"Assassination attempt": FBI after Trump injured in shooting
The shooting that wounded former United States president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Saturday was an assassination attempt, the FBI confirmed in a late night press conference.
"This evening we had what we are calling an assassination attempt against our former president Donald Trump," Special Agent Kevin Rojek told reporters in Butler, Pennsylvania, where Trump was holding a rally when shots rang out.
Rojek said officials have identified the shooter, but would not release details. He added that a motive was not immediately clear.
The shooting on Saturday streaked blood across Trump’s face and set off panic among the thousands of people attending the rally.
Trump’s campaign said he was “doing well” after the shooting, which Trump said pierced the upper part of his right ear. At least one spectator was killed and two others were critically wounded, according to authorities.
The Secret Service said it shot the suspected assailant dead.
The attack was the most serious assassination attempt on a US president or presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981.
US President Joe Biden was quick to condemn the attack.
“There’s no place in America for this type of violence,” Biden, who is running against Trump as the presumptive Democratic nominee, said in remarks. “It’s sick. It’s sick.”
