very packed, and so many times you're not able to get cell phone reception because there's just so many people there.

So this area right here started becoming a gathering place for a lot of Trump supporters, a place where they were calling their families, letting them know that they were okay, a place afterwards where people were checking on each other, trying to make sure that people were okay. And I want to bring in right now one person who was inside of this rally. Sir, you were inside? Yes. Where were you seated and what did you hear?

We were seated right in the front there, a little bit to the left, about six, seven rows back. And we were just standing up listening to Trump talk there. And we just heard, like a bullet. And you just seen him, like, swipe his ear there, you know. The next thing you know, you heard other bullets and he fell.

Then there was, like, probably like three or more shots, you know, and then you just seen the crowd, like, just look over at the bleachers there, you know. Then it just got crazy there. I mean, it was so scary, you know, and I feel for all the innocent bystanders that because they're, there was some people that got hurt, innocent bystanders there, and we're just praying for them, make sure they're all right and that, you know, and pray for Trump. What was your initial reaction when you heard those popping sounds? We were inside as well as one right after another sound, like someone said fire, you know, like firecrackers off, you know, like boom, boom, boom, you know?

And then, you know, you realize something's going on here, you know, and then everybody just, like, hit the deck. And it was pretty scary, you know, and there must have been a shooter on the outside of the perimeter, you know, and he must have been shooting inside and hit some innocent bystanders. There was a big crane there with speakers, and there was a line there, and the bullet got hit. You know, the line got hit and you can see all the fluid go out of the hydraulic line. We know, we know there's so many unconfirmed reports.

We know law enforcement is still working. This is an active investigation right now. How are you feeling? How standing here right now? This has been a very chaotic and a scary time, though, you know, this world, you know, we definitely need more police, you know, to patrol everything, you know, and hopefully we'll get that with Trump coming in here, know, so everyone should get out there and vote for him, you know.

And your reaction when you saw the former president after he was shielded by secret service agents? We did see him pop up. He raised his fists. I heard the crowd cheering for him. Yeah, he was looking for his shoes.

He's like, where's my shoes? But, but hopefully he'll be all right, though. I think he's strong and he'll come back and be ready for November. Well, thank you so much for your time. You know, I've been to almost every, every single campaign rally this election cycle, and this is typically an area right before the campaign rally starts.

There are lines with Trump supporters, hundreds of people lining up, waiting to get checked in, secret service screening them one by one as they enter in. There's always a sense of sort of joy and excitement from the former president, supporters who are eager to go inside and watch him. And now, hours after this rally here, this has turned into an area where people are just confused. There is a state of that sort of panic. What do we do now?

There's still some people hanging out here, waiting to leave the area. Just on this other end here, there's some cars that are still sort of leaving, trying to get out of this area. You could see there the line of cars, of people trying to access this area. That gives you some perspective of just how many people actually showed up to this rally. The parking lots are very full.

And so you had people not only hanging around, but still trying to leave this area now that it's been secured off and now that we've been escorted out with. And, Rachel, I know you've been to so many of these Trump rallies in the past. In fact, I even remember the two of us going to the same one at the same time in New Hampshire back in 2020. You've seen the security. You're familiar with these procedures.

And I think one thing that we've heard from some of the witnesses there, it does not matter your political affiliation here. This is, this is a sad day in this country as we still wait to get more information, especially some of those bystanders, at least one reportedly who lost their life. Rachel Scott for us, thank you so much. We do have a statement from President Biden here, and he writes that I have been briefed on the shooting at Donald Trump's rally in Pennsylvania. I'm grateful to hear that he's safe and doing well, praying for him and his family and for all of those at the rally.

As we await further information, Jill and I are grateful to the Secret Service 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 sentiment that we've been hearing from a number of officials on all sides of the aisle on this day and these remarkable events that have played out. Let's go back to Pierre Thomas, our chief justice correspondent in Washington, who's been talking to his sources. Pierre, one thing that we have learned in recent moments is that they are treating this as a possible assassination attempt until they learn otherwise, this is an all hands on deck moment, period.

Law enforcement officials said this will be treated as an assassination plot until it's not. The source also gave an update saying that President Trump, former President Trump, was still at a medical facility as a few moments ago receiving treatment, but that he was doing fine. Again, we emphasize no life threatening injury to the president, president. But again, as of a few minutes ago, the president was still at a medical facility receiving treatment. The FBI is also now going to engage in this investigation.

Every effort will be put on identifying, understanding who the shooter was. This attempted shooter was finding out more about that person's background to make sure that this is confined to a single individual. We just don't know yet. Law enforcement converging now, trying to get additional information so that security can be surged for the upcoming conventions. Also, we are getting information that law enforcement will be brief later in the evening about what took place here.

But whit, again, you have a former president of the United States who is the leading candidate, soon to be nominated by his party as their candidate candidate. Someone attempting to apparently kill him. That is the feeling. Until they can prove that is not the case, that is how law enforcement is operating in this moment.

Pierre Thomas for us. Thank you so much. I do want to note we are awaiting word from President Biden. There is a podium that has been set up there. That is Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

That's where President Biden was spending the weekend. We're told that we're about two minutes out from the president speaking tonight. Of course, he sent out that statement earlier. And we know that the president has been briefed by his staff and by the Secret Service. We're also learning that there is heightened alert across the country.

We're getting reportable information from our sources here in New York City saying that following this possible assassination attempt, security is being increased across New York City. They say out of an abundance of caution, the NYPD is increasing its presidents across the city, including at Trump Tower, 40 Wall Street, Foley Square, and city hall. No specific threat, though, in connection to New York at this time. Here comes President Biden. Let's listen to all the agencies in the federal government as the situation based on what we know.

Now. I have tried to get ahold of Donald. He's with his doctors. Apparently he's doing well. I plan on talking to him shortly, I hope, when I get back to the telephone.

Look, there's no place in America for this kind of violence. It's sick. It's sick. It's one of the reasons why we have to unite this country. We cannot allow for this to be happening.

We cannot be like this. We cannot condone this. And so I want to thank the Secret Service and all the agencies, including the state agencies, that have been engaged in making sure that the people who, and we have more detail to come relative to other injured, other people maybe injured in the audience. I don't have all that detail. We'll make that available to you.

I may be able to come back a little later tonight, but we'll put out a statement if we don't, if I'm not able to give, if it's not convenient for you all. But the bottom line is that the Trump rally was a rally that he should have been able to be conducted peacefully without any problem. But the idea, the idea that there's political violence or violence in America like this is just unheard of. It's just not appropriate. And we, everybody, everybody must condemn it.

Everybody. I'll keep you informed, and if I am able to speak to Donald, I'll let you know that as well. But so far, it appears he's doing well, number one. Number two, that there's thoroughly investigating what happened to anyone else in the audience. We have some reports, but not final reports.

And every agency in the federal government, and I'm going back to my phone to speak with the federal agencies that are being put together again to give me an updated briefing. Has anything happened? They learned any more in the last couple hours. So thank you very much and I hope I get to speak to them tonight and I'll get back to you if I do. Okay.

Do you think it was an assassination attempt? I don't know enough. I have an opinion, but I don't have any facts, so I want to make sure we have all the facts before I make some comment. Any more comments? Thank you.

Are you worried was the security failing, Mister President? President Biden with a short statement there. Again, he's in Rehoboth, Delaware for the weekend, but released a statement earlier tonight. But coming out before the cameras right now on the microphone saying that there is, there's no place in America for this kind of violence. It's sick.

It's sick. And on that political violence, he said everyone must condemn it. President Biden also said that he made a few attempts to try to reach former President Donald Trump, but was not able to, but said that he would like to be able to speak with him at some point when he's able. But again, President Biden reiterating what we've heard time and time again, the calls for calm, for people to condemn the violence, although we don't know much about what happened other than a few reports about a shooter who's been killed and a possible bystander and the shots fired. So again, all of this sort of playing out this evening in real time as we're getting information and these truly remarkable images that we saw on the screen as they played out.

We were on World News tonight right here on ABC as the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, got underway. And it started in high spirits, as many people were anticipating and awaiting his pick for a possible running mate that was expected in the next 48 hours. So all eyes were on this event to see if Trump would hint to who that person might be. And it was a matter of minutes later when we heard those popping sounds. And we went back to Rachel Scott, who told us what happened as it occurred.

You see the Secret Service there surrounding the former president, president forming a human shield around him, them escorting him off the stage. And as the crowd started to realize that Trump was okay, there were cheers and he pumped his fist in response before he was led away. Again, we're told that he was taken to a nearby medical center, that he received treatment but that he is doing okay, that he is fine. His family, in a statement calling it a heinous act, what has played out. But the details are still far and few.

We only know the very little that we've been able to get from witnesses and from the Secret Service. We've got our entire team on this. John. Carl, our chief Washington correspondent, is in Milwaukee because that was supposed to be the scene of the week's major news in the Republican National Convention. And instead, John, everything is about to change after this incident.

This thing has sent shot shockwaves throughout the political world. I was on the floor of the convention, speaking with the republican party chairman, Michael Whatley, when this news broke. Saw him whisked away by an aide on the phone trying to figure out what was happening. And obviously, shockwaves, not just here in Milwaukee, where the political world, at least the republican part of the political world, is gathering for this convention that is set to kick off at 02:00 on Monday. But also over on the democratic side, we are told, whit, that the Biden campaign has paused all outbound communications and they are working to pull down all of their political ads, effectively putting this intensely fought, heavily funded, very negative presidential campaign, at least for the moment, on hold in the wake of this incident.

And you heard, you know, President Biden condemn what happened. I thought it was interesting to hear him refer a couple of times to President Trump, somebody he has clashed with as mightily as any two political figures in our history have clashed, calling him Donald and saying he tried to get ahold of Donald and he hopes to, hopes to speak to him, saying that we all have to condemn what happens. And that is what is happening. Wait. We are seeing statements from political leaders across the political spectrum, not just condemning what is in appearance or being investigated as an apparent political assassination attempt, but calling for calm and saying that political violence of any kind, certainly not like this, has no place in american politics.

One of those briefed on this and putting out a statement is the speaker of the House, third in line of presidential succession, Mike Johnson, who says he's been bleak by law enforcement and says this horrific act of political violence at a political campaign rally has no place.

And I think quite movingly from a former congresswoman named Gabby Giffords, who herself was severely wounded in political violence at a campaign event of hers in Arizona. Gabby Giffords putting out a statement saying political violence is terrifying. I know I'm holding former President Trump and all those affected by today's indefensible act of violence. In my heart, political violence is unamerican and never acceptable, never a view that is being uniformly expressed across the political spectrum and obviously beyond the political world with, and obviously, John, something we also heard from the witness, witnesses who are there tonight and witness this chaos and the bloodshed, asking for prayers not only for former President Trump, but for the bystanders or at least one who may have been killed in this incident. John, thank you.

Stand by. We'll come back to you as the developments persist throughout the night. But I want to go back to Mary Bruce at the White House. Mary, just getting some more information before I come to you because we're also told now that FBI personnel are on the scene in Butler, Pennsylvania. The FBI will work jointly with the US Secret Service as the investigation moves forward.

And, Mary, I just wanted to pick up with you on something that John noted, too, about Biden reaching out, trying to speak with former President Donald Trump. These are two men who do not speak to each other. I mean, they hardly even acknowledged each other in that debate a couple of weeks ago. So the president trying to reach out, the former president trying to, trying to athenae least, you know, give as much of a perception of unity in this moment of tragedy in America. And you heard with the president there essentially arguing that now is not a time for politics, that this is a moment where the country has to unite.

You heard the president saying there is no place in America for this type of violence. And as John noted, yes, it is certainly unusual to hear President Biden refer to Donald Trump by his first name. And yes, we know that he tried to reach out to him. We don't know why he wasn't able to get a hold of him. But the president says he's going to, to continue to try.

And this, you can't understate how much it has completely and totally upended this campaign, this race, this moment that we are in, in America. We were just days away from the republican national Convention. We have seen, of course, a rafting up of divisive rhetoric in this country. We were at a point where you were hearing, you know, as Joe Biden has been facing a lot of, you know, doubt, doubts from those within his party about the future of his own candidacy in this race. He's been urged by others to take the fight to Donald Trump more forcefully, to outline more forcefully the case in this race.

All of that now coming to a halt, the campaign announcing that they are trying to pull down, they are going to be pulling down their ads off of the airwaves, that this is a moment where instead of ramping up, you are having the campaigns hit the pause button completely. Now, what will that mean? How will that change this race? Will it change the way the two parties talk about each other going forward? Will it actually bring the country together?

All huge questions and things that remain to be seen in the coming days. And just one more thing with, I do think it was interesting. The president there was asked if he thought this was an assassination attempt. He said, I have an opinion, but I don't have any facts echoing what I think many Americans are thinking right now. Absolutely.

Mary Bruce, thank you so much. I do want to bring in district attorney Richard Goldingerhenne from Butler County, Pennsylvania. Richard, thank you so much for your time. We appreciate it. We've been, we've been reporting this information that you gave to some of our team here at ABC News about the shooter being dead and at least one bystander, possibly a second, also killed.

What more can you tell us about this incident? Well, I'm sorry to be talking to you under these circumstances, but, yeah, I can confirm that the shooter is dead. And we have one spectator who did pass away as a result of this incident. The second individual that was removed from the scene is, in what I would say, serious condition. I don't know their condition at this point, but we do have at least two spectators that sustained injuries, or obviously the first one passed away from the shooter.

Forgive me, just to confirm. So the shooter is dead. You noted that. But earlier we reported possibly two spectators were killed. So now you're saying, just to clarify, one was shot and killed, another one sustained serious injuries, their condition at this point unknown.

That is. That is correct, yes. Do we know anything about this show shooter at this point? No. Is it a man?

I don't even know if it's male or female, to be honest with you. So. Okay, so we don't know if it was male or female. Was. Was the shooter.

Is it believed that the shooter was actually in the venue or fired the shots from outside? I can confirm the shooter was not within the venue. The shooter was on a, the roof of a building that was adjacent to the venue, and so they would not have had to go through the security process of entering the rally and be subject to the search and everything.

Forgive me, I was just getting some information in my ear as you're speaking. So the shooter not in the venue, on the roof adjacent to the venue. So is it believed then that some of these other shots that we heard, witnesses described that that was law enforcement returning fire? Was it law enforcement. Who took the shooter out?

That I can't confirm. That's a, that's a yes? No, I can't confirm that. Okay. So it's, okay.

It's not clear how the shooter died, correct? At this point, we don't know. I don't know. How about that? I don't know at this point.

Fair enough. I understand. And forgive me, I know what the, it's a fluid situation, and information is coming in piece by piece. Extremely. Yeah.

You know, Richard, just, just your take in general, this is, this is obviously a tragic moment in this country. I mean, not only do we have this act of political violence, we have, we have bystanders, people out there just exercising their right to support a candidate potentially shot and killed. What are you feeling at this time? I mean, it's terrible. I mean, first of all, I'm embarrassed for my community that this happened here.

I am disgusted and sad that somebody actually lost their life as a result of this. And, I mean, unfortunately, it appears to be just almost, I don't want to say a microcosm, but the state of our, our country, where we are right now and how divided we are, and somebody would resort to something like this to, well, I don't know the motives, but potentially affect a presidential election. And it's just, it's really sad. I mean, we need to, I agree with President Biden. We need to, we need to come together.

We need to unite because of this. And I hope that maybe, you know, something bad like this happening, good can come of it after the fact. Yes. Let's all hope that that could be the case and perhaps this country could have a moment of unity in what has been a very divisive time and only getting painful by the minute here. As we get more details about what happened, I do want to ask you about the bystanders.

Do we know any information, them, where they were seated during this event? I don't have that information at this point. I'm going to guess that they were probably seated behind President Trump, you know, based on the whole thing. But I don't know. I sure didn't speculate.

Understood. Again, Richard Goldinger, we truly appreciate you taking the time this evening, and we're wishing the very best. Our hearts go out to you and your entire community as you try to build back from this tragedy. Thank you again.

I want to go to, let's go back to Martha Raditz in Washington. Martha, I know that you've been talking to not only law enforcement sources, political sources, but also folks in the military who were describing what they heard with those gunshots. We got some more information from the district attorney there. The suspect who was shot and killed, and we're not sure how, we're careful to, you know, to point that out, was on a rooftop adjacent to the venue. What does that tell you and what's the reaction you're getting from your sources?

Well, it certainly was a ways away from President Trump. And that in the beginning, when I started talking to people who are familiar with weapons and who heard that gunfire on the tape, said they were certain it was probably a ways away from the actual venue, outside the security zone. And it sounds like that has proven to be true. There were several shots you could hear, and they were very distinct, at least two or three, possibly more shots. And we dont know yet whether we were hearing not just the shooter, but those who then took out the shooter.

But when I look at this video, and weve all looked at it over and over, and you see President Trump get up and put that fist in the air, weve now heard from his family. We now have heard that former President Trump is ok. But this is an incredibly sobering moment for former President Trump, for his family, and for the country. There is always a possibility something can go wrong. He is surrounded by security doing the best job they possibly can, the Secret Service.

These things can happen. And when he goes out there again, he is going to be thinking of this. Whether he keeps that fist in the air, whether you cant keep him down, this is something that has got to be in the back of your mind. Back in 2016, just four days before the election, back there, he was taken off the stage by secret service when someone shouted gun. There wasnt a gun.

He was okay. Nothing happened. Given that, I mean, you can see that moment of fear in someones eyes, and they have a right to be afraid in something like this. I also think whit what were going to have to see in the coming days, and we talk about this divided country, we talk about this heinous act is who this shooter is, what the motive actually was, where they come from, why they did this. This will be pivotal in how the country reacts, how former President Trumps supporters Act.

This is something we really have to keep our eyes on in the coming days, Robert, and not to mention the serious questions about security. I know you and many of us have been to these Trump rallies before, and you go through so much security to get inside the venue and the metal detectors and they check your bags and everything. There are prohibited items, things you cannot bring inside. But to get this information from the DA now that the suspect, suspect was on top of a roof adjacent to the venue, that raises serious questions about whether something, a potential threat was overlooked. Well, I think, again, you cannot protect someone from everybody.

There are ways to get to people, I think, on the venue itself, obviously, and we've all been there and they, and they go through the magnetometer. But if you are a long way away and you have a weapon, I know certainly they have probably snipers positioned in certain places. But ive been to events, too, and think, ooh, wow, look at that building over there. Someone could get up there. I hope they have somebody there.

They are not in every single spot at every single rally. And thats what people take advantage of. I mean, I think the Secret Service would be the first to say, we do our absolute best, we lock down what we can, but people keep trying and they keep trying to get in. But we will learn more on that, too. Any kind of investigation going forward, which will take weeks, months, probably years, how this happened.

Yes, this is just the very beginning. Martha Raditz, thank you so much. I do want to go back to another witness here, Stephen Lasko, who is at the Trump rally. Stephen, if you can hear me, I understand you were only about a hundred feet away from the former president. Describe what you saw and what you heard.

About 100ft away from him, you know, could see his face. He was right there talking, having a good time, and, you know, you heard one shot, two shot. It sounded like, you know, bang, nothing, nothing crazy. And then you heard maybe three or four more. And that's when everyone got quiet, started panicking.

Trump dropped right to the floor. I guess Secret Service, like, dropped, jumped on top of him and shielded him. But, you know, as soon as everyone in the crowd figured out what was going on, we all ducked and my buddies just jumped on top of me, piled on top of me, and we had no idea what was going on. You're in total shock, you're shook and you can't feel your legs. But we were trying to decide if we wanted to get up and run, and we had really no idea what to do.

And next thing you know, you see bullets or you hear bullets flying. And I believe a bullet hit the hydraulic lift that was holding up the speakers and that thing almost collapsed. There was hydraulic fluid and water spitting everywhere, all over the crowd. And then before you know it, everyone just gets up and starts running. But, oh, forgive me, I'm sorry, there's a little bit of a delay, but on that note about everybody getting up and running.

We're actually showing video that you shot on your cell phone. And this is the moment of people running out of the venue. Describe what that was like and when were you actually able to get out? It was pretty stressful. You know, I'm looking around trying to make sure all my buddies who came with me were with me.

And, you know, it took probably a good ten minutes to get out of there, to get out of the whole area. And, you know, before you know it, there's ATV's and Utvs flying and ambulances and all that kind of stuff. And we're just. We're trying to figure out how to get out of there and get home. But, you know, we made it.

And when we walked out to the road, they had, you know, police blocking everything off. And we actually found out where the building was that the shooter was shooting from. They had it all taped off. I guess it was like an agricultural warehouse, something like that. So, you know, it was.

It was pretty scary. It's like you're in the movies. Stephen, forgive me, again, I'm sorry. There's a little bit of a delay with the connection. But did you say that you were able to see the building that the shooter was allegedly perched on top of here?

You said it was taped off by law enforcement. What did it look like? It was like a kind of like an airplane hanger maybe, you know, like a warehouse for agricultural equipment, I guess, arc AGC, something like that on the side. But once we were out, maybe 30, 40 minutes after they were taping it off, investigating it, they had the dogs going and all that stuff. But there was traffic jams everywhere.

It was kind of hard to. How far away was that area from where the former president was standing? Maybe 300, 400 yards, maybe less, honestly. And, Stephen, when you hear that people who are there in the crowd with you, other bystanders, at least one, maybe more were killed, how does that make you feel? Honestly?

Still kind of numb to it. You know, it's hard to process all this. You know, your heart rate is through the roof, but, you know, best wishes for their family and, you know, they were supporting the country that they love. And in the meantime, it's definitely sad and, you know, it's heartbreaking, honestly. And, Stephen, we've been hearing from people on both sides of the aisle, Republicans, Democrats, independent candidate, RFK junior, all with the same sentiment, condemning political violence, saying there's no place in this country for something like this.

And I just wonder from your perspective, too, you're out there exercising your right to support a candidate. What message do you have for people out there? Because the country is at this political boiling point. There's so much division and anger and hatred right now from one side and the other. What would you like to tell people at the end of the day?

Whether you're on the left, the right, the center, or you don't believe in politics at all, we all still put our pants on in the morning. We all breathe the air and go to work. And a lot of these issues, they, in ten years, no one even thinks about them or cares about them. So we're all people at the end of the day, and it's not worth taking someone's life over political beliefs or whatever. It's just senseless.

Well, Stephen, I think many people would agree with those words. Thank you so much for your time. Thanks for sharing that video. And we're so glad and thankful that you and the people you were there with are doing okay. Thanks again.

Of course, Kelly Clarkson says, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Well, let's hope that that's what happens in this country from here forward. The country definitely needs a moment of healing as we work closer and closer to election day. Stephen, thank you again. Let's go back to Rachel Scott.

I believe she's still there in Pennsylvania. Still there in Pennsylvania. She was at this event. And, Rachel, you've been speaking with witnesses, and who are you with right now? Yeah, I'm with a woman named Erin.

You were in the very first row in the middle seat. You told me. What did you see? What did you witness? I was in the first row and I was in the middle.

I was directly in front of President Trump. So I saw him come on the stage. And it was maybe about three or four minutes. Everybody, all the photographers saw him come in. They all cleared away.

He started speaking. And then we heard pound, pound, pop, pop, pop. In everybody's mind, it was like 4 July. Somebody must have been still doing firecrackers. Then I saw the four secret service jump up and immediately push him to the ground.

Then the people that, the news people that were around him, they all fell to the ground. There was four of them down there. And then we all stood up. None of us moved. We wanted to protect president, President Trump.

Sorry. Helicopters landing. Then I saw that the gentlemen who wear the guns in the black, they came on and they said, okay, clear right. Clear left. On three, we're going to lift them.

So they lifted President Trump up and he said, I got to get my shoes, his shoes must have fallen off when they pushed him down. I saw the red blood on his right cheek. Then when he turned, I saw the ear from the top to the bottom with Rick. Aaron, I'm just going to have the camera turn really quickly because we are seeing a helicopter landing. For everyone that is watching at home, this is obviously still an active crime scene where we are all standing right now.

We are just yards away from where this rally was taking place. We're seeing a helicopter touchdown. We've obviously seen more and more police presence in the last hour following these events that occurred. And there are still supporters that are still trying to leave this area. You are one of them.

There were hundreds of people here, and so the parking lots were very full. There was a line to get out. And so there's a little bit of a traffic jam also, as well. So you described those moments. You heard the pop, pop, pop.

Everyone went down for cover. How are you feeling? How are you processing this? Well, everybody in the first row, nobody went down to the ground. They all stood up.

They wanted to protect the president. All we were concerned about was him. And then kind of the secret, sir, when he got up and got into the vehicle, they told us to sit and stay seated because there was things going on. And from what I hear, there was possibly two shooters. There's a gentleman here that has a picture of one of the shooters that was rolled off of a building, and he was shot by the sharpshooters that were behind Trump.

And we, I saw a gentleman leave from the left stands, and he had red blood all down his shirt. He wasn't hit, but I think he was around somebody who was. So just picking up little bits of things. We're all in shock because we never expected this. I mean, it's a beautiful rally, a beautiful night.

I don't know if no one's ever been to a Trump rally. It's very congenial people or look out for each other. It just seems like there's, you don't see any fights and you don't see any animosity, and you don't see too much. They're all pretty much focused on the president. And then with this to happen, it's just, it's just stressful.

It's just sad. Very sad. This is an open fairground where we are standing here. It was a very hot day. People were coming in with their water bottles.

As you said. There was this sense of sort of joy, excitement to see the former president. All of this unfolded within minutes of him taking the stage, I don't think it was three to four minutes. I would say he hardly got a chance to do his, you know, waving at everybody and welcome and maybe a couple words on the teleprompter. But some people tell me that they think one of the shots hit the teleprompter and that could have made him with the cheek interesting.

