Former President Survives Assassination Attempt

Butler, Pa. (KFMO) - Former President Donald Trump was rushed offstage after shots were fired at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Saturday, in what is said to be an assassination attempt on the former president.

Trump said in a social media post that he was injured when a bullet pierced the upper part of his right ear. The Secret Service says Trump is safe.

The U.S. Secret Service confirmed two people are dead — the gunman and an audience member — and two spectators were critically injured.

CBS News says the suspect was using an AR-15 style rifle shooting from about 200 to 300 ft. away, according to multiple federal law enforcement officials. But that weapon explains the sporadic nature of the bullet spray. AR-15 style weapons are not known for their accuracy. The suspect was reportedly on a shed, an elevated platform outside of the secret service perimeter.

It took two minutes from the moment of the first shot for Trump to be placed in a waiting SUV.

The Trump campaign says the former president is doing well and will attend the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee as scheduled.

The security presence is expected to intensify and expand. There will be more of a law enforcement presence in Milwaukee, on top of the tens of thousands of federal, state and local personnel who have been deployed to this city to protect convention goers and the former president. It's a situation being led by the US Secret Service. It's considered a top national security event just like a presidential inauguration or the Super Bowl.

President Joe Biden says there is no place in America for this type of violence. He was in his Saturday evening mass, as he often attends when he's in Rehoboth Beach, when the Trump incident occurred. He was briefed by his top homeland security officials and his chief of staff after mass and told them that he wanted to address the nation and the world as quickly as he could.