By Iftikhar Ali
NEW YORK, Jul 14 (APP): Former U.S. President Donald Trump was out of hospital Saturday night following a shooting earlier in the day at his campaign rally where he was shot in the right ear, Bloomberg, a New York-based international news agency reported.
Two people were killed, including the suspected shooter, and two other spectators were wounded in the shooting in the city of Butler in western Pennsylvania, according to the reports.
Leaders from around the wold expressed shock at the incident, denounced political violence and wished Trump a quick recovery.
A spokesperson of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the shooting and called it an “act of political violence.”
At the campaign rally, the 78-year-old Republican nominee for the 2024 election had just begun to deliver a speech when several gunshots were heard, eliciting screams from the crowd.
Trump could be seen reaching to feel his right ear before he quickly crouched down behind the podium where he was delivering the speech, according to multiple videos posted by media outlets.
US Secret Service Commandos, who are assigned to protect the former leader, then rushed the stage and surrounded Trump.
As he got up and is led off of the stage, blood was visible on Trump’s right ear and cheek. He was whisked by the Secret Service agents into a waiting car and left the venue.
As he was being led off of the stage, the former president turned toward the crowd, pumped his fist in the air and was heard chanting, “fight, fight fight!”
“It is incredible that such an act can take place in our Country,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform following the shooting.
Several media outlets said the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had taken over the investigation at the scene. They also quoted sources as saying the shooting is being investigated as an “assassination attempt.”
In a statement published on X shortly after the incident, Secret Service Communications Chief Anthony Guglielmi said the shooter had been “neutralized.”
A Trump spokesman told CNN the presidential candidate received medical attention at a nearby hospital.
The shooting comes two days before the opening of the Republican National Convention at which the businessman and former reality television star is expected to secure the party’s nomination and less than four months before the November 5 election.
Pennsylvania is considered one of the key swing states that will determine the election outcome. Vice President Kamala Harris was in the state today campaigning as well.
Trump’s challenger, U.S. President Joe Biden, said he was grateful to hear that Trump is safe and well.
“I’m praying for him and his family and for all those who were at the rally, as we await further information,” Biden said in the statement.
“There’s no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it.”
Police did not release the name of the shooter or give a motive. Law enforcement sources were quoted by several media outlets as saying the suspected shooter, who was 20 years old, was on a rooftop outside of the Butler Farm Show Grounds where the rally was taking place.
Trump’s election campaign website did not show any other events listed for the former president before the convention.
Trump “looks forward to joining you all in Milwaukee as we proceed with our convention,” it said.
Leading U.S. politicians rushed to condemn the shooting of Trump, who served as president from 2017-2021.
“Political violence has no place in our country,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (Democrat-New York) said in a tweet, adding he was “horrified” by the news and “relieved” that Trump is safe.
“This horrific act of political violence at a peaceful campaign rally has no place in this country and should be unanimously and forcefully condemned,” Speaker Mike Johnson (Republican-Louisiana) said in a post on X.
“The American people deserve to know the truth. We will have Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle and other appropriate officials from DHS (Dept. of Homeland Security) and the FBI appear for a hearing before our committees ASAP.”
While political violence is rare in the United States, several presidents or candidates have been shot over the country’s history.
Most recently, President Ronald Reagan was shot and seriously wounded as he left an event at the Hilton hotel in Washington, D.C. in 1981.
In 1975, President Gerald Ford was unscathed in two separate assassination attempts.
Four U.S. presidents — John F. Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, and William McKinley — had been assassinated.