Yeah. There's a lot of unconfirmed reports still out there. We're also sorting through this. Leave the stage on his own. You know, he walked down the steps.

I saw that. And then he put his right hand up and fist up and said, stay strong, everyone. And he kind of turned like he would, like he was exiting. He was making sure that all those people like us that were standing up knew that he was okay. Well, we so appreciate you taking the time, and I know you were waiting to clear out from this area as well.

Just praying for our president. That's how everybody is here. So thank you. We're so happy that, that you are safe. Please get home safe again.

That is just one of the many witnesses that we've been talking to here that are leaving these fairgrounds now after this incident occurred. As you can tell, still a little shaken up there, still processing what happened, replaying those events in our minds for what we all heard, that sound of the pop, pop, pop, pop. People rushing, taking cover, seeing the former president being rushed off the stage, and then ultimately all of us being rushed out of this area. Many members that were inside, many of the Trump supporters are still waiting to leave here with, yeah, you get the sense as we've been talking to them one after another, many still in shock. I mean, how do you process such a thing, right?

Something you don't expect, like this act of violence. RacheL Scott for us, once again, thank you so much. I do want to bring in John David Longo, the mayor of Slippery Rock, who was with former President Trump right before the rally. Mayor, if you can hear me, where were you when the shots ran out? I was just left of the stage, seriously, to the right of the president.

I was front row there, right, right on the barrier when the shots rang out. And still trying to piece that together. You know, I heard those sounds and immediately I thought I knew what I heard, but I didn't want to believe it. And I thought for sure it might have been a firecracker or a gag. But by the time I heard the second one, my ears recognized the sound.

And it's just a very sad situation to be in. I put my wife down to the ground and covered her up. And everybody around us were making sure that everybody was low to the ground and staying still and out of the way so that our law enforcement officers and secret Service could understand the situation while I also was scanning, because we weren't quite sure exactly at that time where the fire was coming from. And forgive me, mayor, I couldn't hear you for a second. Did you say that as you were hearing the gunshots and everybody dove to the ground, that you dove down and tried to cover up your wife?

I did. I tried to cover up my pregnant wife. We just found out we were expecting a few weeks ago when I came here with her and my family today to come and bring them to hear President Trump speak. And my wife and I were blessed enough to be able to meet the president 1520 minutes before he took the stage and had a pleasant conversation with him. And it was all smiles that was stolen from us when this maniac decided to do what he did.

And unfortunately, somebody in the bleachers right behind us was murdered by this monster. And how does, what's your reaction to that? To learn that at least one person lost their life today who was just there at the same rally that you were attending?

It's sad does not describe what that feeling as this individual came here, likely with a smile on their face, looking for hope and inspiration, looking to hear from President Trump in a place that is deep in the territory of blood red Trump country. And he did not get to leave here today with his life. And now his loved ones are probably wondering just how it is that something like this could have been possible. Mayor John David Longo from Slippery Rock, thank you so much for your time, and we're thankful that you and your family are okay tonight. Thank you.

Thank you. Let's turn now to Paul Ecloff, a former secret service for both former President Trump and for Obama. Paul, talk to me about this investigation as it stands now. Obviously, we've had reports that the secret Service, other law enforcement agencies are treating this as an attempted assassination unless they hear otherwise. How is an investigation like this pursued from here on?

Yes, sir. These cases are exactly what the Secret Service trains day in and day out for. Unfortunately, it puts into sharp focus that the secret Service as we know it today exists due to a history of political violence in this country. And they work tirelessly every day to prevent anything but the peaceful transfer of power. In this case, the secret service prepares for these contingencies by having agents in place for crime scene prevention, and they perform what's known as an interim federal presence before the FBI conducts the actual investigation on an assassination attempt.

Paul, thank you so much. Forgive me. Stand by for a moment because we're just getting new information right now. I want to go back to John Carl in Milwaukee. John, you're learning more from Trump himself.

Donald Trump. I'm going to read it to you in its entirety. Wit he says, 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. 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. This is Donald Trump saying nothing is known at the time about the shooter who is now dead. And here's key new information in this statement from Donald Trump. 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 what was happening. And then he ends it. God America. Statement from Donald Trump that he has posted on social media saying that he was shot in the right ear by one of the bullets as they went by much bleeding and expressing his condolences to somebody at the rally.

He was killed, another person that was injured. That statement from John, Donald Trump and now is, John, as you've been with us for hours now, it's, the puzzle pieces are starting to, to come together, at least in terms of the event today and what happened. You know, we don't have the who and the why yet, but we're starting to get the how and how this all played out tonight because we saw earlier those images of the former president with the blood trickling down the right side of his face. We saw him flinching as he was speaking when the shots first rang out and then reaching for his right ear and then now that confirmation from the former president himself. And, John, I know that, like, politics isn't really at the center of the conversation in this moment, but I can't help but just point out that you're standing in Milwaukee, you know, at the headquarters of what is supposed to be the Republican National Convention this week, major events that were supposed to take place.

How do you expect that not only the Trump campaign, but the Biden campaign will then respond to all of this? What did the next few days and weeks look like on the campaign trail. I mean, what we're seeing immediately is a pause to the political, to this very heightened stage of this campaign. The Biden campaign has said that they have put, they've closed off all outbound communication. They're attempting to take down their television advertising across the country right now.

But we've seen statements come in from across the political spectrum. Former presidents, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, the current president, Joe Biden, who we've heard from both in a statement and in an alive statement to the country condemning what has happened, offering their well wishes, prayers for Donald Trump and for those who were at his rally. This from people who are Trump's allies, from those who are adamantly opposed to him. But there's something else we're seeing that I have to say, we're already seeing some very divisive rhetoric in an attempt to politicize what has been roundly condemned by everybody.

You have seen some, some of the president's allies suggest that Joe Biden himself bears responsibility because of the rhetoric that we've seen in this campaign. We saw a statement to that extent coming from JD Vance, one of those who's waiting right now to find out if he's going to be Donald Trump's running mate. We've seen a member of Congress say much the same, except directly pinning the blame on President Biden. So for now, across the political spectrum, a pause. Universal condemnation.

But the early indications are that that's just not going to last very long. It could get, it could get ugly very soon. There should be a moment where the country has a wake up call that the hateful rhetoric that we have seen across the political spectrum is simply dangerous. We know, we know death threats have become a matter of due course for political figures in this campaign, even before this campaign. This should be a time for people to say it's time to step back, make it clear that violence has absolutely no place in american politics.

But I think what you're also going to see is while this campaign is, for the moment, in a state of shock and pause, it's a campaign that seems like it is very well going to come back with a vengeance. And on that point, this is going to be a huge test, no matter how you slice it in this country. Is this going to be a moment of unity at some point, or is this a moment when people just flee back to their tribal corners and start throwing rocks at each other again? That is going to be a major test for this country to wait and see what happens in the days to come. John Karl for us, thank you so much for that.

I do want to bring also on that note, we have Rick Klein, our political director for ABC News, and our DC bureau chief, joining us right now on camera. And, Rick, pick up on some of these notes that we're getting from John, Carl, and just some of the reaction that you're getting tonight. Yeah, just in the immediate term. Wait, I'm just a couple hundred yards away from the forum where this convention was set to go. The balloons are literally up in the rafters.

There's a festive atmosphere that was here in Milwaukee just a few hours ago. All of that, needless to say, is gone. There are social events that have been canceled for tonight. No, no convention business as of now has been impacted. No changes to the convention that's set to start on Monday.

But it has definitely changed the mood, the tone, the tenor of the campaign, the news from the Biden campaign that they have to hold all of their advertising and pause their campaign communication. And as John referenced, some very ugly things that are being said just in terms of statements right now. Now a lot of accusations going about and a lot of heated rhetoric, even at this time, that has kind of chilled politics overall. Rick, let me ask you this, because obviously, law enforcement across the country, they're going to be on heightened alert. There's going to be more security at all of these events.

And I know you're there in Milwaukee. All the infrastructure is in place. What are the chances they cancel this event altogether, the convention? Is that a possibility? I mean, they have a lot to get in line with the next 24 plus hours.

I've been told that that's not under consideration right now, that the communications from the Trump campaign and from the host committee of the convention are all around planning to go ahead. But, of course, things are now minute by minute and hour by hour. And it's very possible that things change. The security around a convention is intense, which, as you know, is very, very difficult to get anywhere near an arena. There are multiple checkpoints.

Metal detectors is much harder than just going through airport security. There are a lot of layers of security, but then again, there's a lot of layers of security at events from presidential candidates. And the lapse or apparent lapse that occurred in Pennsylvania today is definitely going to be an impact the way that things are planned here. And if it were to go ahead, I would predict that Milwaukee's going to be something of a fortress. It's going to be very difficult to go or do anywhere, and everyone will be on an extra set of alerts, maybe rightfully so.

I also think that people are going to be looking at this event in a much different light. I think the images and the words coming out from the former president about the importance of standing strong at this moment are powerful ones. I've heard from a couple of delegates already who've just said they've been impressed by the way that Trump and his team have handled this. I think this changes the nature of a convention, even though the convention itself as of now is set to start in less than 40 hours. Rick Klein, thank you so much.

Let's go back to Aaron Kutirsky, our senior investigative correspondent. Aaron, you're getting more information, details about the shooting itself.

Secret Service just a moment ago put out a statement saying that during the Trump campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, at approximately 615 pm eastern time, a suspected shooter fired multiple shots toward the stage from an elevated position outside of the rally venue. The Secret Service personnel neutralized the shooter, who is now deceased. The Secret Service, the statement says, quickly responded with protective measures and former President Trump is safe. One spectator was killed, two spectators were critically injured, and the incident is under investigation. That's an official statement from the US Secret Service.

Law enforcement sources would tell ABC News the shooter was at a distance of two to 300 yards away in an elevated position. He was on a rooftop adjacent to the venue. And those same law enforcement sources are telling ABC News he fired as many as eight rounds from an ar 15 style rifle. And, Aaron, this information that you bring us also lines up with what we've been hearing from witnesses, many of those who were fleeing the venue itself, talking about a separate location, a rooftop that was then taped off with caution tape. The law enforcement dogs were searching the area.

So again, as we've been on the air now for a number of hours, it's sort of this drip, drip, drip of information. But I wanted to pick up, Aaron with a question that I was thinking about when Rick Klein was talking there from Milwaukee. Because even though, and you know this because you've done so much reporting about the heightened threat level across this country and the warnings that law enforcement have, have had about the threat of political violence in this situation where we have, they're treating it as a potential assassination attempt, law enforcement across the country must just be scrambling to sort of change their protocols and procedures to try to deal with any sort of massive event, especially as it pertains to any political venue. Well, the political venues are usually come upon quite quickly. The campaigns will choose them.

The secret Service will do some kind of a security assessment and do what they think they need to do to keep the protective, in this case, former President Trump, safe. Now, they undoubtedly would have accounted for nearby rooftops. We'll wait to see whether this individual, this shooter, who is now dead, was in position beforehand or whether may have tried to access the rooftop while in full view of others and how police and the secret Service may have reacted to that. But this is certainly going to have an impact on how police and the secret Service go about securing these venues in the future, especially at a time when the threat environment in the country is so complicated, all the more so by the rather heated political environment we're in now, just months before the next presidential election. And Aaron, another thing that you've reported on in the past, and I think it's worth noting here, because we don't know the motive behind this attack.

We don't know who this shooter was. So that information is still to come. But regardless of whether that specific threat was neutralized, right, if it was one shooter or if there are other people who could have been involved, regardless of that fact, Aaron, you often talk about the threat of a lone wolf who could be inspired by an event. And so law enforcement has to be looking at this and also saying, okay, well, it's one thing to foil a potential plot. It's another thing if you've got somebody with a grudge who's motivated by what they saw on tv.

And I think any law enforcement official would tell you, whit, those are notoriously difficult to detect and to stop because there is almost no warning. And how many of these security bulletins, intelligence bulletins, do we see where a lone actor is identified as the most significant threat, somebody who is willing to use violence, and in this case, we believe an AR 15 style and willing to do so without any apparent warning. So right now, the authorities no doubt know who the shooter is. They've undoubtedly identified the person by now and are going through social media, talking to witnesses, acquaintances, relatives, friends, anyone they can find to give them a sense of what the motive might have been. But the stark reality is that a lone actor who is willing to use gun is very, very difficult to detect and to stop.

Aaron Katersky, thank you so much. As we come up on the top of the hour here at 09:00 p.m. in the east. I'm wait Johnson in New York. And if you're just joining us, we are following all of these major developments after the shooting at a campaign rally, former President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, was slightly wounded in the right ear, but we're told by his campaign, by his family that he's doing fine.

Authorities say the shots were fired from a rooftop adjacent to the venue, some 200 to 300 yards away. Eight rounds fired from an ar style rifle. That information just reported by our Aaron Katersky. And the shooter was neutralized by the Secret Service. The shooter was killed.

Authorities say a second person, a bystander, is also dead. Also getting reports that another spectator may have been critically injured. The incident is being investigated now as a possible assassination attempt. The former president's son, Don Junior, says his father is under observation at the hospital and in good spirits. President Biden tonight coming before the cameras condemning the incident, saying there's no place in this country for violence.

A former president himself also releasing a statement moments ago thanking the Secret Service and law enforcement for their rapid response. Describing the incident, saying he heard a whizzing sound and shots. And President Biden, as we also noted there, coming before the cameras, he was condemning the violence, saying all federal agencies are now engaged. He also tried to reach out to the former president personally to speak with him tonight. The incident all playing out before the cameras.

The horrific moment here, the loud noise, noises popping, a former president appearing to grab his right ear. In that moment, Secret Service agents then rushing the stage, protecting him with their bodies like a human shield. Those anxious moments as everyone was waiting to see if Trump was okay.

This is the shocking moment. Chaos erupted at Donald Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. If you want to really see something that said, take a look at what happened.

You can hear several pops and see the former president grabbing his ear, ducking for cover behind the podium. Secret Service agents rushing the stage surrounding Trump, shielding him, taking him down to the ground.

The screaming crowd looking on in horror. A short time later, agents came carefully lifting the former president up. Got you, sir. I got you, sir. Let me get my shoes.

Hold that in your head. Blood clearly seen on his face. Trump pumping his fist.

Agents whisking the former president off the stage, down the stairs to awaiting armored suv, rushing him to a local medical center. We heard what we appeared to be gunfire coming. The former president was rushed off the stage right now with Secret Service. He's being escorted into his vehicle. This was a chaotic moment that just played out right here in Pennsylvania.

People running and rushing to the ground as they heard those apparent shots fired. Tonight. The Trump campaign releasing a statement saying the former president is fine and being checked out at a local medical facility. Just hours ago, this area was lined with Trump supporters. They entered that tent right there to be screened by secret service going through metal detectors, their belongings texted.

This is the space where you have Trump supporters that are leaving panicked and confused as Secret Service agents rush us out of this area and back to our cars. Tonight, the crowd still in disbelief. Tell me what you saw and what you heard. You said that you heard the popping sounds and you got down. So first you think, like maybe firecrackers, but it continued.

It continued and then somebody yelled, get down. We got down. We got down and we huddled and we started praying. Tonight, local officials telling those sounds were in fact gunshots, live rounds fired from outside the security perimeter. This is being investigated as an attempted assassination.

And tonight, the local district attorney telling ABC News at least one person is dead and the shooter is dead as well. Tonight, President Biden addressing the nation. I have tried to get ahold of Donald. He's with his doctors. They, apparently he's doing well.

I plan on talking to them shortly, I hope, when I get back to the telephone. Look, there's no place in America for this kind of violence. It's sick. It's sick. It's one of the reasons why we have to unite this country.

We cannot allow for this to be happening. We cannot be like this. We cannot condone this. But the idea, the idea that there's political violence or violence in America like this is just unheard of. It's just not appropriate.

Everybody, everybody must condemn it. Those words from President Biden tonight, saying everyone must condemn it. Something that we've been hearing from politicians on both sides of the aisle. And Rachel Scott is back with us now. Rachel, you've been here since the beginning tonight.

We were talking to each other during world news as the rally was just getting underway. And you've been getting these horrific stories from, from witnesses. And you're with another one tonight? Yeah, yeah, we're with another group of witnesses that saw what happened. I will tell you, hours ago, this area right here was filled with Trump supporters eager, waiting to go inside of that rally.

Right now tonight, this is an area where Trump supporters are gathering. They're left with shock about what happened. Tell me what you saw inside. Yeah, I was just about like 30ft from Trump and then I saw the people that had been shot and they were bringing them down in the stands right above me. And I just didn't want to get down.

I just kept standing. But I saw, yeah, I saw the man that was hitting the head and he, there was a lot of blood and I knew there was no way he was going to survive that. And then there were two of them that they brought down, but it was like real chaos and chaotic. But I didn't get down. And so it was very interesting.

We were just right. Right. What was going through your mind as you saw that person with tons of blood on them? Yeah, at first I was thinking, I thought different thoughts. Like, maybe this was a shooter and then he committed suicide or maybe someone shot him.

That's what my first thoughts were. I didn't think about just, like, someone that was in the stands. Yeah, that's what I thought. And now knowing that this is someone that was in the stands, how are you processing this? No, I think we're all in shock here.

We're numb that this happened. When I heard this going on, I thought was a firecracker, just like with Kennedy, people thought was a firecracker. And I looked, we were 20 yards away from Trump, and then we were 20 yards away from where I thought it was a fire crab. But then, now I'm thinking maybe those were bulls. They were going over our head and then they were saying, get down, get down, get out.

I just wasn't processing. It took me like two minutes and I finally hit the deck. But I think it's just like, you're in shock. And I don't. How did the guy get the gun in there?

How did he get the gun? Well, let me ask you this, because is this your first Trump rally? No. No. So we, I've been, I've covered a number of Trump rallies.

I've been told was every single Trump rally this cycle, you've been to a number as well. You're fully aware of the security precautions. Trump supporters, as they're making their way in, they have to go through magnetometers. Your bags are searched, your pockets are searched as well. And so any area where you're around the former president, there is a sense of safety.

And so to have this occur, what was going through your mind as you heard gunfire? Get down, get down. I think first I was in shock, but I do think I kind of, I'm drawn to somebody that's kind, I tried out for the Secret Service. I passed everything. But then they said, take your glasses off.

That was the end of it. So my whole life would have been changed. I couldn't see. But I guess I like to be where the action is in some ways. So, but I mean, not, not this, you know, obviously, this is just horrible, just horrifying.

But Trump survived. That's, that's good. It would have been horrible news, had worse news if he had been killed. So that's a good, at least we had that. But, yeah, we're all in shock here.

It's really something I just got done saying. Every generation thinks, well, we're past that, we're not going to have any more assassination attempts. And then you have something else, and maybe that's really hard to stalk. I thought it was firecrackers. You thought it was firecrackers?

Yeah. I mean, so many people did. Initially, when that first happened, there was a lot of confusion for everyone that was inside of that fairground near. We heard the pop pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop sounds. We heard shouts of gunfire, but we did not know for sure.

We were just all told to get down. And then from my understanding, it was also law enforcement that told you all to just stay down, even though the former president was already escorted to make sure that they had the situation under control. They kept saying, stay down, stay down. But then curiosity overcame me. After about five minutes, they stood up in the, there were like six or seven men with AR 15s or whatever, you know, whether they AK 47s or AR fifteen s, and they were just like hawks.

They were looking around, staring at everybody and their guns ready, and one guy looked kind of nervous. I mean, it was just, I was just kept thinking that we're going to be a part of history here, you know, so. But it's just when I got, it was shot because there was so much blood in things, he was right above me, so I thought, oh, there's no way he survived that. What a day. A hard thing to witness.

And I so appreciate you all taking the time to speak with me, and I'm glad that all of you are safe. Please get home safe again with just this sense of disbelief, trying to process, replaying those events over and over in your head. That's what everyone here that was inside of that Trump rally is still having to contend with as they process the moments that happened, those frantic and chaotic moments of what they witnessed inside with. Yeah, and I can't help but think there's going to be a lot of trauma after this event for all of those witnesses who are there. Watch this unfold before their very eyes, and also knowing that, you know, one of their, one of their fellow supporters, somebody who was just there, part of the rally, at least one person lost their life today.

Rachel Scott, and to you, we can't thank you enough for all your reporting throughout the evening. Stand by. We'll come back to you if news develops. But let's bring in John Cohen tonight, ABC News contributor, former FBI John, there are so many questions about what happens now with this investigation. Take us through this process.

Where do they begin? Well, the first thing they're going to do is they're going to identify the suspect. They're going to try to determine through by evaluating their social media, their communications, their interactions with other people that they are associates with, whether this was an act of a loan offender or whether it was part of a broader conspiracy. Theyre also going to be looking for any type of follow on events. Part of the danger in a situation like this is that people may view this as either an act to be replicated or may seek to respond.

So law enforcement very quickly across the country, quite frankly, is going to be looking at trying to prevent any residual events following this incident. John, thank you very much. And we do know that the FBI is joining the secret service in this investigation. Let's go back to Martha Raditz. Martha, you've been talking to sources, also military sources, and you have some new information.

What you're learning about the weapon? Well, we know from our own reporting from Aaron Kotursky and others here at ABC that they believe it was an AR 15 and that the shooter got off eight rounds. Talking to a military source who said it is the same thing as an m four, which they use in the military. We train to shoot at our ranges out to 300 meters without optics or a scope. A good shooter can easily shoot further with an optic.

That's about 330 yards. And it's believed the shooter was 200 to 300 yards out. This military officer said the 300 yards is definitely in range, not an easy shot, but 100% in range. And this is very sobering wit. He said, I am surprised he didnt hit him.

We do know that his ear was grazed, and im not certain exactly how that happened at this point, although Donald Trump said he believed it was a bullet going by him. But I am surprised he didnt hit him. This military officer also says that it was likely, given the sounds he has been listening to all day on that tape that we have been playing and that Donald Trump himself heard and everybody there who was there, that it was far away, but that perhaps the shooter tried one shot, missed, and then got off several very rapidly just into the crowd. ROBERt yeah, two to 300 yards away, that shooter on top of a roof. And, Martha, to your point, it is worth emphasizing that, I mean, former President Trump says that he heard the bullet whizzing by and that it pierced the top of his ear literally inches away from taking his life.

Martha. It certainly would have been if it, in fact, has proven to be a bullet that went right by his ear. Millimeters. Millimeters. And, you know, the way you turn your head or you dont turn your.

And again, that we have to emphasize, this was clearly in range for a weapon like that, whether the shooter had a scope, whether the shooter did not have a scope, even without a scope, this military officer says you can take someone out at that range. Again, the dangers of these kinds of events with people way outside of the event itself, way outside security. And that is something the secret Service is going to have to look at local law enforcement as well, how this person got on that roof undetected by police or anyone else carrying a rifle up there, carrying an AR 15. And again, we still don't have information about the threat itself, the motive, who the shooter was. We haven't even been told by law enforcement, you know, whether they think the threat is over.

So still a lot more information to come. Martha, thank you. So we appreciate it, as always. And throughout the evening here, we've been speaking with many other eyewitnesses. You heard from Rachel earlier, we spoke to some live on the air who were at the rally describing how the former president had just started to speak, and then the shots rang out.

What you saw and what you heard, you said that you heard the popping sounds and you got down. So first you think, like, maybe firecrackers, but it continued. It continued. And then somebody else get down. We got down.

We got down, and we huddled and we started praying. And we just started praying and thank God. A little while later, we got up. When we saw other people get up, we saw Trump get up, raise his fist, like, I'm okay. And we just kept praying.

I felt really bad. I worried about our grandchildren. That were kinda, what kind of life are they gonna have if this goes on, if people don't have the right to say what they want? You told me that you were near the very front. You weren't very far.

No, we were, like, from here to where that thing is, it's. And you got down? You said you got down immediately. Yeah, yeah. Everybody yelled, get down.

My, my daughter in law, Lisa, she said for us to hurry up and get down. Well, I mean, I saw, like, ever all the, like, secret service, like, kind of COVID trump. They did a really good job about that, making sure he was protected, telling everyone to get down. So I think they did take a good care of, like, making sure everyone was, like, understanding what was going on and, like, being serious but not freaking everybody out. What was your initial reaction when you heard those popping noises?

To get down? Yeah, so I actually, like, my boyfriend pushed me on the ground and, like, went on top of me, which was, like, really nice. But I think a lot of people, I think, were a little, like, too shocked to understand what was going on originally, for sure. But I think, I think everyone listened pretty well and it was handled pretty well. Did you see some of that commotion that was playing out on the other side of the bleacher where we saw law enforcement agents sort of swarm around another individual, or did you ultimately just rush out?

No, we were there for a minute because they did tell us to go back down again just in case. I think that was good because it helped, like, calm people down. But I think one of the stands that I was next to, they did, like, carry out a man, and there was another one that might have been injured. I'm not 100% sure, but definitely one at least. And on the other stand on the other side, because I was on the right, on the left, there were, like, a bunch of, like, men in uniform, like, surrounding someone.

So that was interesting to see. You said that you were very impressed by the speed in which secret service was able to get on that stage within seconds of all of us hearing those popping sounds. Yeah, absolutely. They did a great job. I definitely felt protected in the situation.

The sniper was on it, watching on guard. Everyone on the scene, like, did a great job. I mean, like, of course it was, like, nerve wracking in the moment, but I never felt like I was, like, in danger, which was cool. They were on the president, which I'm very thankful of, and they did a great job, like, protecting him and getting him out as quick as possible. He is doing good, which is good.

Yeah, I was. I'm the republican nominee for the Senate in Pennsylvania. I was in the front row, and President Trump had just announced me and said he was going to have me come up on the stage and said, well, wait a minute. And then there were a number of shots, I think probably seven or eight shots.

