And our main breaking news here, Donald Trump has survived an assassination attempt whilst at an election election rally. So the facts as we know them so far is that the attempt on his life took place as Mister Trump was speaking to crowds in the state of Pennsylvania. Gunshots were heard, and Donald Trump was then led to safety with blood clearly dripping down his face. Initially, it appeared that hed been struck on the outside of his face. He later confirmed that his right ear, the upper part of his right ear, had been pierced with a bullet. Its been confirmed that he was not seriously hurt. The attacker also killed one spectator at the rally and two others are critically injured in hospital. The FBI and local police have said that the attacker was killed at the scene. Agencies are currently investigating his motive. He has been identified by the FBI as a 20 year old named as Thomas Matthew Crooks. No further details, though, have been released about his identity. President Biden has described the attack as sick and said that there is no place in America for this kind of violence. Speaking at a press conference, FBI Special agent Kevin Rojek gave this update 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. We do not currently have an identified motive, although our investigators are working tirelessly to attempt to identify what that motive was.

That was FBI agent Kevin Rojek there at a press conference earlier. Also there was the Pennsylvania State Police, Lieutenant Colonel George Bivens.

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 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, but 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 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.

And that was the Pennsylvania state police official there. Our senior North America correspondent, Kerry O'Donoghue, was outside the venue when the assassination attempt took place.

And, you know, that's a little bit old, that chart. That chart.

It was just a few minutes into Donald Trump's speech when a volley of shots rang out. The former president can be seen clutching at the right side of his head. After that, he hits the ground as the secret Service pile on top of him. Their job, to put their bodies between him and the shooter. There was panic among the thousands of people inside the rally. Many ran, many threw themselves to the ground. Donald Trump was seen getting to his feet and raising a fist to his supporters. Signs of blood at his right ear.

We were about ten minutes into Donald Trump's speech, and while we were just about to go live on the BBC World Service, we heard some shots fired probably a few hundred meters from where we were standing, probably about half a dozen shots. We heard there was a woman shouting that someone had been shooting. A guy came by and said that he thought there had been a couple of snipers, but he wasn't sure. And we're just waiting to see if things have cleared. And we're just, as you can see, we're on the ground behind our car, which is not ideal, but that's the shelter we have at the moment. And that's what we're, that's what we're trying to ascertain what's happened. I think the speech has stopped. I can't hear Donald Trump speaking anymore.

As people streamed out of the venue, they told us what they'd seen. One man, a local business owner, described how he'd noticed a man he believed to be the shooter climbing onto a low roof nearby, holding a weapon.

We noticed a guy crawling, you know, bear crawling up the roof of the building beside us, 50ft away from us. So we're standing there, you know, we're pointing, we're pointing at the guy crawling up the roof.

And he had a gun, right?

He had a rifle. We could clearly see him with a rifle. Absolutely. We're pointing at him. The police are down there running around on the ground. We're like, hey, man, there's guy on the roof with a rifle. And the police were like, huh?

What?

You know, like they didn't know what was going on.

President Trump was taken straight off to the local Butler county hospital. Shortly afterwards, he released a statement paying tribute to law enforcement and expressing condolences for those killed and injured. The statement said, 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. The Secret Service also released a statement which said, in part, a suspect shooter fired multiple shots toward the stage from an elevated position outside of the rally venue. US Secret Service personnel neutralized the shooter, who is now deceased. Condemnations were swift. President Biden had this to say.

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.

The Biden campaign is suspending its activities for the time being, though Donald Trump has indicated he plans to go to the Republican National Convention on Monday as planned. In the meantime, investigations will continue, everyone asking, how could an attempted political assassination be part of modern day America? Gary O'Donohue, BBC News, in Butler, Pennsylvania.