**BUTLER, Pa. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump survived an apparent assassination attempt Saturday at a Pennsylvania rally, just days before he was to accept the Republican nomination for the third time. A barrage of gunfire triggered widespread panic. A bloodied Trump, claiming he was shot in the ear, was quickly surrounded by Secret Service agents and escorted to his SUV, defiantly pumping his fist.
Trump’s campaign reported that the presumptive GOP nominee was doing “fine” following the incident, with Trump himself stating that the bullet had grazed the upper part of his right ear.
“I knew something was wrong immediately when I heard a whizzing sound and felt the bullet ripping through the skin. There was a lot of bleeding,” Trump wrote on his social media site.
Panic erupted among rallygoers as screams and shouts of “Get down!” filled the air. Authorities confirmed that one attendee was killed and two others were critically injured. The Secret Service announced they had neutralized the suspected shooter, who had attacked from an elevated position outside the rally venue, a farm show in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump was declared safe.
This incident marks the most serious assassination attempt on a president or presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981. The attack occurred amid a highly polarized political climate, just four months before the presidential elections and days before Trump’s official nomination at the Republican convention, which his campaign confirmed would proceed as planned.