It wasn't clear whether they would come from one place or two places, at least I couldn't tell. And immediately there was a swarm of Secret Service officers that got on top of, knocked down President Trump and got on top of him. And then he stood back up and you saw this fist come out, sort of a defiant that looked like he was okay, but you couldn't tell for sure. It looked like, there was some blood, but it wasn't obvious. And then the entire crowd went to the ground because we weren't sure whether the shots were done.

And then, unfortunately, over my shoulder, someone had clearly been hit. I was on the ground and up in the bleachers, probably three or four bleachers behind me. It looked like there was a man who was severely injured. There was a lot of blood, and his people around him were trying to administer first aid. And then the police, some police officers came in and carried him out and presumably took him to get first aid.

That's really all I could see. I don't know if there were other people injured, and I don't know if there was anybody apprehended because, as you might imagine, once that happened, the crowd was. It was very chaotic, and it was very hard to know what was going on. And we're still there at the rally, just sitting, trying to get out because the traffic is so backed up. And, Dave, your account seems to confirm some of this reporting that we're getting about a shooter and potential bystanders who were hurt.

Just talk more about your initial reaction. I mean, seeing this, you're running for Senate in the state of Pennsylvania. You're about to walk up on the stage, you're getting introduced by the former president, and then you hear these shots ring out and the chaos in the crowd. What was going through your mind in that moment? Well, you know, it's.

It takes a minute to process. People started to panic all around. You could feel, you know, people were very scared. And so, you know, everybody just dropped to the ground. And it felt very obvious that the president was under assault and very much at risk.

And it wasn't clear that he was okay to begin with. And then once it started to sink in, you're thinking, are there still shooters out there? Are they going to target other people? And it's just like these situations. I was in the military previously.

You realize over time that this facts start to come together. Be careful not to draw too many conclusions early on. But I think what we all felt was a sense of, oh, my lord, everybody's in danger because there's clearly a shooter, at least one shooter in the crowd and maybe more. And really, I think, scary for everybody who was there. And shocking.

Even more than scary, just shocking because you were in the middle of this rally and it was kind of fun and people were enthusiastic and all of a sudden was turned upside down. What does this say to you about our state of division and the politics in this country right now, well, you know, I don't want to draw any conclusions before I know more about it. But, you know, obviously, it's, you know, if you're a public official, if you're a presidential candidate and, you know, your safety's at risk, that's scary for all of us, no matter what party you're in. And so I think it's, you know, it's a, it's a. It's a moment to take stock.

And, you know, you had 15,000, it seemed. You know, it was a huge crowd. I was told by the law enforcement people there are 15,000 people who were enthusiastically supporting their candidate. And all of a sudden, the former president, his life is at risk. And what were peaceful people in the audience are wounded, potentially fatally.

Thats unacceptable. And its not a matter of party. Thats just unacceptable in our great country. I do want to go to Leonard Verdetto, who is an eyewitness who was there at the rally today. He's joining us now on the phone.

Leonard, can you hear me? Yes, I can hear you, sir. How you doing? Thanks for having me on. Absolutely, Leonard, we're so grateful that you are okay.

Can you just walk us through what happened and what you saw? Sure. Absolutely. So everybody was excited to see the former president coming out. We were all excited, and we were all happy.

We were all joyful. We were all there for each other. You know, then the former president was giving his speech, and moments later, there was some, you know, popping sounds that were going off. There were about maybe six or seven to eight shots that were happening. No, none of us really registered at the time.

But then all these people were saying, get down, get down. Even I was saying, get down. Other people were saying, get down, as well. And, you know, we were all praying. We were playing to Yeshua, the Lord Jesus, and we were praying to him to keep us safe, keep us protected.

But unfortunately, unfortunately, what happened was someone did get shot. What I do here is that I think two people did get shot, to the best of my knowledge, and I believe that the former president, which I'm glad he is safe. Leonard. And again, we don't have all these things confirmed yet. So this is your perspective here.

But when you say that you believe that two people were shot, could you actually see people, potential victims? What to what I. What I seen, and to the best of my knowledge, sir, is that, you know, and again, I was hearing it from other news sources as well. But what that I seen, when I first I seen that there was blood on a couple of people, you know, someone was shot just like about 5ft right behind us, to be honest. So we were that close.

And thank God we weren't shot either. And where were you located? Were you, we're looking at the video right now. This is the former president being brought back to his feet after those shots were, were fired. Were you on, on the stands behind Donald Trump or were you in front of him?

If you're looking. Exactly, Adam, we'll be on the left side. Actually, we were the left side of the other stands where you've seen those big tvs. So left side of the stands facing the president or behind the former president? Facing the president.

We were more on the sides looking on the side of the president. So facing him.

Leonard, let me just ask you, too. Obviously, this is, this, we've been talking about this, the division in this country, the polarization. But here you are. Obviously, you're exercising your right to support whichever politician you believe in. And you go to an event like this, you don't expect there to be violence.

What's in your heart right now? Well, what's in the heart right now is I'm encouraging the american people to pray to Lord Jesus, because right now our country is divided.

Again, those words from some of the witnesses that we heard from throughout the hours this evening, who are there inside this venue in Butler, Pennsylvania. The venue, the event was supposed to be sort of a precursor for the big week at the Republican National Convention. Former President Donald Trump had been hinting that he was going to announce his running mate in the coming days. So all eyes were on this event when the gunfire range out. And then those terrifying moments and these images you continue to see here with the former president being escorted off the stage with the blood trickling down the right side of his face.

The former president in a statement, once again saying that he was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of his right ear. And he immediately knew that something was wrong when he heard the whizzing sounds in the shots. Some of our other reporters getting information from law enforcement that they now confirmed that the shooter fired as many as eight rounds from an ar style rifle while perched on a rooftop adjacent to the venue. The shooter was 200 to 300 yards away at the time of the gunfire, and that shooter was shot and killed by the US Secret Service. We know at least one spectator, possibly two, were shot and killed.

One of them, we know, was confirmed dead. Another one sustained serious injuries, injuries we're still waiting to get more information on that. Law enforcement also unable to tell us at this time what the motivation was, who the shooter was, whether it was a man or a woman, and whether the threat fully has been neutralized or whether it was a lone actor. So still so much information that we need to learn throughout the course of the evening and in the coming days. Well, let's go back to our entire team who've been with us on the air for several hours now.

John Carr is in Milwaukee because that was supposed to be the location for all the news this week at the Republican National Convention. John, you've been talking to republican sources there. In fact, you were in an interview when reports of these shots first came out. I wasn't in a formal interview, but I was standing on the floor of the convention with the person who was running this convention, Michael Whatley, the chairman of the Republican National Committee. Mindy.

We were just, you know, talking about the big week's plans ahead, speculating on when Trump will actually make the announcement of his running mate, when this news broke. And as you can imagine, shockwaves throughout the hall. Nobody really had any idea yet what had happened other than those initial reports and that shocking live video. He took a call from one of his aides and was whisked off the floor to try to figure out out what was going on. This has effectively put a freeze on the campaign, at least for the moment.

And it's not just here in Milwaukee, where, although the convention is starting on Monday, you are already seeing republicans from across the country gather here. In fact, there was supposed to be a big welcome reception tonight. As you can imagine, that has been canceled. All events, the pre convention have been canceled. Over on the democratic side, we've heard from the Biden campaign that they have stopped outgoing communications.

They say that they are working to pull down all of the political television advertising, all the political advertising that is up as this campaign is effectively put in a state of deep freeze. And then we're hearing statements across the political spectrum, I think most prominently from former presidents. We heard from President George W. Bush, who said that Laura and I are grateful that President Trump is safe following the cowardly attack on his life. He commends the Secret Service, obviously, as somebody who was also protected by the Secret Service.

We heard a similar statement from Barack and Michelle Obama, similar statement from Bill and Hillary Clinton. We've heard statements, statements from the president's allies and from his political opponents, all saying that violence has absolutely no place in american politics, uniformly condemning this. But I have to also say we are starting to hear some very unfortunate signs of efforts to politicize this horrific event. That's right. We noted before, this will be a big test to see how the country responds, you know, politically and in living rooms and workplaces across this country.

John, thank you so much. I do want to hear from another person who was there at the event, witnessed the gunfire. Rico Elmore is joining us now. Rico, if you can hear me, just tell us where you were when you first heard the shots. Wait.

Thank you so much. And also, with all due respect that my prayers go out to the family when it all occurred. I know it's very rough. So I was positioned probably about maybe 20ft away from the president at the point in time when he was making his address. I was sort of right at the stage due to me being a, I was, I was a speaker at the event.

So I did my speech earlier today during the pre program, and I was a few feet from wherever this all occurred. We heard the shots. And I thought it was first that was fireworks because, you know, people are on edge and any kind of loud boom you hear, you don't think gunshots immediately, especially because of the environment of what was going on. And I turned around and someone yelled, medic. And I looked and there was no way a medic could have got to that person in time.

So I left my seat, took my tie off, I jumped over the barrier and I ran to the individual. But when I got there, it was too late. The person was bleeding out through their head. And like I said, once again respects the family because this is a very tough time. But they were shot.

And I tried to, you know, block the wound. I tried to, to hold, I held a towel against it and until medical team arrived and got him out. And, you know, from there, I helped the police and crowd control with getting people out of there because people were very nervous, people were very hesitant, and we had to move people fast and get them into a safe location opposite where the shooter was at or said to be at. So I assisted with getting people down and getting people out. I try to keep kids calm and just get people clear.

Wow. Rico, obviously we want to be sensitive to the victim's family, but can you tell us more about this person, where they were? Was it a man? Was it a woman?

It was a male. It was a male victim. He was literally just sitting there in the stands. He had to be maybe three or four rows up from the bottom of the bleachers where everybody was sitting. And 1 second, everyone's cheering and happy and listening to what Trump's saying and the next minute, he's gone.

Rico, did you have any, any training in this sort of, in this sort of, like first aid? I mean, this, this is life saving aid that you're describing here. I mean, I'm in the military. I mean, I'm in the 171st air refueling wing. And, you know, we learn first aid and self aid buddy care and basically training.

And, you know, at the point, as soon as I heard the shots and I seen and heard someone yell medic, my first instinct was, you know, I'm training self aid. I'm trained in, you know, applying a tourniquet, but I'm not trained to see someone's, you know, what I witnessed. I mean, nobody, nobody can be trained for that. And we're getting the sense, Rico, not just from you, but from others. I think there's going to be some serious time, some healing that's going to need to take place for the people who are there and saw all of this, and especially for you to see everything up close.

And you got the sense early on that this person was lost.

Head wounds and how they operate. When I seen what I seen, I was afraid that that person was lost. And reading what has been done, said and stated in the news so far, those are now facts, which is a shame. Enrico, I don't even know if these are the right words to ask this question because most people have never been in this situation. But how are you processing what you saw and what you witnessed?

I mean, one can only process what happened, you know, hopefully as slow as possible.

But my worry, my, my heart at this point in time is not for myself, but it's for the families of the loved one. Rico Elmore, thank you again for your time. And, you know, I'm sure the family is grateful, at least at your efforts, that you jumped in and you did everything you could to help out. And of course, our hearts go out to all the victims and you as well. And we're thankful that you're okay and able to share your story.

Thank you very much tonight. Thank you again. That's one of the many witness accounts that we've received from Rico Elmore there. Really horrific in how this played out, these terrifying and chaotic moments that people described for us. And it went from jubilant people in the crowd eager to hear from the former president to within a matter of seconds, the pop, pop, pop that people thought at first maybe sounded like fireworks before the horror of what actually happened came into focus.

Let's go back to Martha Raditz. Martha, I know you've been talking to sources here, and I got to say just, it's one thing when we get the reports from law enforcement, but when you hear from a witness who witnessed someone die before their very eyes, it's a reminder of just how horrific and I, how historic this event was today, Amy, and how tragic. And I think most of us just saw what happened to former President Trump and were all thankful he is okay. But what happened in that venue and hearing the story of that young soldier or military person leaping into action, which is not a surprise, going there for a jubilant celebration and having to deal with, deal with that kind of tragedy is sobering to us all. I do know that the weapon that the shooter apparently used was something that could be fired from 200, 300 yards away or even more and could have been accurate.

They very well could have. He very well could have shot more people. He very well could have have killed former President Trump even though he was two or 300 yards away, because that kind of weapon has that kind of range. We dont know yet whether he had a scope on that weapon or any sort of scope whatsoever. But even so, even just with a naked eye, he was clearly shooting within range of President Trump.

Yeah. Still so many questions about how this played out, who this shooter was, the motivation there, you know, and where the investigation goes from here. Martha Raditz, as always, thank you. Let's go to Josh Margolin, one of our senior investigative producers, who's been getting new details from law enforcement. Josh, what are you learning with the key part of the investigation?

A key part of the investigation will be on looking at where the shooter was. Elevated position. As the Secret Service now confirmed, elevated positions have long been perceived by law enforcement as a real risk to events, to people that gather. Look, just in recent years, we saw the Highland park, Illinois mass shooting on July 4, 2022. That was a shooter who was at an elevated position.

Of course, the Las Vegas massacre, the worst mass shooting in american history. That was with a shooter who fired down from an elevated position on the Las Vegas Strip. And obviously, we can't forget President Kennedy was killed by a gunman who was located floors above the motorcade that Kennedy was in when he was assassinated. Elevated positions are. The Secret Service prepares for this.

So a key thing is going to be, how did this gunman get to the location? Why was that location available to that person? Exactly. And I think, obviously, this is early on, and it's hard to ask some of these hypothetical questions, questions now. But Josh, you know, like all the surveillance and the scanning of these areas that go into place before the event even occurs and the drones and the helicopters and devices up above.

It's hard to imagine how something like this could have been missed from 200, 300 yards away, a rooftop elevated position. That will definitely be part of the investigation going forward. Absolutely. And in fact, in fact, the Secret Service has already gone public. During the January 6 committee hearings, there was testimony about the Secret Service.

They know that people that come to Trump rallies sometimes come carrying weapons, not necessarily because they want to hurt anybody. People carry weapons, but you're not allowed to bring those weapons into proximity of the president, of the former president, of the candidate. Josh Margolin, thank you so much. We appreciate it. Let's go back to Rick Klein, our political director at Washington bureau chief, who's there in Milwaukee.

I just want to get more on your response, because it is, it is hard to imagine how this week of the Republican National Convention is going to play out business as usual or as planned. What are you learning about some of the adjustments or changes that could be made in the coming hours? When I was told just moments ago that there were no changes to the convention itself, but I would note that there is precedent for condensing a convention in the event that you need to. There have been times where major storms, either in a convention city or elsewhere in the country, have forced the cancelation of one night. There is plenty of, plenty of wiggle room at a schedule like this to be able to do the convention business, and fewer than the four nights that are now scheduled.

But I am told that things are still on track as of this hour, although things are changing fast. But wait, I would mention just to understand what a convention is like. It's not just what goes on inside the arena itself. That's the main convention business. We're talking about dozens, maybe hundreds of other events throughout the weekend.

John Carl's been reporting about things that are canceled tonight. Well, tomorrow night there's a 15,000 open, 15,000 person open air welcoming party for all delegates and invited guests. That is an enormous event, and it's an enormously hard event to secure. Similarly, you've got talking about breakfasts that happen around the city in hotel ballrooms, rooms and private residences. So many opportunities to worry about the security footprint that involve elected officials.

Maybe even the president himself or the former president or the vice presidential running mate might be slated to attend things like this. So you have to think about not just the event itself, which is still on, but everything surrounding it. This was a city that was ready to celebrate this moment. It is now a city that is worried, concerned about this increased threat environment. Recline.

Thank you. Let's go back to John, Carl, also there in Milwaukee. And John, picking up on that point, because this is not just known threats with security, right. It's anybody who could be motivated. We've talked about lone Wolfson and that threat in the past.

It's somebody who may see an event that they saw and then be inspired to do something that can be almost impossible to plan for, especially when you have large gatherings of lots of people. Yeah. And look, this was already a place that was going to be in lockdown for the next week. I mean, I am here just outside the convention center hall. And you can see, I mean, you can't see, but I can see right over here the fencing that has been put up to basically secure this place.

Several block radius basically already on lockdown, even though the convention itself doesn't start until Monday at 02:00 eastern time. But they were preparing to keep this. And I've been, I've been covering political conventions for a long time. Heightened security is not new. But there does feel to be something different already before this, this terrible event in Pennsylvania, a heightened sense of concern again, given the threat environment, given the fact that threats have become just a matter of course across in our politics, political figures, public servants, journalists facing this kind of stuff.

So, so there's, I can only imagine what the next few days are going to look like here, the next 24 to 48 hours. There could be some big changes, even though for now, they appear to be staying the course with the plans. John? Carl, thank you. Let's go to our chief justice correspondent Pierre Thomas.

Pierre, you've been reporting on these, these threats for months now. Law enforcement, they've been aware, they've been worried about it. This obviously a worst case scenario as they are now investigating what appears to be a possible assassination attempt of a former president. Indeed, we have a new statement from the attorney general. He expresses his concern for former President Trump, says his heart goes out to the victim, the spectator who died.

He also issues a statement saying, quote, we will not tolerate violence of any kind. Violence like this is an attack on our democracy. The Justice Department will bring every available resource to this investigation. And we have some more clarity now about exactly how this is going to unfold. The Justice Department's national security division, along with the FBI, will overeze this investigation with support from the us attorney's office in Pittsburgh.

So what that means is that this is officially being looked at as an assassination plot potentially, that is going to be investigated until they can, as another source said, determine otherwise. That tells you the level of concern. Also, I'm being told by sources that law enforcement will be looking at security for all major public events, particularly those involving politicians, in the coming days. As you said, whit, the elevated threat environment has been of great concern by the FBI director. And sources within the attorney generals office have been telling me repeatedly in recent weeks that the biggest concern he had going forward toward the fall was this spike in threats of political violence and the fact that also terror, terrorism, ISIS, all these different things were surging at precisely the same time.

That is the environment that we face ourselves with. And the other thing that's very important, too, from a source I just spoke with, is that until they can get a definitive blueprint understanding of who this suspect is, they are not releasing very much information because they cannot yet say that this is contained to only the event. They cannot yet say that. Pierre Thomas, thank you. Let's go back to John.

Carl, I understand you have a new statement from the RNC. Yeah, this is a joint statement from the Trump campaign and from the Republican National Committee. And we just got this in. So I'm going to be reading this to you for the first time here on the air, a statement from the Trump campaign and the RNC. As was communicated early earlier this evening, President Trump is doing well and grateful to law enforcement and to first responders for their fast action.

President Trump 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 as our party's nominee, President Trump will continue to share his vision to make America great again. So the key line there is that President Trump looks forward to joining you here in Milwaukee to continue the plans for our convention. Nothing is, nothing is changing here in terms of the convention going forward. In fact, an individual I spoke to who has been involved in the planning here said they were still working things out, but predicted that the convention wouldn't just continue. But it will continue with a vengeance, I expect, not just all four days of this convention to take place, but it to be a very energized convention and very much focused on portraying Donald Trump as somebody who couldn't even be stopped by an attempted assassin.

All right, John, Carl, let's go to someone who knows a lot about republican conventions and Reince Priebus, our political contributor, who's also former head of the RNC and former chief of staff at one time under Trump, Reince is joining us on the phone right now. First, Reince, can you just give me your reaction? What are you hearing from Republicans across the board? Well, obviously, like everybody, it's just horrific and dreadful and it's a sad day. It's, you know, innocent person was killed and maybe others.

We just don't know the extent of this stuff. But it's just a sad reminder of how violent some people can be and seemingly our inability to stop it. So it's all of those emotions all and all at the same time. So, you know, and we're also gathered right now with, you know, what soon will be about 50,000 people in Milwaukee to celebrate our nominee and also celebrate our community in Milwaukee and in Wisconsin. And obviously, it's tragic in a lot of ways.

So I'm obviously grateful and I'm grateful that the guy was killed. But the whole thing's tragic. Lots of lost life and obviously just a lot of mixed emotions. Let me just put it that way. Ryan, speaking of those mixed emotions, and we've heard a number of statements from politicians on all sides of the aisle, most condemning the violence and saying that this could never stand, it should not happen.

But we are also hearing some who are pointing the finger and placing blame. What's your reaction to that? Is there a place for that kind of conversation right now in this moment? I don't think so. I mean, I think you have to think and you have to contemplate.

And in the case of blame, I guess you can investigate what happened and why it happened. And, you know, I'm sure there's going to be a time for that, but I just don't feel comfortable getting into that right now. You know, there's obviously sick people out there and they, you know, they don't care about life. They don't care about their own life. So don't care about your own life.

You don't care about other people's lives. You get tragic results. And it's more sad, I think, than anything. I think that's probably the overwhelming feeling of most people. Reince Priebus, thank you for your time tonight.

We do appreciate it. I want to go back to John Santucci, our executive editor on investigations. And, John, you've been in close contact with the Trump family tonight. They gave you some of the first statements directly about Trump's condition, that he was receiving medical treatment, that he's doing okay, he's doing fine. And also he claims that he was shot, that it was a bullet that grazed the top of his ear.

What more are they telling you tonight? Yeah. Well, first, a very rare public statement from Ivanka Trump. Of course, this was the only member of the Trump family that went to the White House with Donald Trump when he, of course, won and ascended to the president in 2017. Ivanka writing on Twitter with tonight, thank you for your love and prayers for my father and for the other victims of today's senseless violence in Butler, Pennsylvania.

I'm grateful to the Secret Service and all the other law enforcement officers for their quick and decisive actions today. I continue to pray for our country. I love you, dad. Today and always. That statement with, from Ivanka Trump posted to her Twitter account.

And again, a very rare public statement, statement from the former first daughter, because as we know, with, unlike her two brothers, being the three eldest children of the former president, they still stayed very actively involved in Donald Trump's political life. Ivanka has really gone off into a private life with her husband, Jared Kushner. You mentioned with other members of the family I've spoken to, I did have a very brief exchange with Eric Trump. Of course, you'll recall from all of the trials that his father faced earlier this year. Eric Trump affixed by his father's side in that Manhattan courtroom.

We were, of course, at the Manhattan Das case earlier this year. Eric Trump telling me that his father is the toughest man I have ever met, not elaborating on his father's condition, but nevertheless, right there in his father's corner, as he has been. Of course, let's not forget also his wife, Laura Trump, as you well know, is now the second in command of the Republican National Committee. It'll be her first convention as number two for the RNC when that Gates kicked off in Milwaukee on Monday. And finally, what is ABC News first reported and I first spoke to right at moments after this happened, Donald Trump junior told me via phone that his father has been in good spirits, that nothing is going to stop him.

And, of course, again, Donald Trump junior, his brother, is active by his father's side. But you have to recognize that Donald Trump junior, of course, has really been the one to continue, continue the political mantle of his father. And it's actually a rare occurrence that the two sons, one or the other, was not with the president. Tonight in Butler, Pennsylvania, we know they have been very active present, whether it be in the courtroom or on the campaign trail, with John Santucci. Thank you.

Let's go back to our chief White House correspondent Mary Bruce. Mary, we know that President Biden is in rehoboth, Delaware, for the weekend. But he has been following developments, briefed by his staff and the Secret Service. And then he came out before the cameras earlier today condemning the violence, saying that there's no place in America for this kind of violence. What more do we know about his activities tonight?

We know that he did reach out to former President Trump directly. He did. He is still trying to get in touch with the former president. We know that he reached out to him in a rare move, President Biden actually referring to his rival by his first name, saying he was trying to get ahold of Donald. The president coming out and forcefully condemning this kind of violence, saying it is sick, saying there's no place in America for this kind of violence, saying it's one of the reasons that this country has to come together, one of the reasons why we have to unite the country, saying we cannot be like this.

He said, you know, a Trump rally should be something that is allowed to be conducted peacefully with, without any kind of problems like this. And while the president did refer to this as political violence, he did not go so far to call it an assassination attempt. He was asked that directly, the president instead saying that he had an opinion but that he didn't have any facts. We know he continues to be briefed and updated by this. He has been briefed by the director of Homeland security, the secretary of homeland security, the director of the secret service, his homeland security advisor.

He remains for now, Rehoboth, Delaware. He was there at the beach house, at his beach house for the weekend. He actually was leaving mass. When he learned of this incident. He was fully briefed and then, I'm told, wanted to come out and speak to Americans as soon as he could.

This, there is no question, completely upends and changes this race. The president is now in his campaign, are trying to turn down the temperature. They're pulling down their political communications, pulling down their ads. It's not just, you know, we've been talking about how this will, Orlando will not impact the republican national convention. This will also have a huge impact on the president's campaign as well.

We'll be looking closely to see how he may be changing any of his upcoming events as well. He's supposed to be out on the road in Texas and in Nevada early on next week. Will any of that change? One of many remaining questions, but the president and many of those close to him, we have seen a slew of his cabinet officials and advisors coming out and calling to sort of dial down rhetoric in this country. One of the big remaining questions is whether that will happen or whether this incident will further divide this country with.

And that will be a big test. Mary, we've been talking about, I want to follow up on that, because while the president, his campaign, at least publicly, are talking about dialing down the rhetoric, we have seen some politicians out there already placing blame that would appear to only turn up the heat across the country. How is the Biden campaign? How are others who you're talking to responding to that sort of rhetoric? Look, you are already seeing those who are trying to politicize this.

