By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The candidate of Republican Party in the November US presidential election, has confirmed that he was shot by a gunman at a presidential rally in Pennsylvania, an attack that has been described as assassination attempt.
Donald Trump, a former President of the United States in a statement, via his social media handle, after the shooting noted he was “shot” in the “upper part of my right ear”, and “much bleeding took place”.
In the post on Truth Social, he extended his thanks to the Secret Service and law enforcement for their “rapid response”.
“Most importantly, I want to extend my condolences to the family of the person at the rally who was killed, and also to the family of another person that was badly injured.”
Trump continued: “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.
“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, and shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin.
“Much bleeding took place, so I realised then what was happening. GOD BLESS AMERICA!”
Heritage Times HT reports that the FBI has identified the lone shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks.
The 20-year-old, who was shot dead by Secret Service agents, was a registered Republican, according to state voter records. Authorities are yet to identify a motive behind the attack.
Meanwhile, the candidate of the opposition Democrats and President of US, Joe Biden, has condemned the assassination attempt, saying there is no place for political violence in America.
Also, a former President of the country, Barack Obama wrote on X: “There is absolutely no place for political violence in our democracy.
“We cannot allow for this to be happening. We cannot be like this,” he said.
UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer has joined world leaders in condemning the attack, and said “I am appalled by the shocking scenes at President Trump’s rally and we send him and his family our best wishes.”
The suspect is said to have lived about an hour away from where the shooting took place in Butler, Pennsylvania.
He graduated in 2022 from Bethel Park High School, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
According to a report by USA Today, dozens of law enforcement vehicles were posted at a residence listed at the address on Crooks’s voter registration record, with agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and a bomb squad on the scene.
Crooks’s father, Matthew Crooks, 53, told CNN he was trying to make sense of what happened and would wait until he spoke to law enforcement before commenting on his son.
