The FBI has identified the shooter in the assassination attempt on former US president Donald Trump as a 20-year-old man from Pennsylvania.
"The FBI has identified Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the subject involved in the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump on July 13, in Butler, Pennsylvania," the FBI said in a statement quoted by NBC and CBS.
An innocent bystander was killed and Trump was shot in the ear.
The 78-year-old former president was rushed off stage with blood streaked across his face after the shooting, while the shooter was killed, reports AFP.
According to a witness at the Trump rally, a man next to him was shot dead during the apparent assassination attempt on the Republican presidential candidate.
"I heard several gunshots. The man beside me suffered a gunshot to the head, was instantly killed (and) fell to the bottom of the bleachers. Another woman looked like she got hit in the forearm or hand," the man, whose name was only given as Joseph, told NBC News.
He said it seemed the victim was "in the way of the shots between whoever was shooting the gun and the president."
Trump said he was hit in the ear but was not seriously injured by the gunman.
"It was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening," the White House hopeful said on social media yesterday, urging fellow Americans to unite in "not allowing Evil to Win."
Two other spectators were critically injured, the Secret Service said.
The Secret Service yesterday denied claims that it had refused additional protection for Trump ahead of the rally.
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said on social media platform X that the assertions were "absolutely false," adding that the agency had "added protective resources & technology & capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo."
President Joe Biden, who is set to face Trump in November's presidential election, said there was "no place in America for this kind of violence."
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