‘We hit the deck’: Shooting witnesses tell of terror at Trump rally

BUTLER, Pa. - New details are starting to emerge after former President Donald Trump was hit by a would-be assassin’s bullet during a rally in Pennsylvania.

The FBI identified the gunman as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pa.

Trump said his ear was wounded but he was otherwise fine after Saturday evening’s incident.

The rally was supposed to be Trump’s last one before the GOP convention starts Monday. And up until the gunfire, it was going along like a typical rally, with the former president rousing his ers.

About 15 minutes into the rally, the former president was showing off a chart of border crossing numbers when the first shots were fired.

When the firing began, “everybody went to their knees or their prone position, because we all knew. Everyone becoming aware of the fact this was gunfire,” said Dave McCormick, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, who was sitting to Trump’s right on stage.

As he saw Trump raise his fist, McCormick said, he looked over his shoulder and noticed someone had been hit while sitting in the bleachers behind the stage.

Eventually, first responders were able to carry the wounded person out of a large crowd so he could get medical care, McCormick said.

Reporters covering the rally heard five or six shots ring out and many ducked for cover, hiding under tables. After the first two or three bangs, people in the crowd looked startled, but not panicked. An AP reporter at the scene reported the noise sounded like firecrackers at first or perhaps a car backfiring.

When it was clear the situation had been contained and Trump would not return to speak, attendees started filing out of the venue.

Police soon told the people remaining to leave the venue and Secret Service agents told reporters to get “out now. This is a live crime scene.”

Two firefighters from nearby Steubenville, Ohio, who were at the rally told the AP that they helped people who appeared hurt and heard bullets hitting broadcast speakers.

“The bullets rattled around the grandstand. One hit the speaker tower, and then chaos broke,” Chris Takach said. “We hit the ground, and then the police converged into the grandstands.”

“The first thing I heard is a couple of cracks,” Dave Sullivan said.

Sullivan said he saw one of the speakers get hit and heard bullets rattling. “We hit the deck,” he said.

As the first pop rang out, Trump said, “Oh,” and grabbed his ear as two more pops could be heard.

Someone could be heard saying near the microphone at Trump’s lectern, “Get down, get down, get down, get down!” as agents tackled the former president.

“There’s lots of blood, and then the Secret Service were all over President Trump,” McCormick said.

The agents piled atop Trump to shield him with their bodies, as is their training protocol, as other agents took up positions on stage to search for the threat.

Witness Madison Brooks said: “I was about five feet away from him, like I was within sight distance, like I was so close, and all of a sudden I hear these four shots and everybody is screaming ‘drop,’ and you can see the blood like splatter on his face. The Secret Service just barricades him. It was just so scary.”

Screams were heard in the crowd of several thousand people. The bangs continued as agents tended to him on stage.

Trump could be heard on the video saying at least twice, “Let me get my shoes, let me get my shoes,” with another voice heard saying, “I’ve got you, sir.”

Trump got to his feet moments later and could be seen reaching with his right hand toward his face.

His face was bloody.

The crowd cheered as he pumped his fist.

One witness told CBS News how he reacted to one of the victims being shot.

“I heard the shots. I thought it was firecrackers to begin with,” he said. “Somebody over there was screaming he’s been shot. He’s been shot. So I made my way over. I said, ‘I’m an emergency department physician. Let me help you.’ The guy has spun around was jammed between the benches. He had a head shot here. There’s lots of blood and he had brain matter there.”

The gunman was on an elevated platform on a shed outside the security perimeter, and a Secret Service sniper killed him. Law enforcement sources told CBS News the suspect was shooting with AR-style rifle from 200-300 feet away, although authorities wouldn’t comment on that at a news conference late Saturday.

As for who was struck other than the gunman, we’re just starting to learn the details, although authorities late Saturday weren’t prepared to release the names.

Rep. Mike Kelley of Pennsylvania, who was standing backstage watching Trump speak, told CBS News: “I believe a lady who was next to me was hit. Other people were hit.”

Trump, as a former president, retains Secret Service protection for life under federal law. As the presumptive Republican nominee who is frequently in the public eye, he received added protective assets.

Authorities said different aspects of the investigation are being handled by different agencies at the local, state and federal levels.

There were no hints of the horror to come as rallygoers assembled outside the secure Secret Service perimeter earlier that afternoon.

The green grass of the field was slowly covered by a sea of red Make America Great Again hats as the temperature climbed to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Local politicians occasionally spoke as rallygoers patiently waited hours, occasionally breaking into chants of “Trump! Trump! Trump!” At one point, a giant American flag hanging above the stage became tangled, prompting chants of “fix the flag!” until it was correctly unfurled.

Outside the perimeter, there were stands selling food, beverages and Trump paraphernalia, as is common at the rallies. Behind the stage, separated from the field by waist-high metal barriers, another field stretched out, dotted with distant buildings. The crowd perked up when Trump’s favorite playlist began, kicking off with The Village People’s “YMCA.” Then Trump walked out toward the stage, wearing his familiar red hat, a black suit, white shirt unbuttoned at the neck and no tie.

He smiled and pointed at the crowd as they cheered him, waiting for the Lee Greenwood song to conclude before starting his remarks. “This is a big crowd,” Trump said. “This is a big, big beautiful crowd.”

After name-checking McCormick, the Republican running against Pennsylvania’s Democratic Sen. Bob Casey, and promising to bring him on stage later in the rally, Trump turned to one of his favorite themes. “We have millions and millions of people in our country who should not be here,” he said. “Dangerous people.”

Then he directed the audience to the projected chart of border crossings.

After the shots rang out and Trump was hustled offstage, agents in black uniforms carrying rifles, the agency’s Counter-Assault team, flooded the stage. The crowd stayed down with the exception of one clutch of people standing near the left edge of the perimeter, near the sounds of gunfire.

Rico Elmore, vice chairman of the Beaver County Republican Party, was sitting in a section for special guests, facing Trump, when he heard what sounded like firecrackers. “So, everyone hesitated — and it was like, no, these are actual shots,” he said in an interview. “So I yelled, ‘Get down!’”

Elmore heard someone from his left calling for a medic. While Elmore isn’t a medic, he knows first aid and R from his time in the military. He jumped a barricade, but when he reached the person, Elmore saw he had been shot in the head. Elmore said he held the victim’s head, but it was too late.

“I mean, it was a horror,” Elmore said.

PHOTO GALLERY:

Even as Trump was driven off, rallygoers stayed low. Some had heard the bullets ricocheting off the grandstand, severing a hydraulic line connecting to the speakers, which began to topple. Others quickly called family or looked on their phones to find out what had happened to the former president.

“Is he all right?” people began to ask. “Is he OK?”

Eventually, people began to trickle out. A small group of about a half-dozen stopped at the fenced area holding the media. “It’s all your fault!” they yelled.

Police and then the Secret Service ushered everyone out. An hour after the shooting the vast field was declared a crime scene, littered with empty plastic water bottles and soggy cardboard containers that once held cheese fries.

The Associated Press and CBS News contributed to this report.

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