BREAKING: Shots Reportedly Fired At Donald Trump Rally

There is no prefacing this one, so I won’t bother. Around 6:00 PM Eastern Time, former President Donald Trump was rushed from the stage by his Secret Service detail after shots rang out.

From the NY Post:

Former President Donald Trump was rushed offstage after gunfire appeared to erupt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

Several gunshots rang out just about five minutes into his speech shortly after 6 p.m., sending Trump to the ground as Secret Service agents jumped in to cover him. 

Trump appeared to grab his ear in the moments before he was taken to the floor by the Secret Service.  He was heard asking for his shoes as the guards rushed him away.

Video of the incident:

BREAKING: Shots fired at Trump rally pic.twitter.com/mHmB3oBlNY

— THAT SOUTHERN DUDE (@TSDmemes) July 13, 2024

Another video seemingly shows a significant series of gunshots, presumably from after the one above.

SHOTS FIRED AT TRUMP RALLY pic.twitter.com/3DSGs2EBH5

— Real America’s Voice (RAV) (@RealAmVoice) July 13, 2024

There are reports of some kind of tactical team entering the area and removing someone from the bleachers behind where Trump was speaking, though we do not know who that was or why they were escorted away.

A New York Times report suggests that while Trump may have grabbed at his ear or the back of his head, it doesn’t appear that he sustained any significant injury and signaled to the crowd that he was well.

After a brief pause, Mr. Trump rose, surrounded by a group of uniformed Secret Service members. He pumped his fist to the crowd, and then was rushed off the stage and ushered into his motorcade, which quickly left the venue, the Butler Farm Show.

Photo of Trump after shooting: pic.twitter.com/RIjTjun7PU

— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) July 13, 2024

Note the blood on Trump’s face. It does appear that he was injured in the shooting, though again not significantly.

Now, this situation just happened a short time ago. It’s still extremely fluid and what you’ve read above pretty much accounts for everything we know at this early stage. As of this writing, the incident happened less than an hour ago. Even if law enforcement knows everything, the odds of everyone having a coherent picture of what transpired is slim to none.

However, in a live report, an NBC reporter Dasha Burns notes that she was told to leave the rally location as it was now considered a crime scene. She also notes that to her knowledge, no one in the

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro issued a statement on the incident, as reported in the New York Times:

Gov. Josh Shapiro, Democrat of Pennsylvania, said in a statement that he had been “briefed on the situation” and that the state police were on the scene working with federal partners. “Violence targeted at any political party or political leader is absolutely unacceptable,” Shapiro said. “It has no place in Pennsylvania or the United States.”

For once, I agree with Shapiro completely.

Now, how did this happen? That’s a question we’re going to see asked a lot in the coming days. Right now, there’s no answer to that, though the fact that Trump wasn’t rushed from the stage and was visible at all after the incident suggests that the shooter may well have been taken down moments after the incident happened, which is entirely possible

Let’s remember, though, that these events have extensive security. There’s a perimeter that people can see and layers further out. There are snipers stationed all over the place and they’re not watching Trump. If the shooter was visible at all–and unless he or she was a trained sniper who understands how to be invisible while firing, they probably will be–then those layers are likely to put the shooter down permanently.

That may well be what happened here, but as of this moment, this is just speculation on my part based on what I’ve seen.

Obviously, this story is going to be a big one and we’ll be keeping an ear out for any additional news, including how it may impact the Second Amendment debate in this nation going forward. 

[Update at 7:21 Eastern] Longer video of the incident. At 0:58, voices can be heard saying “shooter down.”

[Update at 7:47] It seems that the shooter is, indeed dead.

Unfortunately, there are reports of at least one other person dead as well.

The shooter and at least one attendee are dead following gunfire at Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.

According to a local prosecutor, the two people are confirmed dead.

Again, we will continue keeping an eye on the situation.