We have seen from some Republicans, including from JD Vance, who, of course, has been on the very short list as a possible vp pick for Donald Trump, coming out and suggesting that Joe Biden's rhetoric is partly to blame for this, noting that the president has been running a campaign very much centered on Biden's argument that Donald Trump is a danger to democracy. The president is trying, you know, to use this as a moment to bring the country together. Of course, that sentiment is something that his campaign strongly disagrees with. But I think it is no surprise, given how divisive the rhetoric in this country is now, given how divided our nation is, that we are unfortunately seeing, you know, just shortly after a horrific incident like this, that there are, you know, efforts to politicize some of this. How this plays out, of course, remains to be seen.

This is such a pivotal moment in the campaign as we move towards the conventions and then the elections. It remains to be seen how the country will respond. Mary Bruce, thank you. I do want to bring in, we have some more eyewitnesses who were there at that event in Pennsylvania today. John Dohanish was there, and he is joining us now on the phone.

John, if you can hear me, walk us through what you saw and heard. Hey. Yeah. So, well, first I just wanted to send out my condolences and prayers to the families of the victims. It was just crazy to just watch that so fast.

But I'm just going to jump right into it, right to when the shots happened. Trump started his speech, and immediately it sounded like what everyone's saying, like fireworks or firecrackers. And as soon as I heard the first one I looked over, we were probably right in the middle of the stands. If you're facing Trump, we were in the left section underneath the screen, right in the front row.

I just saw the bullets hitting the stands, bouncing up. And I thought they were like the shells. At first. I thought someone was right beside us. And then I heard the pause.

There was the foreshadowing shots maybe a five second pause. And then the rest of the four shots that I then heard. And then all of a sudden I'm hearing everyone just screaming, get down, get down. I'm hearing, get a medic. I'm seeing people with blood on them.

I'm trying to help people get down. And I look up, I see the Secret Service gathering Trump immediately. Like, I heard everyone saying that. Just highly impressive. But yeah, that was basically it from that, it just happened all so fast, I'm sure.

And John, again, as we've seen the video is really just a matter of seconds that all this was happening as the shots were fired and you're there witnessing all of this in real time. Was there a moment when fear started to settle in, when you realized, oh, this is real, this is really happening, or gunshots? And now I'm worried about my own safety and the safety of others. So I wouldn't say fear, but definitely more concern for others that because I was around a lot of more older people, so I was more worried about trying to get them down before I can get myself, because I knew I was gonna, I have my faith in God, so I knew I was gonna be okay, but I just wanted to help other people get down. And I had someone's, I don't know, person with me.

I was covering them, they were crying. I was trying to calm them down, help them keep calm. I told them just to keep praying, keep calm. I just kept telling everything was going to be okay. But unfortunately, for those two victims, or if there was more, I'm not sure, but, yeah, tried my best.

Were you close to some of the victims? Probably about five to 7ft away from the one gentleman in the stands there who, I guess it was someone's father there. And how quickly after seeing that victim did you realize that, that that person was in grave danger? Was it immediate? It was immediate.

Like I seen whenever I heard he got hit in the head. From what I heard, I seen someone else, didn't give the signal that he didn't make it. And that just, that just infuriated me. That just enraged me. And I just have a feeling that we're going to come back and come out stronger than ever, I feel now.

And when you say that, of course, there's such a mix of emotions, right, and you were there and you're still processing everything, but when you say we're going to come out of this stronger, what do you mean by that? You mean the country? You mean uniting as a one? I feel like people are going to hopefully eventually start joining together and come out as one against the evil coming into the world or into our country, however you want to look at it like that, John, I guess we could. John Dohanish, we appreciate your time tonight, and we're thankful that you are okay and the people around you.

And we're just so sorry and our hearts ache for you and others who had to witness this horror and, of course, the families of those who were killed and injured. John, thank you for your time. Yes, sir. Thank you. Once again.

For those of you who are just tuning in, we're coming to 10:00 p.m. eastern time here at the top of the hour. We've been on this story for hours. I'm Whit Johnson in New York. We are following the major developments tonight after the shooting at a campaign rally for former President Donald Trump.

This happened in Butler, Pennsylvania. On the right side of your screen right there, you're seeing the events play out in real time. It was a matter of seconds. The president described the incident on truth social a short time ago, saying that he was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of his right ear. And you could actually see in the video moments before he reached for his ear, before he went down to the ground.

He was then taken to a nearby hospital and is reported to be fine. The incident is being investigated now as a possible assassination attempt. Authorities say the shots were fired from a rooftop outside the venue from some 200 to 300 yards away. Eight rounds were fired from an ar style rifle. The shooter was then neutralized, killed by the Secret Service.

A second person, a bystander, is also dead. And we're told that two others were injured. And we're still awaiting more details on their conditions. Earlier this evening, President Biden came before the cameras condemning the violence, saying all federal agencies are engaged in this investigation. The FBI is taking the lead.

They will, of course, focus on the shooter and the motivation, but also on the security measures surrounding the event. This horrific moment, loud popping noises, that's what we could hear in the video. That's what we've been hearing from witnesses. The former president in the photographs, you will see appear to grab his right ear. Secret Service agents then rushing the stage, protecting him with their bodies, crowding around the former president.

Those anxious moments waiting to see if Trump was okay. And you can see that trickle of blood coming down in some of the images. Secret Service then helping Trump up with what appeared to be that blood around his ear. Trump pumping his fists, signaling to the crowd that he was okay. And we did hear some roars and cheers from the crowd when they saw that.

Agents helping Trump to a vehicle and once again, as he gets in there, acknowledging the crowd that was cheering him as he left, and then they take him off to the hospital. Of course, hundreds of supporters were there witnessing all of this. Left shaken and in shock, the incident comes, comes just two days before the Republican National Convention is set to start. Late this evening, the campaign and the RNC issuing a joint statement saying former President Trump looks forward to joining the convention. Apparently it will go on as scheduled.

And right now, here's ABC's Rachel Scott, who was at the rally in Butler when the incident occurred. This is the shocking moment. Chaos erupted at Donald Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. If you want to really see something that said, take a look at what happened, you can hear several pops and see the former president grabbing his ear, ducking for cover behind the podium. Secret Service agents rushing the stage, surrounding Trump, shielding him, taking him down to the ground.

The screaming crowd looking on in horror. A short time later, agents carefully lifting the former president up. I got you, sir. I got you, sir. Let me get my shoes.

Hold that in your head. Blood clearly seen on his face. Trump pumping his fist.

Agents whisking the former president off the stage, down the stairs to awaiting armored suv, rushing him to a local medical center. We heard what we appear to be gunfire coming. The former president, president was rushed off the stage right now with Secret Service. He's being escorted into his vehicle. This was a chaotic moment that just played out right here in Pennsylvania.

People running and rushing to the ground as they heard those apparent shots fired. Then pandemonium. Thousands of people running for cover. Tonight, the Trump campaign releasing a statement saying the former president is fine and being checked out at a local medical facility. Facility Donald Trump Junior telling ABC News he spoke to his father who remains in the hospital and described Trump as in good spirits, saying he remains under observations.

Just hours ago, this area was lined with Trump supporters. They entered that tent right there to be screened by Secret Service, going through metal detectors, their belongings tacted. Now this is the space where you have Trump supporters that are leaving panicked and confused as Secret Service agents rush us out of this area and back to our cars. Tonight, the crowd still in disbelief. Tell me what you saw and what you heard.

You said that you heard the popping sounds and you got down. So first you think like maybe firecrackers. But it continued. It continued. And then somebody yelled, get down.

We got down. We got down and we huddled and we started praying. Tonight, local officials telling ABC News those sounds were, in fact gunshots, live rounds fired from a rooftop adjacent to the venue outside the security perimeter. This is being investigated as an attempted assassination. And tonight, the local district attorney telling ABC News, at least one person is dead and the shooter is dead as well.

Tonight, President Biden addressing the nation. I have tried to get ahold of Donald. He's with his doctors. They apparently he's doing well. I plan on talking to him shortly, I hope, when I get back to the telephone.

Look, there's no place in America for this kind of violence. It's sick. It's sick. It's one of the reasons why we have to unite this country. We cannot allow for this to be happening.

We cannot be like this. We cannot condone this. But the idea, the idea that there's political violence or violence in America like this is just unheard of. It's just not appropriate. Everybody, everybody must condemn it.

And moments ago, former President Donald Trump posting on truth social, thanking the secret service, saying, 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 who was badly injured. It is incredible that such an act could take place in our country. I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear. I knew immediately that something was wrong and 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.

And back out here. Outside of where this rally took place just hours ago, we are just the last remaining network crew, and no one else is allowed in at this time. We know that behind me, where this rally took place, it's now an active crime scene. We have seen an increase in the amount of officials that have gone in. We've also seen people leave.

We actually just spoke to one man who was a physician. He said that this was his very first Trump rally. He just spoke to the FBI about what he witnessed. He said he rushed to the aid of that bystander, of that attendee that ultimately was shot and later passed away due to his injuries. He said he was trying to do everything that he could to help.

And I just want to just move aside here to give you a sense of how this looks right now. Now behind me, where the lights are, that is where this Trump rally took place. And within minutes of the former president taking the stage, that's when we heard the gunshots erupt. And something that's very striking. I will tell you, being here tonight after witnessing the chaos and the panic that unfolded in those minutes, the terrifying moments for everyone that gathered here today, there is that image of the american flag, a strong reminder that even in these divided times, there is something that's a stills unites us.

Whit. Absolutely. That's a great point. And Rachel, you've been there for hours in the stifling heat and witnessing all of this. You were inside when it happened.

You were rushed out by law enforcement. Here you are once again. I do have a follow up question for you, though. I know as you're sort of giving us the lay of the land here, we've been hearing from not only law enforcement about this other building that the shooter was apparently perched on top of. And we also heard from witnesses who said that they described seeing that location with k nine s and law enforcement scoping it out as they were being escorted out.

Did you get any sense of where that was in relation to the venue where the shots were fired? Yeah. You know, whit, I know that there are buildings that do surround this fairgrounds area, but I don't exactly know which building in particular many of those witnesses have been referencing. It was chaos in the minutes that followed. We did see law enforcement officials, some with k nine s, sniffing some areas as it was being roped off.

And then, of course, we were all sort of escorted out in those moments. So I can't tell you exactly what direction that building was located in. I've heard the same exact thing from several witnesses, in fact. And something that we do know is that this area behind me, no one is going out, no one is going in. We were live on the air as Secret Service moved all of the press out of that area as well.

We were told at the time that we would be let back in maybe within an hour or so to get the rest of our materials, some of our gear left inside, backpacks and personal belongings. All of that is now remaining inside as police continue to investigate what happened here hours ago. Whit, and we know so many of those witnesses you spoke with, they're going to need time to process and deal with the trauma, what they witnessed inside, the bloodshed in that event today. Rachel Scott for us, we can't thank you enough. Thank you so much.

We also have been speaking with, as we noted, a number of people who are there at that Trump rally inside describing what they saw, what they heard, and some of it very disturbing. Let's take a look. Well, I was positioned probably about maybe 20ft away from the president at the point in time when he was making his address. I was sort of right at the stage due to me being. Being a, I was a speaker at the event.

So I did my speech earlier today during the pre program, and I was a few feet from where this all occurred. We heard the shots, and I thought it was first that was fireworks because, you know, people are on edge, and any kind of loud boom you hear, you don't think gunshots immediately, especially because of the environment of what was going on. And I turned around and someone yelled, medic. And I looked, and there was no way a medic could have got to that person in time. So I left my seat, took my tie off, I jumped over the barrier, and I ran to the individual, but when I got there, it was too late.

The person was bleeding out through their. I, and like I said, once again, respects the family because this is a very tough time. But they were shot. And I tried to, you know, block the wound. I tried to hold, I held a towel against it and until medical team arrived and got him out.

And, you know, from there, I helped the police and crowd control with getting people out of there because people were very nervous, people were very hesitant, and we had to move people fast and get them into a safe location opposite of where the shooter was at or said to be at. So I assisted with getting people down and getting people out. I try to keep kids calm and just get people clear. Wow. Rico, obviously we want to, we want to be sensitive to the victim's family, but can you tell us more about this person, where they were?

Was it a man? Was it a woman? Well, it was. It was a male. It was a male victim.

He was literally just sitting there in the stands. He had to be maybe three or four rows up from the bottom of the bleachers where everybody was sitting. And 1 second, everyone's cheering and happy and listening to what Trump's saying, and the next minute he's gone. Rico, did you have any, any training in this sort of, in this sort of, like, first aid? I mean, this, this is life saving, saving aid that you're describing here.

I mean, I'm in the military. I'm in the 171st air recruiting wing, and we learn first aid and self aid, buddy care and basic training. And at the point, as soon as I heard the shots and I seen and heard someone yell medic, my first instinct was I'm training self aid. I'm trained in applying a tourniquet, but I'm not trained to see someone's.

What I witnessed I mean, nobody can be trained for that. And we're getting the sense, Rico, not just from you, but from others. I think there's going to be some serious time, some healing that's going to need to take place for the people who were there and saw all of this. And especially for you to see everything up close. And you got the sense early on that this person was lost from understanding head wounds and how they operate.

When I seen what I seen, I was afraid that that person was lost. And reading what has been done, said and stated in the news so far, those are now facts, which is a shame. Enrico, I don't even know if these are the right words to ask this question because most people have never been in this situation. But how are you processing what you saw and what you witnessed?

I mean, one can only process what happened, you know, hopefully as slow as possible.

But my worry, my heart at this point in time is not for myself, but it's for the families of the loved one. We just saw him. Trump ducked below the, behind the podium and then a secret surface piled on top of him. And then we heard the shots. More like what we heard the bullets rattled around the grandstand.

One hit the speaker tower, and then chaos broke. We hit the ground and the police converged to the grandstands. I watched him kind of graze his ear, and then I heard a pop pop, and he went down and then I heard another pop pop. And then a secret service kind of came up to the stage. I mean, it was just a chaotic scene.

I could see his face. He was right there talking, having a good time. And you heard one shot, two shot. It sounded like bang, nothing crazy. And then you heard maybe three or four more.

And that's when everyone got quiet, started panicking. Trump dropped right to the floor. I guess Secret Service jumped on top him and shielded him. But as soon as everyone in the crowd figured out what was going on, we all ducked and my buddies just jumped on top of me, piled on top of me, and we had no idea what was going on. You're in total shock, you're shook and you can't feel your legs.

But we were trying to decide if we wanted to get up and run and we had really no idea what to do. And next thing you know, you see bullets or you hear bullets flying. And I believe a bullet hit the, like, hydraulic lift that was holding up the speakers and that thing almost collapsed. There was hydraulic fluid and water spitting everywhere, all over the crowd. And then before you know it, everyone just gets up and starts running.

But, oh, forgive me, I'm sorry. There's a little bit of a delay. But on that note about everybody getting up and running, we're actually showing video that you shot on your cell phone. And this is the moment of people running out of the venue. Describe what that was like and when were you actually able to get out?

It was pretty stressful. You know, I'm looking around trying to make sure all my buddies who came with me were with me. And, you know, it took probably a good ten minutes to get out of there, to get out of the whole area. And, you know, before you know it, there's ATV's and Utvs flying and ambulances and all that kind of stuff. And we're just.

We're trying to figure out how to get out of there and get home. But, you know, we made it. And when we walked out to the road, they had, you know, police blocking everything off. And we actually found out where the building was that the shooter was shooting from. They had it all taped off.

I guess it was like an agricultural warehouse, something like that. So, you know, it was pretty scary. It's like you're in the movies. Stephen, forgive me, again, I'm sorry. There's a little bit of a delay with the connection.

But did you say that you were able to see the building that the shooter was allegedly perched on top of here? You said it was taped off by law enforcement. What did it look like? It was like a kind of like an airplane hangar, maybe, you know, like a warehouse for agricultural equipment, I guess, Arc AGC, something like that on the side. But once we were out, maybe 30, 40 minutes after they were taping it off, investigating it, they had the dogs going and all that stuff.

But there was traffic jams everywhere. It was kind of hard. How far away was that area from where the former president was standing? Maybe 300, 400 yards, maybe less, honestly. And, Stephen, when you hear that people who are there in the crowd with you, other bystanders, at least one, maybe more were killed, how does that make you feel, honestly?

Still kind of numb to it. You know, it's hard to process all this. You know, your heart rate is through the roof, but, you know, best wishes for their family and, you know, they were supporting the country that they love. And in the meantime, it's definitely sad and, you know, it's heartbreaking, honestly. And, Stephen, we've been hearing from people on both sides of the aisle, Republicans, Democrats, you know, independent candidate RFK junior, all with the same sentiment, condemning political violence, saying there's no place in this country for something like this.

And I just wonder from your perspective, too, you're out there, you're exercising your right to support a candidate. What message do you have for people out there? Because the country is at this political boiling point. There's so much division and anger and hatred right now from one side and the other. What would you like to tell people?

You know, at the end of the day, whether you're on the left, the right, the center, or you don't believe in politics at all, we all still put our pants on in the morning. We all breathe the air and go to work, you know, and a lot of these issues, they, in ten years, no one even thinks about them or cares about them. So we're all people at the end of the day. And, you know, it's not worth taking someone's life over, political beliefs or whatever. It's just senseless.

Some really powerful words from so many witnesses that we spoke through, spoke with throughout the course of the evening. We are getting some new information about the shooter now and the FBI's involvement in the investigation. Let's go back to our chief justice correspondent Pierre Thomas in Washington. What more are you learning, Pierre? We've just been told that the FBI director, Chris Wray, has briefed, just briefed the president of the United States, United States Biden.

He also has briefed the national security advisor. We are being told now and can confirm that this dead suspect is a male. They will confirm that the dead suspect is a male. He was apparently killed. The early information is by a Secret Service countersniper who honed in on him after the shots were fired.

A Secret Service countersniper killed the suspect. Also. We're being told that they are, are in the process of trying to verify the suspect's identity. They want to be 1000% sure that they have the right name, that they can do this detailed background investigation. It is now so critical for them to understand what this is and what the motivations might be.

Until you can get that name really confirmed, you can't really do the appropriate social media. I'm told that there are more than one name that is being looked at in this situation. Again, this is an all hands on deck situation. FBI Director now personally involved. They have FBI agents now on the scene.

I'm being told as we speak with going through the evidence, trying to talk to witnesses, examining the area where the shooting took place. This is now they are the lead. This is now a national security investigation of the highest priority. And Piero, I realize this is a fluid situation. You may not have the answer to this question, but I think because we've been on the air for hours, it's worth circling back to it.

Is the belief still that there was a single shooter, or do we even know that at this point, the information, the evidence thus far, single shooter firing from the rooftop, as we reported, 200 to 300 yards away using an AR 15 style rifle. The information we can now confirm is that the dead suspect is male. According to our source, they are now in the process of trying to make sure they have the proper identity because everything flows from that. Who is this person? And then you can begin to piece together their recent life.

They need to know everything because that affects all of the security going forward with and all of this with the caveat that information can change as we get more details from law enforcement. Pierre Thomas, thank you so much for that. Let's go to Aaron Katersky, now our senior in investigative correspondent. Because, Aaron, I understand there was some, there was a photo, a potential photo of the shooter. Do we have that yet, or is there confirmation that it is, in fact the shooter?

Well, the photo is from Getty Images, and law enforcement sources who have seen it tell ABC News that it does appear to be the shooter. So they are taking a look at this image again from Getty Image, and they are under the working suspicion that this is, in fact, going to be the shooter. Now, as Pierre notes, they still have not shared a specific identity. They undoubtedly have a name that they're working with, scouring his background, talking to any known acquaintances or, I don't mean to interrupt you. I just want to make clear to our viewers, because as you started speaking, there was a different photograph.

But the photograph right now that is on the screen is the photograph that you were talking about. And once again, Aaron, if you can just describe what law enforcement sources are saying about this particular picture, the image comes from Getty Images and it's being scrutinized by law enforcement officials now. But their working suspicion is that this appears to be the shooter. They have not released an identity, so they don't know for sure. But that is a working belief now of law enforcement officials that this image from Getty Images does, in fact capture the person who may have tried to assassinate former President Trump at his rally earlier this evening in Pennsylvania.

Aaron Katersky, thank you. We're going to leave the picture up on the screen and go back to Pierre Thomas. Because, Pierre, I know you've been talking to your law enforcement sources. This gives us a clear picture of what we're dealing with, again, we were hearing over the court through your reporting and others that the shooter was on a rooftop in a perched location 200 to 300 yards away from the venue from the president. What does this tell us from your sources in terms of how this event played out and what this individual was able to do?

Well, what I can tell you for a fact, that image that we have up on the screen right now is being circulated by law enforcement. They have that image from Getty. They are circulating it. The operating assumption is that it was likely the shooter. This information, this image is being passed around through various law enforcement agencies for their evaluation.

That image that we are looking at is an image that law enforcement has. They have control of the image. They are using the image to study it closely, obviously, and build from there. The other thing I can tell you is that this investigation now is of the highest priority FBI director directly involved in this case. And because from this particular shooting incident, it affects the entire threat environment, which we already said earlier with was extremely elevated.

People have been warning for weeks and months that the rhetoric in this country had produced a spike in political threats that no one can remember seeing in recent memory. Period, full stop. The AG very concerned about it from my reporting, the FBI director speaking over and over about his concerns about this particular moment. So right now, law enforcement across the country, we have a statement from the police here in Washington, DC. A source just reached out saying that they will elevate security in Washington based on what took place as well.

So this is, again a moment where law enforcement is reevaluating everything with Pierre. Thank you. Let's go back to Martha Raditz. Because, Martha, throughout the evening there have been these developments as we've been getting more information. And one thing that's been, has really stood out to me is your sources.

You've been speaking with military sources who early in the evening described what they heard in those gun shots and said that this was likely someone who fired from far away. And now we're getting more pieces to the puzzle here. And I just want to get a sense of your take on what you're seeing and what we're hearing from law enforcement now. Exactly. And you have that elevated position that the Secret Service has talked about, that it was 200 to 300 yards away and that the shots were fired from an AR 15 that is very similar to what the military trains on the m four.

And that can be really pretty accurate, especially with the scope even that far away. Now, one of the big questions, and Pierre, of course, knows this, well, is what the Secret Service does in a situation like this. Before all of this event happened. Do they go around the perimeter? I spoke just, just a few minutes ago with a former secret service agent who said the USS Secret Service counter sniper team covers the rooftops.

They will survey buildings from 1000 yards in. They will position based on the stage setup. There will be response teams, secret service and local police that will respond based on countersniper calls to clear rooftops or to open windows. This agent said the perimeter on outdoor events varies. Clearly, there were rooftops around two or 300 yards away.

That will certainly be a question that they look into in this investigation about why those particular rooftops were not spotted or cleared or what exactly happened. A sniper did take out that shooter, likely a Secret Service sniper taking out that shooter, but not before we had, as the Secret Service said, one spectator killed and two left in critical condition. And, Martha, I want to hold this image on the screen right now for our viewers, because as we've been getting this report now, that there was a counter sniper who took out the shooter. You know, I don't have information on this photo, but it appears that this would be law enforcement taking up those positions. But Martha is still raising this massive question of how a rooftop within that perimeter that you described, you know, may have been missed.

Well, I think it is almost impossible to cover everything with. It's something the Secret Service deals with all the time, and they bring in local law enforcement to that picture, picture specifically that says police on the vest and Secret Service. That is clearly from the countersniper team, someone from that team. Whether thats the person who took out the shooter, we dont have that information, but it certainly could have been. And that person, that countersniper person, was probably spanning around that perimeter.

Again, this former agent saying this is just something they always, they scan as much as possible and, you know, heard those shots fired, heard multiple shots fired and people hitting the ground. And I'm sure that sniper went into action. Yeah, as many as eight rounds from that AR style rifle. Martha, thank you so much for your reporting on this. Let's bring in Don Mahalik Moholk from former Secret Service, who's a contributor now, has been speaking with us.

Donald, I just want to get your sense of this information that we're getting now about the shooter on a rooftop taken out by a counter sniper. What's your take on this and how these events may have unfolded? Well, it sounds like the Secret Service, countersnipers did their job, as Martha was talking about, whenever there's an event anywhere the countersnipers go, and they do their form of an advance. That formative advance is looking at the entire area in and around the event space and setting up almost a grid pattern so they could identify, identify locations and locations of interest. Looking and scanning all of those potential threat areas are part of what the countersnipers do.

And they work with ground teams generally made up of secret service agents and local law enforcement countersniper response teams that they can call upon to respond to a potential situation to figure out what's going on in this situation. It sounds like some of that was working. But, you know, what we're going to have now is the FBI is going to do the criminal investigation piece of this to look at the, the shooter, his motivations, what happened. But you're also going to have the Secret Service now doing a mission insurance investigation to look at the protective venue, what protective methodologies were in place, what worked, what gaps they may have had, and what they can close down in the future. Yeah.

So much ground to cover and still so many details and questions left unanswered. Donald, thank you so much. We appreciate it. I want to go back to Aaron Kutursky. Aaron, we've been throughout the night only had a few details about the victims in this case, confirming that at least one person had been killed, a bystander, and then as many as two critically injured.

You're getting some more information about the victims now. Yeah, we now know that two others are in critical condition tonight, whit. So this has had broader ramifications. Clearly, the attempted assassination of former President Trump is rightfully getting much of the attention. But there was a bystander that was killed, according to the Secret Service.

And now we know from the hospital in western Pennsylvania that two others have been critically hurt after this male gunman, who has still not been identified, fired from two to 300 yards away from an elevated position on a rooftop adjacent to the venue. He was able to fire off about eight shots, law enforcement sources tell us, from an ar 15 style rifle. There's some of the images here coming in law enforcement outside that hospital where we're told that some of the victims are being treated. Aaron, thanks again. Let's go back to Mary Bruce at the White House.

More information from President Biden. Yeah. What we have now learned that the president has finally connected with Donald Trump. The two men have spoken. The White House, though, remaining tight lipped on what was actually said on that call.

