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Donald Trump has described in graphic detail the moment he was shot through the ear in his first comments following an attempt on his life at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
“I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my 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,” the former president said in a post on Truth Social.
“Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening,” he added.
Trump thanked the Secret Service and law enforcement for their response to the shooting and offered condolences to the family of a rally-goer who was killed.
“It is incredible that such an act can take place in our Country. Nothing is known at this time about the shooter, who is now dead,” he said in the post.
Secret Service agents killed the suspected shooter, who was outside the rally when the shots were fired, according to law enforcement officials. A spectator was killed, and two others have been critically injured.
The shooting is being considered an assassination attempt, law enforcement said.
The FBI identified the gunman as Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old resident of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.
Soon after Trump began speaking, popping sounds were heard and the former president dropped behind his podium. Then a bloodied Trump was rushed from the stage by Secret Service agents to his waiting motorcade.
President Joe Biden spoke briefly from a police station in Delaware following the attack.
“Look, there’s no place in America for this kind of violence. It’s sick. It’s sick. It’s one of the reasons why we have to unite this country. We cannot allow for this to be happening,” the president said, adding that he planned to speak to Trump.
“We cannot be like this. We cannot condone this. And so I want to thank the Secret Service and all the agencies, including the state agencies, that have engaged in making sure that the people who and we have more detail to come relative to other injury, other people may be injured in the audience.”
This article has been updated
