Donald Trump said he was shot in his right ear during the horrific assassination attempt at his Pennsylvania rally and knew something was wrong when he heard a ‘whizzing’ sound.
The former president said he immediately felt the bullet ‘ripping through my skin’ in a statement from hospital just hours after the terrifying scene unfolded.
The 77-year-old was dragged off stage by Secret Service with blood covering his face and then pumped his fist and shouted ‘fight, fight, fight’ after gunfire rang out in front of thousands of MAGA fans.
The gunman and a member of the crowd were killed and two others were taken to hospital in a critical condition after the shooting at 6.15pm on Saturday night.
The suspect fired at least eight shots from outside the security perimeter of the rally after witnesses said they say a man with a rifle bear crawling on a roof.
‘I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear. I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening,’ the former president wrote on his Truth Social account.
Trump was rushed to a hospital but later released.
His campaign said he will still attend the Republican National Convention, which begins on Monday in Milwaukee. There Trump will formally be nominated as the GOP presidential nominee.
In the wake of the shooting, photos show the former president clutching his ear as the shots rang out. Blood was seen trickling down his face and from his ear.
The shots rang out shortly after Trump started to address the crowd in the critical battleground state.
In the moments after the shooting, voices could be heard screaming as Secret Service agents pushed Trump to the floor and covered him.
Seconds later, the blood-covered lawmaker pumped his fist in the air to indicate that he was fine, while surrounded by Secret Service agents, before being led away.
In his statement, Trump thanked the Secret Service and extended his condolences to the family of the person who was killed at the rally.
As a former president, Trump has 24/7 Secret Service protection.
The shooter who fired at least eight shots at Trump and injured him is dead, with a rallygoer also killed in Saturday’s appalling bloodbath.
‘I want to extend my condolences to the family of the person at the Rally who was killed, and also to the family of another person that was badly injured. It is incredible that such an act can take place in our Country. Nothing is known at this time about the shooter, who is now dead,’ Trump said.
Officials said the incident was being investigated as an assassination attempt.
Trump was mid-sentence, saying ‘Take a look at what happened’ when the shots began to ring out shortly before 6pm ET, with terrified screams filling the air as he and onlookers dived to the ground.
An extraordinary photo shows Donald Trump on the ground at Butler Show Grounds in Pennsylvania Saturday after he was injured in a shooting that left two people dead