They have not offered any kind of readout of this discussion, but we do know that the two have connected. These are not two men who speak often or really at all. Of course, the last time they saw each other was at that debate just a few weeks ago, but very little interaction then. We do know, of course, that the president earlier in the evening expressed how grateful he was to hear that Donald Trump was safe and doing well. He offered his prayers for the former president and his family at that time.

We also now can report that the president is now expected to make, not expected. He is now making his way back to Washington. Tonight he will be leaving Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where he was expected to spend the weekend. Those plans now changing the president, we are also told tomorrow morning here at the White House, will be receiving an updated briefing from Homeland Security and law enforcement officials. The president has been being updated by his team, of course, throughout the evening.

And we did hear him come out very forcefully earlier in the night and condemn this kind of violence, saying that it is simply sick, saying there's no place in America for this kind of violence. And he said it's one of the reasons why we have to unite this country. As we have said, his campaign is also trying to turn down the political temperature, the political rhetoric in this country, by really hitting the pause button here, as would be expected. They are pulling down all of their political communications. They are trying to pull down and pulling down their ads as quickly as they can across the country that target Donald Trump in any kind of way, anything that is a political nature, because this is a moment that shouldn't be about politics.

And that is the message that we are getting from the White House and the president's campaign. We don't know yet if you know how this may affect the president's travel in the upcoming days. He's supposed to be in Texas on Monday, then onto Nevada on Tuesday and Wednesday. Of course, he has been trying to pivot, pivot a lot of the attention back and a lot of the spotlight away from questions about the president's political future and back to Donald Trump's agenda. But now all of this, everything in this race has changed because of the horrific events of today and the president now making his way back to the White House so that he can be continued to be briefed and monitor this situation in the coming hours and day.

What, Robert? Everything has changed. There's no question about that. Mary Bruce, thank you so much. I do want to bring in Nathan Reibner, who was one of the spectators in the audience today at that rally in Pennsylvania.

Nathan, forgive me. I know you've been waiting on the phone for a while as we've been getting this new reporting. But if you can just walk us through what you witnessed firsthand. First, I want to, I want to wish my condolences on the victims. It's mind changing, shattering to a Trump rallying encounter and endure what has happened.

I was seated in the left bleacher section of the rally. I was maybe 20ft away from one of the victims. It was at first the noises we heard. It sounded like a firecracker, the little things you throw at the ground. Usually around July 4.

But then once, once dozens of people, once I saw the dozens of people around me started dropping.

You could tell things were very different. I looked at the stage, secret service, rush, the president.

People were terrified. It was, I know it's been about probably close to 4 hours since the, but a little bit of a loss of words I can imagine as anybody would be. And we can hear that emotion in your voice in real time as you're trying to think through what happened hours ago. One of the things that has been very difficult to watch is, as we've played this video back, president, former President Trump goes down. The secret Service pounces on him.

And the one thing that you do here in the background is you hear that screaming as members of the crowd recognize that someone has been hit. Look what happened. You said you were 20ft away from one of the victims. What did you see happen to that, to that person?

I saw that people were trying to encourage them first. After everyone dropped and after, after everyone at least thought that the threat was not immediate, people started moving away from the person to give them room so that they could be moved out. There was no medic nearby.

You guys had Rico on earlier. I saw Rico afterwards. He had blood over his shirt.

I remember I took a photo. That's something never going to forget. I will never forget that image of him, of him trying to help someone who is encountering the unimaginable. What does this say to you? And I know that these thoughts are raw.

This is fresh in your mind. You're seeing these images on television and now trying to compare that to what you witness firsthand with your own eyes. But how would you characterize this state in this country right now?

I answered an interview in late may over the Trump verdict. And right now, things are deteriorating at an even more rapid rate than even most can imagine. I mean, everything, everything we're going through with this election cycle is historic. I understand there have been some very contentious election cycles. Like you look at 1968, you know, I understand that some cycles are very contentious, but this absolutely is beyond the political impact that's going to have to.

This is, this is a damaging image to the world. The man who was permanently pulled to win the presidency, who I wish, I wish the best of recovery.

Everyone turned on the news and saw that he had been shot in the head. It's a very scary image to send to the world. It's a very scary image to send the people. People. I was next to someone in the audience that had, that was there with her, with her young daughter.

I was across the walking path of the stage in the other bleacher section, there was a young boy who was well dressed up as Trump. I can't imagine the young people, the young children that were there watching the rally seeing that. I can't imagine people watching at home and everyone just, just not knowing what happened. Yeah, the children in the crowd. We heard from a local mayor, John David Longo, who was there with his pregnant wife and described, you know, forcing her to the ground and then having to jump on top of her to shield her from potential incoming gunfire.

Nathan, thank you so much for your time. We appreciate you sharing your thoughts with us tonight. All right. Thank you for having me. Thank you.

Once again, our coverage does continue here. And I want to bring in Mark up to Grove, who's a presidential historian, joining us now. And, Mark, I think it's worth picking up where, Nathan, this witness, left off, talking about just the historic nature of this election cycle, unprecedented in so many different ways. This was a moment that many law enforcement, enforcement officers had feared could happen. And here we are now, an investigation into the potential assassination attempt of a presidential candidate and former president.

Put this into historical perspective for us. When was the last time we've seen something quite like this? Well, first of all, I think it's a reflection of how divided and dangerous our political climate is currently. And republican, democrat or independent, we are all Americans, and this kind of political violence should have no place in american life. But unfortunately, as you were alluding to, it has in our past, in our recent past.

In 2017, we had the shooting at a softball practice outside of Washington, and Representative Steve Scalise was hit. Gabby Giffords was hit in an assassination attempt in Tucson in 2011. Paul Pelosi, the husband of Nancy Pelosi, was attacked at the Pelosi home in 2022. And of course, we've seen assassination attempts and assassinations of presidents throughout our history, most recently the assassination attempt on President Reagan's life in 1981, just 69 days into his presidency. We have also seen the assassination attempt of a contender for the presidency, George Wallace, the governor of Alabama, was gunned down in Maryland when he was campaigning as an independent, the presidency in 1972.

So unfortunately, we have a long history of political violence, which, as President Biden suggested tonight, should have no place in America. And Mark, what about, as we're looking at all these horrible images, you know, people are trying to look for some message of hope somewhere, right? There's multiple politicians on all sides of the aisle coming out condemning the violence, saying something like this should never happen. But when these events have happened in the past, what typically happens across the country in terms of a response, in terms of a recovery? Does peace often follow or not?

I think in the immediate days there is a call for peace and there is a reflection of comity and civility and empathy. But I think then we get into debates about whether there should be gun control or gun reform in our country, and then the political divisions once again are sown. If you look back at the assassination attempt on President Reagan's life, America came together, and you saw approval ratings for President Reagan's soar in the wake of that. It actually helped President Reagan politically. And I think into some degree Americans united when they saw an assassination attempt of their president.

So I think it's a mixed bag we saw with the Paul Pelosi attack that I mentioned, which is the most recent of those that I enumerated. We saw more division, we saw more ugliness from, particularly from the Republicans after that, really mocking what had happened to Paul Pelosi. So a mixed bag with, and again, I think a reflection of a very divided time in american life, a mixed bag and certainly a test that this country will face in the days and weeks to come. Mark, after Grove, thank you so much for your perspective. We really appreciate it.

I want to go back to Milwaukee because we've got our political director and bureau chief recline there, as well as our chief Washington correspondent, John Carl, the two of you have had to go inside. There was, there was some weather threatening your live locations. But again, all of this is happening right on the eve of the Republican National Convention, all of these events that were planned and the thousands of people that are expected to participate. What more are you hearing from your sources about what we can expect in the next 48 hours? Well, the first thing we're hearing from RNC officials is that this convention is going on.

I've got a statement that was just released by Reince Priebus, of course, the former chairman of the RNC former chief of staff staff for Donald Trump, who is the chairman of the host committee here. He says, President Trump is in my prayers after surviving this assassination attempt. And he says, we are heartbroken that reports indicate at least one innocent person has been killed and perhaps others have been injured. This horrific violence has no place in America. But then this is the key line.

Guests have already begun to arrive in Wisconsin, and we look forward to working with the Republican National Committee to welcome everyone to Milwaukee this week. This convention is proceeding as planned. And I think what you're going to see is this assassination attempt as something of a rallying cry for Republicans here. We're already seeing Republicans using the image of former President Trump with his arm raised and the blood coming down his face, used as a symbol, which I think was going to be a defining symbol for this convention. And, Rick, on that point, too, obviously, there's the rallying cry part of it, but also the rhetoric that we've seen some people calling, condemning any sort of political violence, but then other people pointing the finger and placing blame.

Yeah, and the blame that has been directed, particularly at President Biden himself, has come from very high levels of the party, including Senator JD Vance, who in a couple of days could easily be on the ticket with Donald Trump. A lot of Republicans are saying something out loud that is right now, I think, probably not justified by any of the facts that are out there in suggesting that some of the rhetoric that Biden has used somehow contributed to this. We just don't know anything about this gunman or enough about the gunman to be able to say something like that. And we are at a time where people need to be calming the tensions that are everywhere right now because they are boiling over. And I think John's right.

This is going to be a rallying cry, and you're going to hear a lot of really sharp and really, maybe even dangerous rhetoric in the coming days. Recline, John, Carl, stand by. We'll come back to in just a moment. But I do want to go back to Mary Bruce at the White House. You've been in close contact with the Biden administration.

Tonight. The president has been talking to his advisers. He was briefed by the Secret Service. He spoke with former President Donald Trump. What more are they saying tonight?

It is notable that they are not saying much more about that conversation between the president and his rival, the former president. Just the fact that they spoke, though, is really remarkable when you consider, you know, how rare it is. I mean, before the debate last month, it had been years since the two of them had talked, and even at the debate, they barely, I don't even think you could say, exchanged niceties. The president is now making his way back here to the White House. He's going to continue to be briefed by his team.

He's going to have a briefing tomorrow morning with his national security team continuing to try and keep a close eye on all of this. The question now, one of many, is what kind of impact this is going to have on the president's campaign. We are already seeing efforts by to sort of politicize this moment. Of course, as Rick notes, we have no idea what motivated or drove this gunman to do this. But you are already seeing many point the, point the finger, or some pointing the finger at President Biden and his rhetoric.

That is something, not surprisingly, that his campaign forcefully rejects. But how will this change the tone and tenor of this campaign in the coming days? Of course, as President Biden has been, you know, under tremendous, tremendous fire and fighting for his political future, as we have seen so many Democrats coming out and calling for him to exit this race. But for now, in this moment, the president is responding to this, you know, as a president first, but also as a candidate. Of course, we are seeing his campaign pull down their political communications.

We are seeing them pull down their political ads to focus on this moment, to try and dial down the temperature in this country and make the point that violence like this is simply unacceptable. As the president said, it is sick and has no place in America. And, John, Carl, back to you there in Milwaukee with Rick Klein, because we know that the large crowds is something that Donald Trump obviously favors. It's a hallmark of his campaign. He wants to pack as many people in as possible.

So I would imagine even the idea floated towards him that they would scale back the convention in any way is not something he wants. If he is able, hes going to try to be there. I mean, ive witnessed Trump at rallies kind of call out the Secret Service and saying, why are these barricades up there? I want to let people get closer to the stage. I was at a rally in Iowa during the 2022 midterms where he actually got his staff to remove some of the barriers so more of the crowd could come closer to the stage.

He's not going to want to scale down, scale back any of this thing. I was talking to one of the many people that are involved in planning here, not sure how this was going to affect the convention as they were all scrambling to try to figure out what actually happened today. And what the former president's condition is. But this person said to me, my assumption is not just that this convention will continue as planned, but this convention will continue with a vengeance, with a new energy, using this attempted assassination as a rallying cry, as a symbol, and certainly not as a reason to scale back any of the events here in the convention. Of course, the secret Service is going to have other concerns.

Law enforcement here is going to have other concerns about keeping, keeping this place secured. But as you and I talked about earlier, whit, we are in one of the most secure places in the country right now. I mean, they've already erected barricades for blocks all around this convention center. There is already a massive security presence in the city of Milwaukee. It certainly isn't going to be scaled back.

If anything, it's going to be ramped up. And, Rick, you and I were talking to days earlier just about this event in Pennsylvania and how significant it could be. All eyes were on this event. There was, you know, as names were being thrown out there for potential running mates. There was the possibility of at least a hint or a tease or maybe even an announcement.

What does this do now to this, this veep stakes the potential running mates. And, you know, clearly some of them are out there on Twitter or xdev and making comments in support of the former president. Do you think this changes anything? Were any of them likely working to the last possible minute to get the job? Yeah.

We reported just hours before this rally in Pennsylvania that three finalists met with Donald Trump privately at Mar a Lago in the last couple of days. Somehow, they avoided reporters who were tracking the movements of these, of these individuals. We're talking about Senator JD Vance, Senator Marco Rubio, and the North Dakota governor, Doug Bergam. All three met with Donald Trump in a very small setting, maybe even in a one on one type setting. For the first time in this process, he's talked to them informally.

But to be involved in the interviews, he was clearly getting close to making that decision. He was teasing the possibility in fundraising appeals and in postings and in interviews that this would be the event, this would be the time that he actually announces his vice presidential pick. The timing would sort of fit. Going into the convention, we find out that he never had those plans, and he would hope to do this as sort of a big reveal on Monday at the convention. I think all the plans have to be a little bit up in the air.

I would even say that if he hadn't made up his decision before or his mind before, it may be that there's other factors that he is now considering, including how they're responding to this event that has upended so much about politics and so much about american political discourse in the last few hours. I had actually heard, I had actually heard from one of the former president's advisors about an hour before this rally was to get underway. We had received, and we've been going back and forth, are they going to announce it? Are they not? Earlier today we were told, no, he's not going to announce it at the event, but just about, I mean, less than an hour before the event, I got a call like, you better be ready.

We're hearing that he may just do it. So, I mean, there was a heck of a lot of anticipation at this event, although, you know, he didn't have the typical entourage with him of other officials because so many people have already come to Milwaukee, were already en route to Milwaukee. So a heck of, a lot of the spotlight was very bright on that event in Pennsylvania today. The spotlight bright on the event, and sadly, just a horrific scene that played out. And the former president now injured and recovering this slight injury, as he described to the top of his ear following that attempted assassination.

John and Rick, thank you. I want to go back to Martha Raditz, because, Martha, you've been following this very closely, talking to some of your sources, including military sources, who've been sort of analyzing some of this data and information as it's been coming in. What more are you learning tonight? Well, basically what they thought in the very beginning seems to have happened, that this was off site, that it was not in a secure area. It was off 200, 300 yards away from the actual event, away from Donald Trump.

But the shooter still managed to fire eight rounds from an AR 15. You know, I think about that crowd, and that crowd was there for a political event. The campaign will surely go on, the election will surely go on, but no one will forget this day. We have to remember that this is a day where someone tried to assassinate a former president and a presidential candidate, and in that assassination attempt, killed one of those supporters at that political rally and left two others in critical condition, according to the Secret Service. So I think that is really what we have to think about tonight.

The campaign will go on. Donald Trump made that very clear. Just putting that fist up. It looks to me like he was saying fight, fight as he was helped off the stage there. He will certainly, as John and Rick said, talk about that this week.

They will talk about this at the RNC. But hovering over all of this is who is that suspect? What motivated him? Why would he take action like that? And because that suspect is dead, you can imagine that there will be conspiracy theories for a very long time no matter what they find out and prove.

Yeah, sadly, there's no question about that. Martha Raditz, thank you. And just to point out to our viewers, some of this video that you're seeing, these are new aerials from our affiliate there that has been following this scene, this chopper video. This is overlooking the area. Off in the distance, there was a wider shot that you could see the american flag that was hanging there.

It is. That was the venue inside. But again, law enforcement saying that this shooter was perched up on one of those rooftops about 200 to 300 yards away. And now, for the first time, it's kind of coming into a clearer picture that just how much space there was. There are a number of buildings there where he could have been.

Once again, we're still just getting these details coming in about the investigation, an attempted assassination of the former President Trump. Before we go, though, we do have a recap of all the troubling developments on this historic day. ABC's Rachel Scott was there at the rally and has been speaking with eyewitnesses who were there too. This is the shocking moment. Chaos erupted at Donald Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

If you want to really see something that said, take a look at what happened, you can hear several pops and see the former president grabbing his ear, ducking for cover behind the podium. Secret Service agents rushing the stage surrounding Trump, shielding him, taking him down to the ground.

The screaming crowd looking on in horror. A short time later, agents carefully lifting the former president up. I got you, sir. I got you, sir. Let me get my shoes, sir.

Hold that in your head. Bloody, sir. Blood clearly seen on his face. Trump pumping his fist.

Agents whisking the former president off the stage, down the stairs to awaiting armored suv, rushing him to a local medical center. We heard what we appeared to be gunfire coming. President was rushed off the stage right now with Secret Service. He's being escorted into his vehicle. This was a chaotic moment that just played out right here in Pennsylvania.

People running and rushing to the ground as they heard those apparent shots fired. Then pandemonium. Thousands of people running for cover. Tonight, the Trump campaign releasing a statement saying the former president is fine and being checked out at a local medical facility. Donald Trump Junior telling ABC News he spoke to his father who remains in the hospital, and described Trump as in good spirits, saying he remains under observations.

Just hours ago, this area was lined with Trump supporters. They entered that tent right there to be screened by secret service going through metal detectors, their belongings tacted. Now, this is the space where you have Trump supporters that are leaving panicked and confused as Secret Service agents rush us out of this area and back to our cars. Tonight, the crowd still in disbelief. Tell me what you saw and what you heard.

You said that you heard the popping sounds and you got down. So first you think, like maybe firecrackers, but it continued. It continued. And then somebody yelled, get down. We got down.

We got down and we huddled and we started praying. Tonight, local officials telling ABC News those sounds were in fact gunshots, live rounds fired from a rooftop adjacent to the venue. Outside the security perimeter. Tonight, law enforcement recovering an AR style rifle. This is being investigated as an attempted assassination.

And tonight, the local district attorney telling ABC News at least one person is dead and the shooter is dead as well. A law enforcement official briefed on the investigation tells us this image is believed to show the suspected gunman on the roof. Tonight, President Biden addressing the nation. I have tried to get a hold of Donald. He's with his doctors.

They, apparently he's doing well. I plan on talking to him shortly, I hope when I get back to the telephone. Look, there's no place in America for this kind of violence. It's sick. It's sick.

It's one of the reasons why we have to unite this country. We cannot allow for this to be happening. We cannot be like this. We cannot condone this. But the, the idea, the idea that there's political violence or violence in America like this is just unheard of.

It's just not appropriate and everybody, everybody must condemn it. And moments ago, former President Donald Trump posting on truth social, thanking the Secret Service, saying, 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 who was badly injured. It is incredible that such an act could take place in our country. I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear. I knew immediately that something was wrong and 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. And Rachel Scott is back with us now. She was there at that rally in the beginning.

She is still there now. Rachel, you've talked to a number of witnesses, but I also wonder, have you been in touch with the Trump campaign, some of the officials that you were likely speaking with who were there at the event, who then fled with the president. Are they revealing anything else about what happened?

Yeah, there is a sense of shock among Trump officials as well. They were inside of this rally along with us and the former president supporters, members of the press. They were there, too, diving for cover, many of the former president's aides, when we heard those gunshots erupt and the panic that set in and the chaos that occurred just right after that. Here now, right behind me is this active crime scene that you have here. And there were a number of people that were here.

Their belongings are left inside. It was sort of this moment where you took what you could and you just sort of raced out. There were some people running out. There were some people that had to be pushed out by secret service. They were told to just take what you can, leave everything else.

There were about, probably about a dozen people that were lined up here at these gates behind me, asking law enforcement when they'll be able to get back in. They were just told that they would not have access to their personal belongings for some time, maybe a couple hours, maybe a day. There are several people here who actually have their keys to their cars. They can't drive home at this point. Obviously, this is an active crime scene that's occurring behind me here tonight.

And so you have this american flag that's hanging over that crime scene, an attempted assassination of a former president, a republican nominee in this race. It is an unprecedented twist to already historic campaign Whip Rachel Scott. Stand by. Just reminding our viewers who are tuning in right now as we hit the top of the hour. It is just past 11:00 in the east, 08:00 in the west.

We've been on this for hours now. I'm Whitt Johnson in New York following the major developments, former President Donald Trump in an attempted assassination at one of his events in Butler, Pennsylvania. He was there for a rally, a political rally. You see the events here. There were the popping sounds in the crowd, the former president reaching for his right ear before going down to the deck right there on the stage, the Secret Service surrounding the former president, jumping on him to protect him, forming somewhat of a human shield, before eventually bringing former President Trump back to his feet and escorting him off the stage.

You can also hear the screams from the crowd because as we know now that there was a shooter who was perched on a rooftop, fired up to eight shots from an AR style rifle, and at least one spectator, one person in the stands there was killed. We know that two others were taken in critical condition to a nearby hospital. The former president was also escorted, as you can see in some of these images. Once they got him back to his feet, they escorted him off the stage. And in some of the pictures, you can see that blood trickling down the right side of his face.

The crowd responding to Trump when he got back to his feet and started cheering a former president, then walking off with the Secret Service, as you see here, ultimately into a car, being escorted off to a nearby hospital. We're told by family that the president is doing fine tonight, that he did suffer a minor injury as a bullet passed through the top of his right ear. But the president and his family, they've been asking for prayers for the victims who were killed and also thanking the secret Service for their quick actions in this assassination attempt. We also know that the secret Service is involved in the investigation. The FBI now leading the investigation.

We've been getting information about the shooter. They have confirmed that it's a man. They believe at this point it's a lone suspect, no indication that anybody else was involved. But that man was perched on a rooftop some 200 to 300 yards away from that venue, once again with an AR style rifle. We're going to bring in some of our other correspondents and contributors here in just a moment.

Forgive me, I'm getting instructions. I can't do that. You've got to keep moving it forward. Okay? We've been speaking with eyewitnesses all day.

Let's go ahead and listen.

Tell me what you saw and what you heard. You said that you heard the popping sounds and you got down. So first you think, like, maybe firecrackers, but it continued. It continued. And then somebody yelled, get down.

We got down. We got down, and we huddled and we started praying. And we just started praying to, and thank God. A little while later, we got up. When we saw other people get up, we saw trump get up, raise his fist, like, I'm okay.

And we just, we just, we just, we kept praying. I felt really bad. I worried about our grandchildren. What kind of life are they gonna have if this goes on, if people don't have the right to say what they want? You told me that you were near the very, you weren't very far.

No, we were, like, from here to where that thing is. And you got down? You said you got down immediately. Yeah, yeah. Everybody yelled, get down.

My daughter in law, Lisa, she said for us to hurry up and get down. Well, I mean, I saw, like, all the, like, secret service, like, kind of COVID Trump. They did a really good job. About that, making sure he was protected, telling everyone to get down. So I think they did take a good care of, like, making sure everyone was, like, understanding what was going on and, like, being serious but not freaking everybody out.

What was your initial reaction when you heard those popping noises? To get down? Yeah, so I actually, like, my boyfriend pushed me on the ground and, like, went on top of me, which was, like, really nice. But I think a lot of people, I think, were a little, like, too shocked to understand, understand what was going on originally, for sure. But I think, I think everyone listened pretty well and it was handled pretty well.

Did you see some of that commotion that was playing out on the other side of the bleacher where we saw law enforcement agents sort of swarm around another individual, or did you ultimately just rush out? No, we were there for a minute because they did tell us to go back down again just in case. I think that was good because it helped, like, calm people down. But I think one of the stands that I was next to, they did, like, carry out a man, and there was another one that might have been injured. I'm not 100% sure, but definitely one at least.

And on the other stand on the other side, because I was on the right, on the left, there were, like, a bunch of, like, men in uniform, like, surrounding someone. So that was interesting to see. You said that you were very impressed by the speed in which secret service was able to get on that stage within seconds of all of us hearing those popping sounds. Yeah, absolutely. They did a great job.

I definitely felt protected in the situation. The sniper was on it, watching on guard. Everyone on the scene, like, did a great job. I mean, like, of course it was, like, nerve wracking in the moment, but I never felt like I was, like, in danger, which was cool. They were on the president, which I'm very thankful of, and they did a great job, like, protecting him and getting him out as quick as possible.

He is doing good, which is good. Yeah, I was. I'm the republican nominee for the Senate in Pennsylvania. I was in the front row, and President Trump had just announced me and said he was going to have me come up on the stage and said, well, we'll wait a minute. And then there were a number of shots, I think probably seven or eight shots.

It wasn't clear whether they would come from one place or two places, at least I could tell. And immediately there was a swarm of Secret Service officers that got on top of, knocked down President Trump and got on top of him, and then he stood back up and you sort of saw this fist come hell, sort of a defiant, that looked like he was okay, but you couldn't tell for sure. It looked like there was some blood, but it wasn't obvious. And then the entire crowd went to the ground because we weren't sure whether the shots were done. And then unfortunately, over my shoulder, someone had clearly been hit.

I was on the ground and up in the bleachers, probably three or four bleachers behind me. It looked like there was a man who was severely injured. There was a lot of blood. And his people around him were trying to administer first. And then the police, some police officers came in and carried him out and presumably took him to get first aid.

That's really all I could see. I don't know if there were other people injured and I don't know if there was anybody apprehended because, as you might imagine, once that happened, the crowd was very chaotic and it was very hard to know what was going on. And we're still there at the rally, just sitting, trying to get out because the traffic is so backed up. And Dave, your, your account seems to confirm some of this reporting that we're getting about a shooter and potential bystanders who were hurt. Just talk more about your initial reaction.

