Trump rally shooting: Eyewitnesses recount incident, victim dies shielding family

The Star

Eyewitnesses on Sunday (July 14) recounted the moment shots were fired at former U.S. President and Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.   The attack also resulted in the death of Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old volunteer firefighter who shielded his family from the gunfire, while two other spectators were critically wounded.  Read more at https://tinyurl.com/38be9evm  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

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00:00Eyewitnesses recounted the moment shots were fired at former U.S. President and Republican

00:08presidential candidate Donald Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday.

00:17And as soon as I heard that first shot, I turned over and I looked at Trump and then

00:22I heard two more.

00:23It was like bang, bang, bang.

00:24It's like three right in a row.

00:25I looked at Trump and I saw him looking and I saw him drop to the ground.

00:29And then as he, as he dropped to the ground, then I saw all the Secret Service come around

00:35him.

00:36I saw the guys and all the military with the guns and everything come around him.

00:39I heard all the calls they were doing.

00:41I heard what they were saying back and forth about, you know, waiting until they had the

00:44all clear that they had everything, you know, protected and whatever.

00:48And I just was in awe.

00:49Like, you know, everybody else was dropped to the ground around me.

00:52And I think I just was like still in shock.

00:55Am I not at the Trump rally and somebody just started shooting?

00:59What just happened?

01:00What I witnessed was surreal and devastating.

01:04I watched as the crowd of people up front started rushing and roaring towards me.

01:10I watched mothers shield their children from bullets.

01:14I watched husbands jump on their wives.

01:18I watched elderly people struggle to leave fast enough.

01:24Some of them practically gave up and decided, I'm just going to wait here because I can't

01:28get out right now.

01:30That's not OK.

01:31It's still very surreal.

01:32Like it's it's hard to believe that it happened.

01:35It's hard to believe.

01:36Like, you know, when you think about the history moments that happened, like 9-11 or I wasn't

01:41alive when John F. Kennedy got shot.

01:42But I still remember, you know, everybody saying they knew where they were when that

01:46happened.

01:47Right.

01:48I know where I was when this happened.

01:49I was right there.

01:50Right.

01:51It's something that I'll I'll never forget.

01:54Trump had just begun his speech when gunfire erupted, striking him in the ear.

01:59This attack is expected to significantly impact this year's U.S. presidential race and raise

02:04serious questions about the security provided to the Republican candidate.

02:09The Trump campaign later reported that he was doing well, with no major injury aside

02:14from a wound on his upper right ear.

02:18The FBI has identified the suspect as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania,

02:25labeling the incident an assassination attempt.

02:28State voter records show that Crooks was a registered Republican.

02:33Secret Service agents shot and killed the suspect after he opened fire from the roof

02:38of a building approximately 140 meters from the stage where Trump was speaking.

02:44An AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle was recovered near his body.

02:50The attack also resulted in the death of Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old volunteer firefighter

02:57who shielded his family from the gunfire.

03:00Two other spectators were critically wounded.

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