Former US president Donald Trump was the target of an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, where one attendee was killed and two spectators critically injured.
A barrage of gunfire set off panic, and a bloodied Mr Trump was surrounded by Secret Service agents, pumping his fist in a show of defiance.
Mr Trump’s campaign said the former president was doing “fine” after the shooting, which he said pierced the upper part of his right ear.
“I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place,” he wrote on his social media site, Truth Social.
Early this morning, the FBI identified the gunman as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was killed by returning gunfire by Secret Service agents. An investigation remains active and ongoing.
It is confirmed that one person in the crowd has died, and two spectators are critically injured.
The attack, which is drawing concerns about political violence and gun control, was the most serious attempt to assassinate a president or presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981.
President Joe Biden publicly condemned the assassination attempt, saying: “There’s no place in America for this type of violence. It’s sick.”
Prime minister Keir Starmer said: “I am appalled by the shocking scenes at President Trump’s rally, and we send him and his family our best wishes.
“Political violence in any form has no place in our societies, and my thoughts are with all the victims of this attack.”
Former Conservative prime minister Boris Johnson said it was “a miracle that Donald Trump escaped an attempted assassination”.
It is understood that Mr Trump has left hospital and has returned to his home in New Jersey.
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