I mean, seeing this, you're, you're running for senate in the state of Pennsylvania. You're about to walk up on the stage, you're getting introduced by the former president, and then you hear these shocks. Shots ring out and the chaos in the crowd. What was going through your mind in that moment? Well, you know, it takes a minute to process.

People started to panic all around. You could feel people were very scared. And so everybody just dropped to the ground. And it felt very obvious that the president was under assault and very much at risk, and it wasn't clear that he was okay to begin with. And then once it started to sink in, you're thinking, are there still shooters out there?

Are they going to target other people? And it's just like these situations. I was in the military previously. You realize over time that the facts start to come together. So you got to be careful not to draw too many conclusions early on.

But I think what we all felt was a sense of, oh, my lord, everybody's in danger because there's clearly a shooter, at least one shooter in the crowd and maybe more. And really, I think, scary for everybody who was there and shocking. Even more than scary, just shocking because you were in the middle of this rally and it was kind of fun and people were enthusiastic. And all of a sudden, it was turned upside down. What does this say to you about our state of development, vision and the politics in this country right now?

Well, you know, I don't want to draw any conclusions before I know more about it. But, you know, obviously, it's, you know, if you're a public official, if you're a presidential candidate and, you know, your safety is at risk, that's scary for all of us, no matter what party you're in. And so I think it's, you know, it's a. It's a. It's a moment to take stock.

And, you know, you had 15,000, it seemed. You know, it was a huge crowd, I was told by the law enforcement people, people who were enthusiastically supporting their candidate. And all of a sudden, the former president, his life is at risk. And what were peaceful people in the audience are wounded, potentially fatally. Thats unacceptable.

And its not a matter of party. Thats just unacceptable in our great country. I do want to go to Leonard Verdetto, who is an eyewitness who was there at the rally today. He's joining us now on the phone. Leonard, can you hear me?

Yes, I can hear you, sir. How you doing? Thanks for having me on. Absolutely, Leonard, we're so grateful that you are okay. Can you just walk us through what happened and what you saw?

Sure. Absolutely. So everybody was excited to see the former president coming out. We were all excited, and we were all happy. We were all joyful.

We were all there for each other. You know, then the former president was giving his speech, and moments later, there was some, you know, popping sounds that were going off. There were about maybe six or seven to eight shots that were happening. No, none of us really registered at the time. But then all these people were saying, get down, get down.

Even I was saying, get down. Other people were saying, get down, as well. And, you know, we were all praying. We were praying to Yeshua, the Lord Jesus, and we were praying to him to keep us safe, keep us protected. Unfortunately, what happened was someone did get shot.

What I do hear is that I think two people did get shot, to the best of my knowledge, and I believe that the former president, which I'm glad he is safe. Leonard. And again, we don't have all these things confirmed yet. So this is your perspective here. But when you say that you believe that two people were shot, could you actually see people, potential victims?

What to what I. What I seen, and to the best of my knowledge, sir, is that, you know, and again, I was hearing it from other news sources as well. But what that I seen, my first, I seen that there was blood on a couple of people. You know, someone was shot just like about 5ft right behind us, to be honest. So we were that close.

And thank God we weren't shot either. And where were you located? Were you? But we're looking at the video right now. This is the former president being brought back to his feet after those shots were fired.

Were you on, on the stands behind Donald Trump or were you in front of him? If you're looking. Exactly, Adam, we'll be on the left side. Actually, we were the left side of the other stands where you've seen those big tvs. So, so left side of the stands facing the president or behind the former president?

Facing the president. We were more on the sides looking on the side of the president. So facing.

Leonard, let me just ask you, too. Obviously, you go to this is this, we've been talking about this, that the division in this country, the polarization, but here you are. Obviously, you're exercising your right to support whichever politician you believe in. And you go to an event like this, you don't expect there to be violence. What's in your heart right now?

Well, what's in the heart right now is I'm encouraging America, american people, to pray to Lord Jesus, because right now our country is divided.

Our coverage continues right here on ABC News for some parts of the country in the central and eastern time zones. We're going to send you to your local news next. For the rest of us, stay with us here as our coverage continues right here on ABC.

And once again, for those of you staying with us and those just tuning in, we are covering an attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. All of this playing out at a rally today in Pennsylvania in Butler. You see that moment there as the shots rang out, witnesses reporting what they thought at first for maybe fireworks going off, but then suddenly the horror of what took place started becoming clearer and into focus. And you could see the Secret Service jumping on the former president, taking him to the ground, ultimately escorting him away and taking him off to the hospital. We are getting new information about the shooter.

Law enforcement sources telling us that it was a single male shooter, and this is what they know at the time, who was perched on a rooftop nearby, maybe 200 to 300 yards away, and was armed with an ar style rifle that was used to carry out this shooting and was then taken out and killed by a countersniper with the Secret Service. Bring in our senior investigative correspondent, Aaron Katersky, who's been with us all night getting some of this information from law enforcement. Aaron, what else can you tell us about the shooter, but you're also hearing more about the victims? Well, one of them was killed and then two others are in critical condition in addition to former President Trump, who himself in a statement said he was grazed by a bullet by his ear. Now, the Secrets Service has not fully determined all the ballistics.

We know that the shooter was able to get off about eight shots, according to law enforcement sources who've been briefed on the investigation. Those eight shots coming from an AR 15 style rifle while the shooter was in an elevated position some two to 300 yards away on a rooftop adjacent to the rally venue. One of the key pieces of the investigation is why that position was available. And then, of course, they want to know urgently more about this shooter. I'm told there is a name that law enforcement is now working with, the FBI, the lead agency, along with the Secret Service and police in Pennsylvania.

They are scouring that individual's social media, talking to any known associates and relatives to see what they can learn. But they are wanting to make sure, sure that they have everything contained. At this point, the belief is there was just one and they are working to confirm that now. Aaron, thank you. And just a reminder to our viewers what you're seeing, these are aerial images coming in from our affiliate in Pennsylvania there.

And it gives you a sense of just all the different rooftops in the buildings nearby. And as the camera pulls back there, you see where the american flag is hanging, where former President Trump was speaking at the time. So plenty of buildings nearby. The Secret Service goes around and tries to clear that space in advance. But something happened here and we don't have the, we don't have the answers to what went wrong or if there was some kind of security lapse.

I do want to bring in Pierre Thomas, who's also been following along, talking to law enforcement. Pierre, you know, you've been getting word from the Secret Service. They have briefed the president, President Biden I on this. They always do a perimeter scan of the area ahead of time. But a lot of questions about how this happened tonight.

Indeed. And we already have the House oversight committee calling on the secret service director to appear at a hearing later this month to talk about what went wrong here. They're clearly deeply concerned about what took place. We also can tell you that the FBI, FBI is on the scene right now at that venue going looking at the evidence. The ATF is also there securing any rounds that were fired.

The FBI, as Aaron mentioned, has a name. I was told at least two names that they were trying to narrow down to make sure that they have precisely the right suspects so that they can make sure that they're doing the appropriate and very focused investigation. The other thing I share with you is that we spent some time in recent weeks with the secret Service as they were preparing for the conventions. And one of them in particular, who was a part of the counter assault team, told me specifically that they had to prepare for the lone wolf in addition to organized terrorist attempts, that everything was on the table, and he was making the point that it's all quite serious. It was all quite a real.

And even though they will face some scrutiny tonight, we saw a lot of the training that they showed us in play tonight. The notion, as you mentioned, Whit, that they formed a human shield. They're taught to walk into gunfire to form this human shield around the president or any other protectee. And we, in an eerie way, saw that play out today in real time. Just stunning to see.

Whit and Pierre, it's also to your reporting there. You mentioned the loneliness wolf. This is something that you've been talking about law enforcement has been warning about for a long time because it's one thing for them to track the political rhetoric that the chatter online, if you will, but it's, they talk about this. It's nearly impossible if you have one lone person who has a grudge, something they want to carry out. You can protect the perimeter as much as you can, but you can never guarantee 100% safety.

Indeed. And again, the key is, who was this person communicating? Did they put anything on social media? Sometimes they do. Oftentimes they do put something out there that gives some kind of warning sign, but sometimes they don't.

That's the key tonight. The key tonight is who is this person? What can they find out about him? Were there other people involved? Did anyone else know?

Those are the critical questions. We expect we'll get more answers tomorrow. Again, they have a name, at least one name. I was telling you, they're narrowing this down, but they want to know everything possible before they begin to speak anything about this particular suspect. And we are standing by.

And that information has been coming in throughout the hours this evening. Pierre Thomas, thank you again for your reporting. Let's bring in Josh dress playing he's one of, one of the witnesses who was there at the rally tonight in Pennsylvania. Josh, we've been hearing from others who are there and the awful scenes that they saw before their very eyes walk us through where you were and what you saw and heard. I was approximately the center of the crowd on the ground, the center of the crowd facing the podium, a little bit off to the right, about 50 yards back.

I heard, like your other witnesses have been saying, what I thought was fireworks. And there was an initial pop, followed by two more, then a sequence, four or five, possibly six more rounds, and saw Trump go down. And then there was, like, this kind of eerie silence. Everybody kind of dropped to their knees, and it was. Everybody was just kind of like, is this really happening?

It was very, like I said, very surreal and kind of unnerving. And from, from my vantage point, I saw the two injured people that were off to the left in the stands, and I made my way over there and was able to capture video of those two gentlemen being brought out and worked on by EMS and military personnel and state police. Like I said, it was, it was just kind of a surreal situation to see something like this go down in our country. Josh, I can't imagine. We're actually looking at this video that you shared with us right now, and you see the, the emergency personnel coming down the stairs of the stands there at one point holding a person who we had to blur the image, appeared to be, you know, in grave danger.

What was that? The moment when you knew that this was real?

A few moments before that, it was. It, you know, click in my head. You know, at first, like I said, it kind of sounded like fireworks. And then the progressive shots, and then he saw Trump go down and the secret service around him, and it was just like, oh, this is, this is not a joke. Kind of, you know, wasn't somebody playing around with fireworks or whatever, and, um, you know, from.

And then, you know, once they start bringing people out that were injured and, you know, and it became more than unreal at that moment. And, Josh, we've been hearing from so many witnesses tonight, really just a range of emotions from. From sadness to anger, you know, obviously their hearts going out to the people who were injured and killed. What's on your mind tonight? You bring that up.

I got multiple calls from friends, family, and relatives who knew I was heading out that way today. And we're like, are you okay? You know, everybody across the country, other side of the country, have friends that were calling me and hearkened back to me being there. But moments before Trump came on stage, there was a young man, you know, 2030, something, with a child on his shoulders. He couldn't have been more than a year old, you know, and he was up there patting dad on the top, on his hat, on his mega hat, make America great hat, pointing at people and laughing and having a good time, the sun.

And, you know, as it's going on that the image of that little kid ran through my head and it was just, you know, where is this kid now? While all these people were on all fours on the ground being afraid of being shot, which, like I said, once again, made it very surreal and unnerving. We've been talking tonight about how this is, this is no doubt going to be a big test for this country, right? What do we do next? You know, as the american people, you know, our politicians, how do we respond to this, to this kind of violence?

What are your concerns going forward?

Man, if I had to answer to all that, I would be running for president. But, I mean, I just feel it's going to divide our two party system even further. I've already seen things online where people were saying, oh, this was a fake. And all these different conspiracy theories, which is just like, oh, great. We can't just, you know, agree to disagree and work together kind of thing.

But, you know, only time will tell what, what the response to this will be. Well, Josh, thank you so much for your time tonight. And our thoughts go out to you and your family, of course, the victims, everyone who was there and witnessed all of this. We appreciate you sharing your thoughts. All right.

Thank you for your time. Take care. Thank you. Let's go back to Rick Klein in Milwaukee. This, of course, is the site of where the republican national Convention is supposed to happen.

That was supposed to be the big political news in the coming days. And obviously everything has taken a dramatic and tragic turn here. Rick, what else are you hearing from officials there on the ground?

As of now, there is nothing about the convention's four days that are set to change. I've talked to convention officials and republican party officials, officials and Trump campaign officials throughout the day, and they have been adamant that nothing is changing. The intention, per president. The former president is to be here in Milwaukee to greet delegates throughout the week. A little unclear around the timing what exactly day he will be here, but the formal process of nominating him for president and at some point nominating his vice presidential candidate, which he has not chosen yet, will take place as scheduled as of now.

But all other events right now are being scrutinized. There were some welcome parties tonight that have been canceled. Tomorrow there is a major event, some 15,000 people expected, an outdoor welcome reception that right now has to be re evaluated in terms of its, its basics. And I just can't stress enough how a convention is about more than just one venue. As our colleague John Carl reported earlier, you can secure and lock down the venue itself, where Donald Trump will get the nomination, where the delegates will be, will be.

But they are staying at hotels spread across this city and across parts of Wisconsin. They are having receptions, they are having parties, they're having dinners, they're having breakfasts. Often members of Congress are walking around. There are so many potential, potential security threats or incidents or soft spots that are going to be walking around the city of Milwaukee in the next couple of days that it has people on edge and re evaluating in real time. This has been a wild and chaotic day.

I'll tell you. You arrive in a convention city, people are excited. I was on the plane with a couple of delegates who were going to be here for the first time, texting with them tonight. It is a totally different feeling. They are just saying prayers for Donald Trump, prayers for our country.

Everything seems different about the atmospherics, even though the event itself is going on as scheduled. Yeah, everything absolutely is different. And as the event goes on, is scheduled, no doubt there will be changes, perhaps, that they're not discussing or not aware of at the moment. Rick Climb, thank you. Let's bring in Paul Ecloff, who we were speaking with earlier, a former secret service, to dig deeper into this.

Because, Paul, it's one thing to say the events move forward as scheduled, but once the Secret Service and law enforcement, the FBI, take a closer look, no doubt there will be some changes ahead. What are your concerns, just in terms of the challenges of this convention? My concerns for the convention would be far different than for the campaign event and the tragedy that we saw today. The republican convention that's designated a national special security event, which allows the secret Service to partner with far more federal partners on the ground and even the military. The Secret Service does not just worry about bullets and lone assassins, though.

That is historically what we see. There are chemical, biological, radiological, psychological threats that can emerge from any number of locations and vectors. And then you also have to realize, and what led to today is the open society and the free country that we live in. They also have to be very cognizant of the ability of people with counter views to protest and demonstrate and have their views heard. So we exist where privacy, security and safety.

There is always a trade off, a risk tolerance, and obviously that will have to be tightened up. Campaign events will likely look very different. What we saw today was an absolute success of a textbook response of the agents on the ground covering, shielding. What went from a joyful campaign event within minutes turned into an active shooter scenario. Until within the video that I have seen, within less than a second, the countersniper operative neutralized the shooter and the president was able to be evacuated safely to the hospital, which is also planned.

But the planning for national special security event is extremely comprehensive. I know many of the agents on the ground in Milwaukee today, and they are among the best in government service. So, Paul, we hear law enforcement frequently talk about so called soft targets, right? Large gatherings where maybe there isn't the same sort of police presence. We've been hearing about this welcoming party where there's supposed to be 15,000 people there.

What changes do you expect could be made there for the convention or for the convention specifically? Forgive me, Paul. I'm just getting some information now. We're getting, this is a live picture. Stand by, Paul.

This is a live picture of President Biden right now coming in, heading back to Washington. Remember, he was in Rehoboth, Delaware, for the week, weekend. But once this event unfolded, he came to the microphones, he spoke, he had a conversation with former President Donald Trump over the phone tonight, which in and of itself is a remarkable development considering these two men almost never speak to each other, even at the debate a couple of weeks ago, hardly acknowledged each other except for when they were speaking during the debate. So there is the president right now leaving, heading back to Washington. Washington.

No doubt there is a lot that the president will need to cover in the coming days. Obviously, he was briefed by his advisors. We were also told that he was briefed by the Secret Service. And there are changes coming. It is not going to be business as usual in the campaign.

It's not going to be business as usual at the White House. Changes are coming. The rhetoric has already changed. And obviously, after this event that happened today in Pennsylvania, the campaign events going forward and what the president is able to do, what the Secret Service lets President Biden or former President Trump do going forward remains to be seen. Let's go back to Aaron Katersky, because our senior investigative correspondent has been getting new information as it's come in from law enforcement.

Aaron, what more can you say? Well, we're going to hear from the police in Butler, Pennsylvania, within the hour, we expect. So we should learn a little bit more from their perspective. But in the meantime, Governor Josh Shapiro in Pennsylvania says Trump has left the area under the protection of the US Secret Service and he is headed out of the state we expect now, where he goes, we'll wait to see. We know that he's expected in Milwaukee.

He may stop home first, could be in New Jersey, could be somewhere else. But the former president is now out of the area in Pennsylvania after receiving some medical treatment there. And he, we are expecting to hear from the police locally in a short while. Erin, thank you. Let's go back to Rachel Scott, who's been there in Butler, Pennsylvania, there all day for the event and then the events that unfolded afterwards.

Rachel, we're getting worse now. Former President Trump has left the hospital, is now leaving the area. Are we getting any sense, any reporting what comes next in the next day or so before the convention?

Yeah. And this is really coming at a time where we are just two days out from the Republican National Convention. This was the former president's last rally here in Pennsylvania, this critical battleground state. There was so much anticipation around this rally because he still has yet to announce his running mate. And so there was a lot of eyes on this rally in particular until this happened.

These chaotic scenes played out, the attempted assassination of a former president, presumptive republican nominee. We now are getting word that the former president is now leaving Pennsylvania. It's unclear how quickly he would go back over to Milwaukee, where the Republican National Convention will be. We're also hearing word tonight that law enforcement is now preparing a sort of press briefing to provide an update to the press and to the american people about what occurred here. I can tell you that we have been here since 03:00 p.m.

and this is the first time that I've heard this sort of silence, sort of an eerie feeling. Still here on the ground. We are the last camera crew that is here. There are a few people that are here that, whose belongings are still inside. They just took with them what they could as they were fleeing the area.

They're still waiting to get access to their backpacks, their purses, their car keys, even to just drive home. They're hoping to get that in the coming hours. Law enforcement officials have been coming out telling them that it may take longer than a couple of hours. It may not happen until tomorrow. We've seen a flurry of law enforcement officials sort of congregating over on my right side, behind me as they continue their investigation into what exactly happened here and how all of these events unfolded.

But this scene was a couple hours ago, so lively. People were excited to go to this rally. As I said, there was so much anticipation around it. And then that panic that set in with just minutes of the former president taking the stage. He had just arrived to cheering crowds.

And then we heard those pops, those gunshots going off one right after another after another, after another, another. And obviously the frantic chaos that ensued with Trump supporters ducking for cover, scrambling to help. We talked to one man earlier today who was a physician. This was his very first Trump rally. He told me that he was near the person who was ultimately shot and killed.

He rushed in to try and help. He said ultimately it was too late. He left here not too long ago after talking to the FBI. So we know that they're continuing these rounds of interviews with the eyewitnesses that saw exactly what, unfortunately, just hours ago with. And, Rachel, we know that there were children in the crowd, kids on the shoulders of their parents.

We spoke to a local mayor whose wife was pregnant, who, you know, dove to the floor, you know, to protect his wife. These just traumatizing stories that no doubt these folks are going to have to deal with and recover from in the days ahead. And Rachel, you mentioned sort of like the eerie scene there, but still that american flag illuminated over your right shoulder. Still a big test to come for this country. Rachel, thank you so much.

Once again, let's go back to Pierre Thomas in Washington. Because, Pierre, we are awaiting this police press conference. Are you getting a sense of what we're likely to hear in the coming moments? Well, I'm being told by my sources that the FBI has identified the shooter. They believe they have a specific identity on the shooter.

They are not releasing the name as of right now. In terms of who this person is, I'm told the investigation is still at a very critical stage. They do not want any information released about the suspect until they can be absolutely certain that this person acted alone. The operating assumption right now is that this was a lone wolf. But again, it's a critical stage of the investigation as they scour over every bit of information they can find about this particular person.

What was his recent history? Who was he communicating with? Did he post anything on social media? Again, male suspect. They expect to brief, give some basic information about the case.

Thus far, not expected to name him just yet, although that could change with and Pierre, just to recap, as viewers might just be turning in, we're getting more information. You said that they likely identified the shooter but haven't released that information yet. However, we have learned that they say that the shooter is a male. And the information that you're also getting about his position on the rooftop, what we know about that shooter's final moments? Absolutely.

Two to 300 yards away. We've been able to see the position. The FBI has a photograph that they're working on. Our sources are confirming they believe that is the suspect. They know the vantage point, we're told that the shooter was taken out by a Secret Service counter sniper.

That's how he was neutralized, killed by the Secret Service. Law enforcement officials, again, are now at the scene, FBI at the scene. The ATF will help oversee the ballistic evidence. The FBI is taking the lead because this is being investigated as an assassination plot. Now, again, the FBI, the FBI director, the secret service director, the attorney general all briefed.

The president of the United States tonight. Also the national security advisor was briefed. So you can see by the breadth of the people who were involved, theyre trying to assess what are the national security implications of this situation, because obviously its the former president leading candidate running into campaign. For the Republicans about to take place is such a critical moment. And law enforcement knows they got to get this right.

The Secret Service will have to answer some questions about why that particular rooftop was not covered. There are already hearings being called on to be held in Washington this month that will be a postmortem. But right now the emphasis is on that suspect and whether there's anything to indicate anyone knew anything about this, whether he had any support. And those security implications are significant because this is the peak of the campaign. We've got the republican convention this week.

We've got the democratic convention happening in August. Everything is supposed to ramp up in the coming months. And now they're going to have to reassess on each campaign, how they move forward, how they carry out these events. Pierre Thomas, thanks again. Once again, a reminder to our viewers, too.

We're awaiting at any moment press conference from law enforcement. We do expect to get more information. Pierre pointed out that law enforcement, they do believe that they have a suspect identified but are not releasing that identity just yet. Another one of our correspondents, Aaron Kutursky, our senior investigative correspondent who's been working on this, is joining us now with more. And, Aaron, do you have a sense of what else we could hear tonight?

I think we're going to hear a little bit about logistics. You heard Rachel mention how there's still people waiting for access to the venue to try to retrieve belongings. You may hear a little bit more about the Pennsylvania authorities and how they were able to assist in neutralizing the shooter, who was officially the secret service as taken down by a countersniper. We know that there were plenty of police involved and whether local officers were the ones who may have been first to identify that this person was headed for an adjacent rooftop. So all of that is still to come with, but the most urgent focus is on who this shooter is, but perhaps a local man and why.

And then, of course, secondarily why that rooftop was made available, why that was an option for him to try. And up there, so close, two to 300 yards from the former president. Yeah. One of the many questions that need to be answered in the coming days. Aaron, thank you.

Once again, let's go back to Mark Abdegrove, a presidential historian and contributor of ours who's been joining us. And, Mark, earlier when we spoke, I asked you about some historical perspective on previous assassination attempts in this country. But now I'm curious. As we've been talking about political violence, as we've been talking about the rhetoric, can you recall a period in recent history that compares to what we're experiencing right now? I think I would go back to 1960.

819 68 was an enormously turbulent and tempestuous year in the life of our nation. We had seen the war in Vietnam drag out. We had seen North Koreans take a us ship to hold american sailors captive. But in particular, we saw the assassinations of Martin Luther King in April of 1968, followed by the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in June of 1968.

It was an enormously dangerous and volatile time in our history, and I think it reflected the divisions in our country. At the same time. 1968 really shook this country to its very foundations. And we see the divisions that we see today are somewhat reminiscent of what we had in the late 1960s with Mark. I got to say in conversations I've been having with people recently, before this event even happened, there was this comparison to the 1960s, which, as you noted, was such a traumatic time for this country and pivotal in terms of all sorts of change that came after that.

I think the idea that we are heading into a period that is anything close to that is frightening for a lot of people. It was and should be. I think we were tested as much as we have been in the modern era by the turbulence of the 1960s. And I think a lot of people wondered what the future of this country looked like. We went from that into the 1950s, which also had some uncertainty about it.

We went into the Watergate scandal and the Vietnam war dragged out. So there was more uncertainty than that. But ultimately, we came out of those periods stronger, as we saw in the 1980s and into the 1990s. There is a cycle around this, but it is a very dangerous and disturbing time in our history as we saw today, it's a poor reflection of where we are as a society at this moment in time. And as we've been talking about throughout the evening here, as we're watching this live picture, once again, all of these images today, moments in history.

President Biden en route back to Washington, DC, after the events that unfolded today in Pennsylvania, the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. Let's go to Mary Bruce right now, our chief White House correspondent. And Mary, we're seeing President Trump, President Biden in on Air Force one heading back to Washington, presumably right there at the White House. In the coming months. He should be back here at the White House within the hour, with the president cutting short his planned weekend at his beach house in Delaware so that he can continue to monitor and track all of these developments as they unfold.

We do know that he has been obviously continually briefed throughout the evening. He's going to be meeting here at the White House tomorrow morning with his homeland security team and other law enforcement officials. And, of course, he did, as we know, actually speak to Donald Trump tonight, though we know little about what was actually said in that phone call. The White House remaining mom on what that conversation entailed. The president was asked a question about how that call went as he boarded the plane a few moments ago.

He did not engage the press on that one. But we, of course, heard from the president earlier in the day, you know, reaching out to the president or the former president, offering his prayers to him, saying he was glad that he was safe and doing well. And then, of course, the president issuing this really forceful condemnation of this violence that we are seeing in this country, saying that it is sick that there's no place in America for this kind of violence, and saying that it's one of the reasons why we have to unite the country. Of course, this completely upends the race for this White House, changes everything. There is no question about that.

There will be plenty of time to unpack the politics of all of this, of course. But we are at least, you know, getting a sense right now, the president's team and his campaign, if you hit the pause button, we're not sure how his schedule may change, but they are pulling all of their ads off of the air to try and use this as a moment to unite the country, arguing that this is not a time for politics. The former president's team, we are getting a sense of how they are going to, to lean into this. It seems the Trump campaign has sent out a fundraising pitch, and in it they say, I will never surrender. The president's team saying, they're not after me, they're after you.

I'm just standing in the way. I think we are going to see a big shift, perhaps, in the kind of messaging that is coming out of these campaigns. I'm sure this is something that both teams are discussing and trying to figure out tonight. But for right now, the president reacting to this first as president, not as a candidate necessarily. Yes.

They're trying to figure this out in real time, moment by moment. Mary Bruce, thank you. And again, we are awaiting a press conference coming up from law enforcement involved in this investigation to give us an update on what happened in Butler, Pennsylvania, that assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump. But on some of those same notes there, I want to bring in Rick Klein, our political director, who once again is in Mill, Milwaukee, at the site of the Republican National Convention. And, Rick, on the point that Mary was making there about the Biden campaign, trying to reassess everything and pause the campaign, or at least, you know, some of the ads and some of the rhetoric.

These are still two men who are trying to win an election. And this is a very important moment, not only for the former president, but for President Biden, who has been under extreme pressure from his left, left flank about whether or not he's going to stay in this race. Yeah. And this is comes at a very odd and tenuous time for President Biden, where he has been challenged by people in his own party about his ability to do the job, people questioning whether he's in charge, whether he has the mental ability to continue. The polls have shown that so many Americans have those kind of doubts, those kind of questions.

And now comes this moment, the challenge to Mary's point, where he's got to be a president first and a candidate second. I can tell you from, based on the conversations I've had already here, Donald Trump does not intend to let up in any way, shape or form around his campaign. The fact that this convention is going on as scheduled, the messaging is going to change and I think to reflect this reality. The imagery that we saw, the still photos of him with blood literally on his face and on his hands, those are things that we are going to see a lot here in Milwaukee in the coming days. However President Biden hopes to or plans to use his campaign, he is not going to have another side that lets up in any way.

And in fact, there are a number of individuals, including some people that Donald Trump is still considering to be his vice president, who are directly blaming without any evidence that Joe Biden for this incident, without knowing anything about the shooter, without knowing anything about the motivation, saying that the way that he has built up the stakes for democracy has put this, put this literally, there's some saying that he has blood on his hands. Again, that's an irresponsible statement based on what we know right now. There's no evidence to support that. But the rhetoric that led up to this moment in some ways or that make this moment so obviously a sad and horrific one for the nation is not ending with this incident pretty clearly. And I think in some ways we can see it boil over even more in the days ahead here in Milwaukee.

Exactly. And that's the concern from authorities, that you can throw fuel on the fire and only fan the flames with some of the language that's being used. And that's something that they're monitoring very closely. Rick Klein, thank you so much from Milwaukee. We also have on the phone with us Ryan's Priebus, former RNC chair, former chief of staff early on in the Trump administration.

Reince, you're there in Milwaukee. What's the mood right now among Republicans? Well, I'm also chair of the Milwaukee host committee, which raises the money. And I lead the community group here that helps put on the convention. And obviously, people are stunned and saddened and, you know, it's horrific and dreadful and all the other emotions that everyone has, which, you know, is a whirlwind of concern.

But I will say that right now things are moving forward as planned. And just being a person that's been around President Trump a lot, and I still am, I would suspect that the president's going to be even stronger moving forward in both, both attitude and probably tone. And so I don't expect right now anything to change moving forward. I want to follow up on that because obviously people have been thinking about the former president and we know that he is doing fine. He suffered that minor injury to his right ear.

And he says what he believed was a bullet that whizzed by somebody died today, at least one person, you know, an innocent bystander who was just there for this political event. And it's a reminder that you can't protect every location 100% all the way. And, you know, law enforcement often talks about soft targets and large crowds and gatherings. And it's one thing to say that the convention itself will be safe. But, Reince, I guess my question is, do you like, how can you guarantee the safety and protection of the other people who are there participating, engaging in some of the other events around the convention?

Well, it's a good point. And obviously everyone involved is doing, you know, doubling and tripling down on conversations and reviews. Speak with the mayor tonight, folks at the RNC and I others, that everything is as safe as humanly possible. But we have to do everything we can to make that happen. And we have to decide, I guess, as Americans and people that are here in Milwaukee what's best for this convention and right now is moving forward as planned.

So obviously, no one's going to want to do anything that will put anyone at risk. That's not something that we're willing to do. But also we have professional people here. We have over 4000 police from outside of Wisconsin, not to mention the folks in Wisconsin, not to mention the secret Service and others. So it goes without saying.

I mean, safety is number one. We want people to have a good time. We want people to be safe. We also don't want to be deterred by maniacs either. So all of it has to be analyzed.

And that's what we're doing right now. That's a really good point, Reince, because one thing we know about terror, whether domestic or, you know, from, from another country, is they attempt to change our way of life. And that's something that I would imagine that many on all sides of the aisle could agree that we don't want to let somebody change our way of life. But at the same time, major questions about security at these big events going forward. Reince Priebus for us tonight, thank you so much for your time and your perspective.

We appreciate it. Let's go back to Martha Rade. Martha, you've been talking to a number of people. And a reminder to our viewers. We are waiting for this police press conference to hopefully give us some more information about what happened.

But Martha, you've also been seeing some of those aerial images and the lay of the land, so to speak, at this event as you've been getting information about what happened with the shooter. Well, the shooter was on a roof, and that is going to be the biggest question. How did he get on that roof? How long did it take him to get up on that roof? Was he on a ladder on the side?

And we see between those buildings, did a shooter go up that way? And how did they not notice him for such a time period? I mean, he would have had to set up on that roof at some point. And who saw him? Did people realize he was up there?

Weve seen this sniper. Weve seen the US Secret service countersniper team in some of that video at the venue itself and looking around to that outer perimeter. I spoke to a former agent earlier this evening, was in touch with a former agent earlier this evening. I think were going to stop right now with the press conference is underway. Lets listen and we're just watching this right now.

We understand. Everyone ready? Law enforcement getting set up, ready to deliver some remarks. All right, so my name is Kevin Rojek. That's R O J E K.

I'm the special agent in charge of the FBI Pittsburgh field office. The first thing I want to say is that the FBI stands with the people of Butler county and western Pennsylvania, and our hearts go out to the victims of this heinous act which occurred today. This is our community, and I want to let the public know that the FBI has deployed a number of our resources, including investigative agents, our evidence response team, bomb technicians, and we have additional resources coming from other field offices as well as from FBI headquarters, including our evidence response from Quantico, Virginia.

We have intelligence analysts as well, working from our field office in Pittsburgh, working feverishly to attempt to identify, identify the individual who did this and any motives behind why this was done. Right now, we need the public's help. Anyone who was on scene, who saw anything, who identified any information, please report that to the FBI using either the phone number 1800, call FBI or online at FBI Dot Gov Butler.

This evening we had what we're calling an assassination attempt against our former President Donald Trump. It's still an active crime scene. As I mentioned, we have a number of agents on scene. We also are working closely with other federal agencies, our state partners, and our local police partners as well. Again, at this time, we are nothing prepared to identify who the shooter is.

We are close to that identification, and as soon as we are 100% confident in who that individual is, we will share it with the press.

With that being said, also, we do not currently have an identified motive, although our investigators are working tirelessly to attempt to identify what that motive.

At this time, I'm going to turn over the podium to Colonel Chris Parris from the Pennsylvania State Police.

Thank you very much. My name is Colonel Chris Parris, P A R I S, commissioner of Pennsylvania State Police. I would just like to say that the state police have been in regular contact with the governor's office and I. The full support and assets of the entire agency are behind the FBI and our other federal and municipal partners to assist with this investigation. The thoughts and prayers of the Pennsylvania State Police are likewise with the victims of this terrible act.

We are prepared to support this investigation in any way, shape or form, and we stand ready to participate in a full, fair, and competent and thorough investigation to give you an operational rundown, deputy commissioner of operations Lieutenant Colonel George Bivens is behind me, and he will discuss the operational portion that's being conducted by the Pennsylvania State Police. Lieutenant Colonel Bivens, good evening. So let me describe for you a little bit about the scene that we have over there. As you know, you know, there was a grandstand, a very large area, a lot of people there. When this all unfolded, the former president had come out and begun to speak shortly after 06:00 this evening, and within about ten to 15 minutes, a number of sounds were heard, and it became apparent that shots were being fired in that direction.

It was a chaotic scene. Law enforcement, I believe, acted heroically, quickly identifying and neutralizing the threat, as well as responding to assist the various victims. PSP had a significant presence on the scene along with all of our federal partners at the time of the shooting. We have since enhanced that presence significantly, bringing in resources from all over the commonwealth to ensure that, sure that we have a speedy, thorough investigation. We are working very closely with the FBI as we work through this.

As you can imagine, because of the variety of crimes that have been committed, some are under federal jurisdiction, some are under state jurisdiction, and so we're working through all of that. Not an issue at all. We work seamlessly. The FBI has maintained the lead on the attempted assassination. PSP will take the lead on the homicide and the shootings of the other individuals in the grandstand area.

And so there are a lot of witnesses to be interviewed, a lot of things to be processed. There were some complicators that hopefully the next, next time we speak, we can describe for you, but some complicators that slowed down some of the processing and the positive identification of the shooter. But know that at this time, we have no reason to believe that there is any other existing threat out there. We are doing everything we can to make sure that this is thoroughly investigated and that if there is any information developed that anyone else was involved, that between PSP and the FBI, that will very quickly be followed up on. So I think at this time we would open it up to questions from all of you.

Was this a lone rule attack? Again, I think it's too early to say that we have one shooter tentatively identified, but we're nothing stopping there. We're following up on a lot of information. It will be some time until we can conclusively say or answer that question. I think, again, that will all be part of the investigation, but that will all be part of the investigation.

But I can tell you that preliminarily, it appears everything unfolded very quickly. So, you know, again, we'll have more information on that, but it's just too early to start definitively saying this happened at this exact time. And that's correct.

We'll have that information for you. It was some distance outside of the colonel. Any comment on reports that there were people who saw someone on the roof and tried to alert the race? We're following up on those. I will tell you that I am aware of those, and I am aware that law enforcement had responded to a number of reports of suspicious activity.

The specific response to this will be all part of the after action. But yes, law enforcement was responsible to check on several suspicious occurrences. What were the other suspicious occurrences? That will all be part of the investigation.

I think I'd like to. Butler County, Pennsylvania. Is there anything else? Did he have any affiliation with that company? You know, so again, we're not prepared at this time to provide the.

Forgive us here. We are having a couple hits to the signal here with this press conference that's happening right now in Pennsylvania. Let's see if it comes back. If it doesn't, we'll continue here. Or as we wait for it, I can give you some of the headlines from what law enforcement officers were talking about.

This is a multi agency effort, very complex between the FBI, which is leading the investigation, and the Pennsylvania state Police. And they said that because of the different layers, they said at this time there are a variety of different crimes, some under federal jurisdiction, some under state jurisdiction, but they will be working together. They also said at this time they're not prepared to identify the shooter. They're close to identification, but they want to make sure they're 100% confident in who that person is before they share it. This is key.

They also said there is no reason to believe that there is any other existing threat out there. Now, they wouldn't say specifically if they thought this was the act of a lone wolf, pointing out that they're not sure of the motive in this case, but at this point, this is significant, especially for the area. No reason to believe that there's any other existing threat out there. Now, one part of the question and answer I thought was interesting, there were reports that police confirmed absolutely of someone on a rooftop. And so let's go ahead and listen into the presser.

So I think the credit goes to not only the secret Service who was on site, but also the state and local partners who were there on site and were able to react immediately when the incident occurred. Do you know how many officers fire at their weapons? I do not. I understand that it's very early, and there's still going to be a lot of questions, but, I mean, at this point, we're not going to make that assessment. There's an active investigation.

A lot of things need to occur investigatively to make those determinations of what, if any, failures there were. So really, we can't comment on that at this time. So you can't say if Secret Service had checked those buildings or were keeping a close eye or really have to defer to secret service for those questions.

Were there police at that location at any point during the event? Are you saying the location where the shooter was located? I don't have any information on that. To Secret Service. When do you think you will release?

When will the name of the shooter be released? I mean, any inkling of when that might happen? Tomorrow or so. That'll be as soon as we've confirmed 100%, we're willing to release that. So if we have, you know, as far as the contact information for the press, we should be able to do that within the next few hours.

I imagine there was a vehicle being checked, not parked from here. We've also heard a possible related scene in Bethel park. Is there anything you can tell us tonight about other areas where law enforcement may be searching in relation to this event? Again, right now we're tracking down all leads and doing all interviews and tracking anything that we can regarding suspicious locations, vehicles, locations, interviewing individuals. So it's all related to this event, but I can't confirm or deny anything that's going on beyond that.

Details of the weapon? Yeah. What kind of rifle do you want to comment on? Until it's confirmed that we come in with. Okay.

Until we have the confirmation of who the shooter is, viewers there just, again, we've had some issues with the signal here at the press conference. It is ongoing. Let's see if we can listen in. Do you have reason to believe that there are bombs somewhere in Butler county? I just want to walk us through that.

It's primarily standard procedure of any suspicious packages in this case, there was identification of suspicious packages around where the shooter was, and so we deployed in an abundance of caution bomb assets to make sure that those were cleared for investigators to move safely in the area. We're still working on. It's still an active crime scene, so I'm not going to say that the scene is 100% clear at this time.

So Secret Service wasn't available for the press conference at this time.

Really anything? I don't have specifics on what they were looking at, but, but, you know, there's, people in the crowd will leave bags as they're fleeing the scene like this. So any suspicious packages we have to treat as it may be an explosive device and how quickly, I guess, but when you guys jumped into action all walking down next year, how quickly did everybody jump in and who ended up taking them out? So it was immediate and it was, we're still trying to figure that out. So we're, we'll wait till we have more definitive information regarding that investigatively.

What about the person in the crowd? Do you have any information about how they work, how they were filled? My understanding was it was from the shooter, but again, those will be details that are released later. Do you search homes or apartments as a part of your method of identifying the individual? So if, if that's where the leads take us?

Absolutely. Was Donald Trump hate with the bullet? Do you know for sure, or was it potentially something else that could. I don't, I don't have that specific information. As far as the injuries to the former president, I understand you're not releasing the suspect's identification right now, but as you know, is this person known to you guys?

Is he somebody that you guys have been looking at through the threats? He's nothing. Again, the information that we currently have, we're looking at that obviously very intently. And as we know that information, we'll release that as well. So we'll need to plan another time for a follow up press conference.

We're looking at all investigative leads and everything from, and that's why we asked the public, because I'm sure there'll be cell phone video, there'll be all kinds of information that we'll use to fully flesh out exactly what happened here. I think you're saying you can't say what type of gun it is, but do you know how many shots were fired? I don't, and I don't have that information as far as that'll come out in the investigation as well. Is there an identification tonight on the other victims, as far as the civilians injured and killed? Yeah.

So we do have identification on those. We're not prepared to release it at this time. We have notified a number of family members, but they have not had an opportunity to notify extended family and things. I would confirm for you that we did have one individual killed and I know I heard somebody say about two victims. There were three in total besides the former president.

So two critically wounded, one killed. At this point, do you know if they were sitting near each other and where in relation to the former president were? I don't have their exact seating by individual. Again, that'll all be part of the investigation. But the Scott shots were scattered somewhat, and so they weren't just into one particular location.

You're saying just one fatality? As of right now, yes. The shooter in one fatality. The shooter plus one fatality. So there was one victim of the shooter who was killed, and then the shooter was killed?

Yes, ma'am, I've heard those reports as well. And again, we do have a good idea of what the weapon was. But again, that's all part of the ongoing investigation, and I'm not trying to be cagey about that. When the sac talked about the need to be very methodical and to be cautious with that scene, we are doing just that. We don't want anybody else getting hurt.

And candidly, there are some concerns that we'll be able to talk more about later on about just what those concerns are and continue to be.

That's all part of the investigation. After the event, there are a lot of really angry people. Are you monitoring if there have been any threats in response to this? Are you worried? Have there been any specific threats?

Mister, that's certainly a concern, and we're monitoring that whole situation. I mentioned that we're bringing a lot of assets to bear. And so, like the FBI, utilizing their analysts, we also have the Pennsylvania Criminal Intelligence center. We will utilize the resources of our intelligence division and the Criminal Intelligence center to be able to monitor for concerns about any threats. Regardless of the side of the issue or the political spectrum, we want to make sure that we try and avoid any further violence.

Nothing specific so far? No, sir. Without identifying them by name, can you say anything about the other folks who were injured or killed? Were they adults, men, male, female, anything at all? They were adults and they're male.

All three, yes. How difficult today is for your department, though, or all your department members, including while they just went to a rally election? What are those conversations like and how do you kind of get through that? We have trained investigators and we're partnered hand in hand with the FBI again, because we've got some federal violations, some state violations, and so our investigators are going out and methodically, we have a large team of investigators that are going out, dividing up these interviews and trying to conduct them as quickly as possible. And then there will be follow ups, you know, with the FBI asking for people to call in tips.

I have no doubt that we will receive a lot of additional information that will also require follow up. But again, we're working very well together, and it's only a short matter of time until we get through all of those interviews. The early experience, how close and cold was it for President Trump? There were no police hit with bullets. From your experience, how close a call was it for?

Mister, I'm not going to speculate or comment on that. The, and as we're, as we are listening to this press conference in Pennsylvania, you're looking at a live picture right now. This is the plane of former President Donald Trump flying into Newark. We understand that the president is going to regroup with family, with advisors in New Jersey as they get ready for what is still set to go forward with the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee starting on Monday. So quite a day for the former president.

What law enforcement, again, are describing as an attempted assassination on Donald Trump today. Trump himself saying that a bullet whizzed past his ear, his right ear, and actually clipped part of it. He was injured slightly, taken to a hospital for medical treatment, but has since been released, left the area. And that the image of former President Trump's plane landing in New Jersey right now, once again, this press conference is playing out in Pennsylvania. We're getting a few more details of what they're looking at.

I believe they're still wrapping up right now. Let's go ahead and listen in. It's my understanding that was outside of the permit did this. You're not going to comment on anything about the shooters. Does this agency deny Trump's team extra security?

Any of the agencies that are out there? Not that I'm aware of. If Trump had been the nominee already, would he have had additional security for this event? There again, Secret Service has the lead, and I'm not going to comment or speculate on what may or may not be provided at any given point, depending on their status as a candidate. What I will tell you is that in my experience, Secret Service does an excellent job of maintaining security on protectees.

They're very cautious. They don't hesitate to ask for resources. And candidly, we don't hesitate to supply those resources. The deputy colonel, you're asking for the public's help. Can you elaborate and be more specific about what you really like to see from the public?

If it's videos, photos, personal accounts, I think the videos and photos would be very helpful. And I think that once the shooter is identified, anyone that has specific information on that shooter, that would be very helpful as well to help us assess motive. And again, as I mentioned earlier, we are absolutely not taking for granted that this was a lone wolf attack. And so we would be looking for any additional information. It might point us toward anybody else that may have had a hand in this at this point.

What is the main focus of the investigation? What's the most important thing for you right now? A few hours, mister? Well, there's not any one single focus. I mean, certainly the immediate focus was life safety, getting the former president out of there and to care, getting care to the other victims and trying to secure the scene as quickly as possible.

It shifted then from a life safety priority to then an investigative priority. And so our, I guess if I had to point to where we are right now, the single greatest priority would be to identifying a motive and whether there was anyone else involved. Just beginning the political season. Are you guys concerned with all of these rallies that happen and how they're set up? Is this going to change?

Maybe the venues? Again, I would refer you to the secret Service in terms of what they work out with the campaigns. We will continue to supply resources, as I'm sure the FBI will, and local partners as well. The, when this was announced, the, and again, you're listening to this press conference with law enforcement in Pennsylvania, the state police and the FBI speaking. But the image to the right of your screen is President Biden stepping off of Air Force one, arriving at, I believe, is that Andrews Air Force Base.

At Andrews. This was just moments ago. We know that President Biden ended his trip. He was in Rehoboth, Delaware, for the weekend. He ended his trip early to come back to Washington as all of this started playing out.

I was just listening to see if we're going to go ahead and we're going to leave this press conference right now and go to Mary Bruce, our chief White House correspondent. Mary, a couple things that I just wanted to point out before we come to you as we're getting all of this information here. Once again, law enforcement saying that they are calling this an attempted assassination of former president. I remember earlier tonight when President Biden was asked that question, he wasn't ready to go and confirm that, but now we're officially hearing it from officials. And once again, before I come to you, forgive me, I just want to point out, too, that they mentioned that one victim was killed, two critically wounded, all are adult males, and that the shots were scattered somewhat so they couldn't identify specifically where these victims were in the crowd, but they are also highlighting the fact they do not believe that there is any other existing threat out there.

They couldn't confirm whether this is a lone wolf or what the motive was or if others were involved in some way. But at this point, they do not believe there's another threat out there. Mary Bruce, I would imagine the White House, President Biden's team will be on heightened alert regardless of what law enforcement says tonight. Of course, I think that is natural to assume here. And the president, of course, has also been briefed on all of this.

And as you noted, he did say earlier today that he had an opinion when asked if this was an assassination attempted at the time. He noted that he didn't have enough of the facts. Well, now, of course, they clearly have been able to ascertain that, yes, this was, in fact, an assassination attempt. The president, as you noted, is now back in Washington. He'll be back here at the White House shortly, his motorhouse now making its way from Andrews Air Force base back here to the White House.

So the president can continue to monitor all of the developments as they continue to try and answer all of those remaining questions here. The president will, as we have been saying, get another briefing tomorrow morning. He'll be meeting with his homeland security team and law enforcement officials as they continue to try and unpack all of this. The public message from the president so far has been that this is a time for unity, saying that there is no place in America, America for this kind of violence. He has called this sick.

He has said, we cannot be like this. We cannot allow for this to happen. That is the message coming from the president. I suspect that will continue to be the message in the coming days. The message coming from Joe Biden, the candidate, has been that they are pausing all of their public communications, as we've been saying.

They're pulling down all of their ads, you know, trying to make the point that this is not a time for politics. Of course, we have seen a bit of a different message coming out of the Trump campaign. They have been leaning into this moment. We noted that they've been put, they put out that fundraising appeal off of this, saying in the Trump team, saying, I will never surrender. They're not after me, they're after you.

I'm just standing in the way. All of this, of course, coming as we head into that critical next week at the RNC. And we're seeing the politics, we're seeing the campaign, we're also seeing law enforcement start the process of carrying out this investigation, just the beginning stages. Mary Bruce, thank you. I believe that we're going to go back.

We just lost the signal to the presser, but just a couple of other things that I just wanted to highlight because some things that we hadn't heard before. They did say that there were a number of reports that they heard from people, and the state police did confirm that they heard that people were trying to report suspicious activity prior to those shots being fired and that there were reports of someone on a rooftop somewhere. Now state police couldn't elaborate on exactly what those reports were, but they did say that that was something that they were looking into with this investigation. Let's go ahead and listen back in to that presser in progress. What the request is from the Secret Service.

You know, just in their defense. I mean, what I would want to say is it is incredibly difficult to have a venue open to the public and to secure that against any possible threat against a very determined attacker. That's a huge lift to try and do it. And, you know, again, the investigation will really give us an opportunity to take a look at where any failures occurred and what can be done better in the future. The lieutenant Colonel Vivins, do you know when another briefing might be?

We don't have one scheduled, but I would tell you we will let you know and give you plenty of notice, certainly as soon as additional things develop. That would be noteworthi or of interest to you. We'll get that scheduled and have another with you locally, what can residents, businesses expect to happen with the investigation over the next couple of days? What's going to be going on there? Well, again, the interviews will all be occurring, and so they may see law enforcement in their communities.

People came from a wide area to come to this rally, I'm told. So, you know, there's going to be law enforcement fanning out and as additional calls, photos, videos come in, you know, those additional interviews will result in law enforcement being out in the community conducting those interviews, but otherwise they really shouldn't see any other significant impact in the community. Can you confirm whether it's a male or female, the homicide, the bystander who died? It's a male. A male, yes.

I'm from a european outlet from, from Poland, and I'm already getting text messages from, you know, back home, and people are asking, how could this happen? What's going on in America? I know that it's a philosophical question, but how could you talk to the people outside the United States about what happened here in Babylon. Well, again, what I would say is a tragic incident that occurred. We're not in a position to start second guessing how or why or anything else at this point.

Just know that it will be thoroughly investigated. If there is anyone to prosecute, that will be done and we'll move forward. But I don't have a good answer for you. We'll just take one last question. I know that PSP said that you guys were not aware of any additional requests from the Trump team for security.

What about the FBI? Was there an additional request for additional security from the Trump team? And was that denied in any way, shape or form? No, no. There was no additional request for security that was ever denied by the FBI.

The, what does the FBI do in these events? Like, what is your rule? So we are, we showed up after the fact. We were monitoring the event. But it was once the incident occurred that we come and we take the primary jurisdiction for the investigation.

Thank you. As we have additional information, we'll provide it. Thank you. Thank you. And once again, again, law enforcement wrapping up this press conference.

This is in Pennsylvania, the joint presser, the Pennsylvania State Police, also the FBI, talking about the teamwork that they'll be working together as they pursue this going forward. There was one more note that I wanted to bring to your attention that we heard. They said that, and you see it written at the bottom of your screen there, that it's still an active crime scene there at the location in Butler, Pennsylvania, where the rally occurred and where the shooting played out. They also said that there were some suspicious packages in the area where the shooter was. Remember, the shooter was shot and killed by a countersniper with the Secret Service.

They said that there were some suspicious packages, so they deployed some resources to clear that area. That's not to say that there was any sort of device that was dangerous, but out of an abundance of caution, this is the sort of thing that they have to do to clear this massive area, this massive crime scene. And you're looking at some of the aerial pictures right here. Let's go back to our team now, because Pierre Thomas has been getting a lot of information from, from law enforcement. Tight.

And Pierre, the one thing that we were talking about earlier that we didn't hear is they said that they're not prepared at this time to identify the shooter. They said they're close to identification, but they want to be 100% confident in who that person is. Well, they quit. They absolutely have a name that they're working with. And right now, our guidance is that there are residents and other locations that are being checked in connection with this suspect.

And again, the reason why they're being so careful is that any place that they're going to, they don't want anyone who may have been involved to know that they're coming. So that's why they're being very coy about releasing the name at this point. But to be clear, they have a name. They're working off it. They are very certain that they know who did this.

The key now is to do this investigation to the point where theyre comfortable enough to release the name to the public, where they can get additional help. A massive amount of resources is being applied to this. The FBI has behavioral scientists who are going to help with this in terms of understanding the motive in connection with this case. They have an evidence response team that is being brought from Quantico. That is, according to my source, the best they have in terms of going over every centella of evidence and cataloging it.

There will be a system in place for taking in the hundreds or more chips that will come in connection with this, that will all be computerized. The FBI, as one source told me a few moments ago, actually an hour or so ago, this is what we do. We have the capacity to vacuum clean every bit of information, information so that we can reconstruct everything there is to know about this man, identified as a male suspect, we're told, young person, we will get additional information about his identity, but the game plan now is to reconstruct his life and to know everything possible to understand why this took place. And to a reminder to our viewers here, Pierre, because as you were speaking, we were showing an image that was a photograph that. That we were told is being looked at by authorities to photograph what they believe is the shooter on a rooftop.

Absolutely. And if you look at the garb, it appears to be military style. I'm not quite certain here they are looking at that. Could that have caused some confusion as to why this person might have been proceeding to the roof? Because, again, the law enforcement presence at these kind of events is significant.

And there might have been some confusion as to whether this person might have been law enforcement, but they pointed out that there was some suspicious activity that was noticed, that was being conveyed to law enforcement. And what the other thing I can tell you, these packages that they're talking about, they're always concerns about potential booby traps in a situation like this. And so there are just layers upon layers of investigation that are now taking place and that will. Throughout the night. Yep.

And especially when they don't have a motive and they don't know what this person was intending to do beyond what happened with that shooting. Pierre, thank you. Let's go back to Aaron Katersky, because as we're getting more information about this shooter, you're also learning how they ultimately identified him or a way that they were looking at identifying him. And it hasn't been easy because authorities say the shooter was carrying no identification on his person, so they've had to use DNA technology to identify him that way. That may be what's giving the FBI some pause and formally releasing the name so they can do that biometric identification.

So that also tells you that perhaps this person didn't want to be identified and what that means. As far as motive, we're not sure. The authorities have not yet identified. But with the name they do have, even though they're not releasing it to the public. And as they wait for biometric confirmation, they've already started carrying out law enforcement operations nearby in western Pennsylvania at locations that may be associated with this, with this young man.

They've undoubtedly tried to scour his social media. If there is any talk to people who knew him, relatives, friends, because they do want to, as you heard the authorities say, understand a possible motive. Here with Aaron Katersky. Thank you. And Brad Garrett, our law enforcement contributor.

Brad, let's bring you in because you've been a part of so many major investigations. You know, this is unique. We're talking about an attempted assassination of a former president who is currently a candidate for president. Again, what's your takeaway in terms of the identifying of this shooter and what we know about him already? So, you know, the pause, obviously, is they do know who he is, but they probably don't know all the tentacles connected to him, if in fact there are any.

And until you eliminate those wits, you're going to walk very carefully and you're not going to get the public involved with names until you do searches and that you have a really solid feel that this is a lone actor, which is, it sounds like that's what they have, but they don't know that, I think, 100% yet. And so you'll see this probably, I suspect by tomorrow we'll know who the shooter is. You won't maybe know much about motive, if any, officially, for a while. And, you know, it'll also, this whole thing is a teaching moment for them because this guy had to be, again, me guessing outside the perimeter of what they had covered. And only, I suspect, when he started shooting that they were able to draw a beat on him and stop him.

So this will go together, I think, pretty quickly. And we should have a lot more information, I think, by tomorrow. And already in the past 5 hours or so, we have learned a lot. Brad Garrett, thank you. Bring in Elizabeth Newman, our contributor, our former department of Homeland security under former President Trump.

Elizabeth, what are you learning and what's your takeaway in the sense of the shooter profile that we're starting to get right now? Look, we don't have a ton of data about assassination attempt attackers, in part because there just aren't that many assassination attempts. But we do have a lot of data about the type of attackers that carry out targeted attacks, targeted violence attacks. And things that we know is that there's usually leakage. They usually tell people or the people around them know that something is off, know that something has shifted.

We know that many of them have some sort of life stressor in their, in their life experience in the last year, some sort of crisis. Sometimes it's a job loss. Sometimes it's a loss of a loved one. Many of them have mental health challenges, not necessarily a diagnosable illness, but just it can be a broad category of mental health challenges. And all of these things, what Brad was referencing earlier, they're going to be looking into the attacker's history here.

There sometimes is an ideological motivation, and of course, because of who the target is, everybody's kind of jumping to. Well, clearly this has a political motive. It might. But we also know that a lot of times, I mean, you can go back to Ronald Reagan's assassination attempt. That wasn't politically motive.

It was somebody with a mental health fixation on a celebrity trying to show off for a celebrity. So we really don't know yet motive, but we do know probably that there was some sort of crisis in their life. They're disaffected. They probably spent tremendous time online. We know most people who carry out attacks now plan for them online.

They watch videos, they get their tactics and they get their inspiration from the online environment. So one of the things, this person is a lone attacker, it appears, but they're not a lone wolf. They have been participating in a milieu of violent rhetoric and violent inspiration probably for quite some time. At least that's the profile of most people who carry out attacks. And that's a really great point.

And again, we are learning more and more as the minutes and the hours go bye already into the evening and the next 24 to 40, 48 hours, it's likely to be very illuminating with more information. Elizabeth Newman, thank you so much. We cannot forget in all of this the people who are there, the witnesses and the victims. Authorities again confirming that one person was killed, two critically wounded, all adult males. We heard from so many witnesses who saw all of this.

Some of them rushed in to try to help. We've been speaking with some who are at the Trump rally describing what they saw and heard, a warning, some of it is disturbing. Let's listen. I was positioned probably about maybe 20ft away from the president at the point in time when he was making his address. I was to the right of the stage due to me being a, I was a speaker at the event.

So I did my speech earlier today during the pre program, and I was a few feet from where this all occurred. We heard the shots. And I thought it was first that was fireworks because, you know, people are on edge and any kind of loud boom you hear, you don't think gunshots immediately, especially because of the environment of what was going on. And I turned around and someone yelled, medic. And I looked and there was no way a medic could have got to that person in time.

So I left my seat, took my tie off, I jumped over the barrier, and I ran to the individual, but when I got there, it was too late. The person was bleeding out through their head. And like I said, once again, respects the family because this is a very tough time. But they were shot. And I tried to, you know, block the wound.

I tried to hold, I held a towel against it and until medical team arrived and got him out. And, you know, from there, I helped the police and crowd control with getting people out of there because people were very nervous, very hesitant, and we had to move people fast and get them into a safe location opposite where the shooter was at or set to be at. So I assisted with getting people down and getting people out. I try to keep kids calm and just get people clear. Wow.

Rico, obviously we want to be sensitive to the victim's family, but can you tell us more about this person, where they were? Was it a man? Was it a woman? Well, it was, it was a male. It was a male victim.

He was literally just sitting there in the stance. He had to be maybe three or four rows up from the bottom of the bleachers where everybody was sitting. 1 second, everyone's cheering and happy and listening to what Trump's saying, and the next minute he's gone. Rico, did you have any, any training in this sort of, in this sort of like first aid? I mean, this, this is life saving aid that you're describing here.

I mean, I'm in the military. I mean, I'm in the 171st air recruiting wing. And, you know, we learned first aid and self aid, buddy care and basic training. And, you know, at the point, as soon as I heard the shots and I seen and heard someone, yo, medic. My first instinct was, you know, I'm trained in self aid.

I'm trained and, you know, applying a tourniquet, but I'm not trained to see someone's, you know, what I witnessed. I mean, nobody can be trained for that. And we're getting the sense, Rico, not just from you, but from others. I think there's going to be some serious time, some healing that's going to need to take place for the people who are there and saw all of this, and especially for you to see everything up close. And you got the sense early on on that, that this person was lost from understanding head wounds and how they operate.

When I seen what I seen, I was afraid that that person was lost. And reading what has been done, said and stated in the news so far, those are now facts, which is a change. Enrico, I don't even know if these are the right words to ask this question, because most people have never been in this situation. But how are you processing what you saw and what you witnessed?

I mean, one can only process what happened, you know, hopefully as slow as possible.

But my worry, my heart at this point in time is not for myself, but it's for the families of the loved one. We just saw him, Trump, duck below behind the podium, and then a secret service piled on top of him. And we heard the shots. More like what we heard the bullets rattling around the grandstand. One hit the speaker tower, and then chaos broke.

We hit the ground, and the police converged to the grandstands. I watched him kind of graze his ear, and then I heard a pop pop, and he went down, and then I heard another pop pop. And then a secret service kind of came up to the stage. I mean, it was just a chaotic scene. I could see his face.

He was right there talking, having a good time. And you heard one shot, two shot. It sounded like, bang, nothing crazy. And then you heard maybe three or four more. And that's when everyone got quiet, started panicking.

Trump dropped right to the floor. I guess Secret Service jumped on top of him and shielded him. But as soon as everyone in the crowd figured out what was going on, we all ducked, and my buddies just jumped on top of me, piled on top of me. And we had no idea what was going on. You're in total shock.

You're shook, and you can't feel your legs. But we were trying to decide if we wanted to get up and run, and we had really no idea what to do. And next thing you know, you see bullets or you hear bullets flying. And I believe a bullet hit the, like, hydraulic lift that was holding up the speakers, and that thing almost collapsed. There was hydraulic fluid and water spitting everywhere all over the crowd.

And then before you know it, everyone just gets up and starts running. But, oh, forgive me, I'm sorry. There's a little bit of a delay. But on that note about everybody getting up and running, showing video that you shot on your cell phone, and this is the moment of people running out of the venue. Describe what that was like, and when were you actually able to get out?

It was pretty stressful. I'm looking around, trying to make sure all my buddies who came with me were with me. And it took probably a good ten minutes to get out of there, to get out of the whole area. And before you know it, there's ATV's and Utvs flying and ambulances and all that kind of stuff. And we're just.

We're trying to figure out how to get out of there and get home. But, you know, we made it. And when we walked out to the road, they had, you know, police blocking everything off, and we actually found out where the building was that the shooter was shooting from. They had it all taped off. I guess it was like an agricultural warehouse, something like that.

So, you know, it was. It was pretty scary. It's like you're in the movies. Stephen, forgive me again, I'm sorry. There's a little bit of a delay with the connection.

But did you say that you were able to see the building that the shooter was allegedly perched on top of here? You said it was taped off by law enforcement. What did it look like? It was like a kind of like an airplane hangar, maybe, you know, like a warehouse for agricultural equipment, I guess, Arc AGC, something like that on the side. But once we were out, maybe 30, 40 minutes after, you know, they were taping it off, investigating it.

They had the dogs going and all that stuff. But, you know, there was traffic jams everywhere. It was kind of hard to. How far away was that area from where the former president was standing? Maybe 300, 400 yards, maybe less, honestly.

And, Stephen, when you hear that people who were there in the crowd with you, other bystanders, at least one, maybe more, were killed. How does that make you feel? Honestly? Still kind of numb to it. You know, it's hard to process all this.

You know, your, your heart rate is through the roof, but, you know, best wishes for their family and, you know, they were supporting the country that they love. And in the meantime, it's definitely sad and, you know, it's heartbreaking, honestly. And, Stephen, we've been hearing from people on both sides of the aisle, Republicans, Democrats, you know, independent candidate RFK junior, all with the same sentiment, condemning political violence, saying there's no place in this country for something like this. And I just wonder from your perspective, too, you're out there, you're exercising your right to support a candidate. What message do you have for people out there?

Because the country is at this political boiling point. There's so much division and anger and hatred right now from one side and the other. What would you like to tell people at the end of the day? Whether you're on the left, the right, the center, or you don't believe in politics at all, we all still put our pants on in the morning. We all breathe the air and go to work.

And a lot of these issues in ten years, no one even thinks about them or cares about them. So we're all people at the end of the day. And, you know, it's not worth taking someone's life over, political beliefs or whatever. It's just senseless. Senseless indeed.

All people at the end of the day, all Americans at the end of the day trying to get through this tragedy. Let's get back to Mary Bruce at the White House. Our chief White House correspondent, President Biden has arrived. Yeah, just moments ago with the president, now back at the White House, of course, cutting short what was his plan to spend the weekend at his beach house at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Instead, he is now back monitoring all of this as it is unfolding.

He has been continuously being briefed and updated on all of these developments and will continue to be so tomorrow morning. As we've been saying, he'll be briefed by his homeland security team, law enforcement officials. The president, we know has spoken to Donald Trump, though we don't know much about what that conversation entailed. Of course, the president, you know, earlier in the day said that he was sending his prayers to the president and to the other victims of this horrific attack. The president was shouted at by reporters asking for how that conversation went.

He did not want to engage the press. Instead just, you know, ignoring them and walking up the stairs to air force one and back down. All of this has completely changed everything, you know about this race in this political moment. And the president, you know, before you get to any of the politics, is simply going to have, you know, a lot of the same questions that all of us have. And I do think it is interesting to remember that the president's events, the president's campaign events, they have a very similar security procedure, security process.

So, you know, there are a lot of questions that the president is going to have, you know, as the president, as a candidate about, you know, how this could have happened and what lessons can be learned going forward. So first and foremost, he's reacting to this as the president trying to get some of those answers here in the coming hours, wet, as you noted earlier, president first, candidate second, and everything is being recalibrated now. This is a pool video right now that we're also getting. This was President Biden, his motorcade pulling up to the White House. Remember, he was in Delaware earlier.

He cut his weekend trip short to come back to help handle this crisis and respond to it. So the president flew from Delaware, he flew into Andrews, and then picked up the motorcade. And then we saw the beast and the other vehicles then taking him to the White House. And that is the video of the president's arrival. We also know.

Mary Bruce, thank you. I want to go to New Jersey because we also have video of former President Trump who flew into Newark earlier today. Then his motorcade picked him up there and took him to Bedminster. And joining us now on the phone is, is our executive reporter, investigative reporter John Santucci, who's been following along. And, John, we're getting more response now from Trump's family and the Trump campaign and a video that they're sending out.

Yeah, this is a video that one of the aides that was traveling with Donald Trump back from New Jersey just posted. I know our control room is working to turn that around very quickly, so we'll branch for our viewers as soon as we can. But again, I think this is all just remarkable. You know, as we've been reporting for the last several hours, as you've been leading our coverage with the Trump team has really been learning everything in real time. I can tell you that I have been speaking to members.

John, forgive me, I'm interrupting you just for a moment here because I just want to make clear to our viewers what they're seeing right now. This is video, the first video that we have seen of former President Donald Trump since the shooting earlier today. This was released by a campaign official. This is him stepping off of the plane that he flew into Newark, New Jersey. Remember, Trump was swept off the stage by the Secret Service.

He waves to the camera there. He was taken to the emergency vehicles, taken off to a hospital for treatment, and was told that he suffered a graze wound to his right ear. And this is, these are the very first images that we're seeing of the former president walking down the steps off that plane since the shooting, the assassination attempt. John, sorry again to interrupt. I just wanted to point out what, what the viewers were seeing.

But again, you have been in touch with the Trump family throughout the course of the day. Yeah. And with that image, I can tell you something that, you know, at the end of the day, look, Donald Trump, we all know, right, is larger than life, if you will. But for his children, he is dad. And, you know, I can tell you that none of the children were with him today in Pennsylvania.

They were all scrambling to reach their father to get an update. They were actively in touch with Secret Service. I spoke to his two eldest sons, Donald Trump Junior and Eric Trump. They both were able to reach their father, Donald Trump Junior, telling me that when they spoke, his father was in good spirits, commented about how much blood was coming down his face for moments after that happened. But again, as both boys observed to me with their father, is resilient.

And I think to see Donald Trump, as we're showing our viewers on screen right now, to think hours earlier, that image that we have played over and over again of Donald Trump with agents warming him and pulling him into that motorcade, I can tell you from many aIDS and sources of mine that I have built in ten years of covering Donald Trump for ABC News. Many were horrified, several of whom I've known for quite some time, answered the phone when I was trying to find out what was going on, in tears, prying themselves because of how special a relationship they have with Donald Trump. These people have worked for him for decades, even longer, Matt, sources of mine within the Trump Organization, the president's company, trying to learn what was happening in real time. Now, look, as far as what we know with, for tonight, our expectation, you mentioned to our viewers that Donald Trump right now is in that motorcade leaving Newark, heading back to his club in Bedminster, New Jersey. We're expecting to spend the evening.

Tomorrow is supposed to be, or Washington supposed to be. I think that's a more appropriate word. A quiet day ahead of the republican national Convention. But you got to imagine with Donald Trump, he is going to want to get out there and say something to his supporters. Given these images of him walking off his plane, the first time anybody has seen him since he was escorted very quickly out of that rally in Pennsylvania.

The other thing that we should note for our viewers is that, you know, this has been a very busy time for Donald Trump, where he has really been focused on the campaign. We reported, as you know, with, in just the last 24 hours, he was doing private meetings with the three finalists, if you will, eventually be his running mate. And he thought that this rally today in Pennsylvania was going to be that big event, ended up not being the event because of the coverage, obviously, something nobody could have predicted. But our understanding is that Donald Trump is still full steam ahead in the convention, expected to head to Milwaukee on Monday. And we still believe that is then and there we'll find out who his running mate is.

It is, though, I have to tell you, just as an observer of someone who's covered him for this time, I'm surprised that, you know, the fact that they are moving so aggressively ahead with the campaign. But then again, not, we know that Donald Trump has had so many twists and turns over the last year, and so often they collide with the campaign and Donald Trump finds a way, if you will, to make it all work. And I think that's exactly what's going to happen now. Absolutely, John. And you're seeing this remarkable split screen right here.

John, thank you. Again, on the left side of your screen, that is that image that we discussed, the first images that we've seen of the former president after the shooting, stepping off the plane and then heading to Bedminster, New Jersey. On the right, those are the earlier images of the motorcade after he flew into Newark, then escorting him to Bedminster. And joining us now, I believe, on the phone is Rachel bait, our political contributor. Rachel, we've had many conversations in recent weeks about the state of the campaign.

And once again, another unprecedented moment in this campaign, an attempted assassination of a former president. What are you learning from your sources tonight? Yeah. Hey there, whit. I mean, we can certainly say right now that this is going to further scramble a presidential campaign that is already roiling in chaos, as you just said.

I mean, it is very much electrifying Republicans who are already rallying around Donald Trump. And from Democrats who already have heartburn about this campaign, theyre even more worried about dimming prospects of taking back the White House. I mean, my colleagues and I were hearing just hours after this assassination attempt from Republicans who were saying, look, we think this is going to solidify Trumps chance of winning back the White House. One congressman here in Wisconsin, where I am right now, Derek Van Oren, said that President Trump survives this attack. He just won the election.

We also heard from other Republicans who were talking about that sort of iconic picture of Trump pumping his fist in the air, showing that he sort of survived this, saying this is going to be an image that Republicans are going to rally around. And I think, you know, we're also starting to see some conspiracy theories, unfounded conspiracy theories, circulate on the republican side of things, particularly from some more Trump aligned MAGA wing officials. I mean, there was a congressman, Mike Collins, who's tweeting things that Joe Biden sent the orders. To be clear, there has been no evidence of that. And, in fact, a lot of people would say this is very dangerous, dangerous to say this sort of thing right now.

But these are the kinds of comments we're actually hearing from Republicans right now. And it's particularly interesting because you have a lot of folks out there saying this should be a moment to take stock in where we are as a country and how heated the political rhetoric has gotten and that this should be a chance to sort of take down the temperature of that conversation. I mean, independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy junior was on television today saying, you know, President Biden should invite Trump to jointly address the nation and make a commitment to bringing down the temperatures. Instead, what we're seeing is potentially some Republicans actually leaning into this to rev things up even more.

It will be something to watch play out in the coming days and a majority moment of reflection for this country and who we are as Americans and what this political campaign, this presidential campaign is going to do and mean going forward. And on that note, let's bring back mark up to Grove, a presidential historian who's been with us on this. Mark, again, as we've been getting your perspective and comparing this to other moments that we've seen in history. This just within about six, 7 hours of that assassination attempt of former President Trump, we see that image of him coming down the stairs of his airplane, landing in New Jersey, preparing to go right back to work on the campaign trail and the convention in less than 48 hours. That's remarkable.

And it does show Donald Trump's resilience. Donald Trump always seems to get back up somehow. And that image of him getting off Air Force one, seemingly going back to the campaign trail, but also the image I think that will most endure from this day is the image that I believe Rachel referred to earlier of Donald Trump pumping his fist in defiance, blood streaming down his face from the gunshot wound to his ear. I think that the flag waving above him, I think that is the image that republicans will likely rally around. It's very much in keeping with the Trump brand of defiance.

So it's more or less that iconic. What will certainly become an iconic image is on brand for Donald Trump. With Mark, thank you again. Let's go back to Aaron Katersky, because I just want to make sure that we're following up some of this latest information that we're getting about the shooting. Aaron, we had that press conference moments ago.

Officials are not identifying the shooter just yet, but you've been getting more information about how that process is moving forward. It's taking a little bit longer than usual because we're told with the shooter was not carrying any identification on him. So they've had to use DNA and try to use biometrics to confirm the identity of the young man that they believe fired off eight rounds from an AR 15 style rifle perched on a rooftop some two to 300 yards away. We're still working for an exact location and distance, whether he was specifically perched or whether this was more a haphazard, scattershot type shooting. But the authorities are saying tonight with their confident that there is no additional threat.

Now, we also heard Pennsylvania state police say they were concerned for a time about other people getting hurt, but they did nothing reveal why they had that concern. And we know tonight that law enforcement activity is taking place at locations in western Pennsylvania that may be associated with the shooter. And we'll see the results of those perhaps in the morning once the authorities tell us a little bit more. But the urgent priority is to confirm that he was acting alone, that there is no additional threat. And then the questions about motive, how he was able to pull it off, and whether there were any deficiencies in the security plan.

Aaron, thank you. And again, in all of this, we can't forget that a person died today, an innocent bystander who was there at this rally, one of three people shot by this gunman, the other two taken away to the hospital in critical condition. Law enforcement tell us that all of the victims are male adults. But we've heard from witnesses who were there in the crowd. Some had children on their shoulders.

They were trying to shield their eyes as all of this was playing out. A local mayor who had to push his pregnant wife to the ground and jump on top of her to protect her. So while the president, former President Trump, escaped with this with only minor injury, there are grieving families tonight in this country, in Pennsylvania. And there are so many thousands of others who, there in the moment at the rally who are going to have to work through this trauma in the coming days. Let's go back to Rick Klein in Milwaukee, the site of the Republican National Convention supposed to start.

And I mean, now it's going to be tomorrow. It's, we've moved into Sunday morning here. Rick. Tell us about the plans and everything at this point, as we're told is moving forward. Yeah, it's not, I, I wouldn't call it business as usual because everyone in the city is stunned and some of the events and parties have been scaled back or canceled.

This is obviously the only topic that anyone is talking about right now and all concerned about. And I've been hearing from delegates all day say that their thoughts, their concerns, their prayers are with Donald Trump. And it strikes me on this day of just a sad and stunning manifestation of the nation's divisions that in one way heartening to see that Donald Trump can walk down those stairs, go back to his home. And I think good for Americans to know that he is home, as is President Biden, who returns home now. But the moments and the hours and the days ahead are extremely tenuous.

The divisions that led to this moment and the fallout from this horrible incident that occurred just hours ago. It's going to be felt in Milwaukee in the coming days where this convention is planning to go ahead as scheduled starting Monday. And it could be felt throughout the rest of this campaign and beyond. This has just cast a pall over all of America and american politics. And in closing out this really, truly sad and horrific day.

Rick Klein for us once again, into our entire team, no doubt, this is a moment of reflection, a defining moment in this country, as people from all sides of the aisle are going to have to ask themselves, who are we as Americans going forward after this unprecedented moment in this campaign? The assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump, again escaping with only minor injury. But three victims were shot today. One person killed, two others in critical condition, the suspect also killed by a sniper. For the secret Service, all these details still coming in.

Developments have been coming in moment by moment, hour by hour. We expect to learn much more in the coming days. For now, I do want to thank you and all of you have been with us throughout the course of the day, followed by these major developments that we've been tracking this evening. We return you now to regular programming. We will, of course, be monitoring all the developments and all the changes across all of our platforms on ABC News and our programs tomorrow, beginning with a special edition of Good Morning America and a special edition of this Week with George Stephanopoulos.

We leave you now with this image here that we noted earlier, the american flag still illuminated, still flying above that stage at the side of the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. For now, I'm whit Johnson in New York. Have a great night.

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