Former President Donald Trump was the target of an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally Saturday that set off panic as a bloodied Trump was surrounded by Secret Service and hurried into his vehicle.
A former fire chief attending the rally with family was killed, as was the gunman. Two other people were critically wounded.
An AP analysis of more than a dozen videos and photos from the scene in Butler, Pennsylvania, as well as satellite imagery of the site, shows the shooter was able to get astonishingly close to the stage where the former president spoke.
Here’s what’s known so far about the timeline of the shooting on Saturday, July 13:
6:02 p.m. ET
Trump takes the stage to the strains of “God Bless the U.S.A.” He waves at the cheering crowd and begins his regular rally speech, with spectators in front of him and behind him on risers.
6:02 p.m. ET: Trump takes the stage in Butler, Pa.
Around 6:10 p.m.
— Officers were told that a man who was acting suspiciously and pacing near metal detectors was climbing to the roof of a nearby building. Witnesses pointed and shouted at an armed man on a nearby roof.
— A local officer climbed to the roof, according to Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe.
— A man identified by the FBI as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks turned toward the officer just before the officer dropped down to safety, Slupe said.
— Butler Township Manager Tom Knights said the officer lost his grip and was not retreating when he fell 8 feet (2.4 meters) to the ground.
— The roof where Crooks lay was an estimated 147 yards (135 meters) from where Trump was speaking.
— Trump turned to his right to point toward border-crossing numbers when three shots were heard.
Around 6:10 p.m. ET: Shots fired at the rally
— As the first pop rings out, Trump says “Oh” and raises his hand to his right ear and looks at it, before quickly crouching to the ground behind his lectern.
Around 6:11 p.m. ET: Trump fist bumps to the crowd
— Secret Service agents rush to the stage and pile atop the former president to shield him as five more shots are heard. Rallygoers scream, crouch down and run away.
— Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old former fire chief attending the rally, is shot and killed. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said Sunday that Comperatore used his body as a shield to protect his wife and daughter.
— Two spectators were critically wounded.
— Secret Service countersnipers fire back and fatally wound Crooks.
About one minute after the shots
— Video shows Trump getting to his feet and reaching with his right hand toward his face, which was smeared with blood.
— As Trump stands up, he pumps his right fist to the crowd.
— He appears to mouth the word “fight” twice to supporters, prompting loud cheers and then chants of “USA. USA. USA.”
About two minutes after the shots
Trump turns back to the crowd and again raises a fist right before agents put him into a vehicle and take him to a local hospital.
Around 6:12 p.m. ET: Trump is moved to a vehicle
6:50 p.m.
Secret Service says “the former President is safe.”
8:42 p.m.
Trump posts on his social media site that he was wounded in 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,” he said.
In a prime-time address, President Joe Biden urged the public to recommit to civil debate. Biden and Trump speak on the phone.
About 12:10 a.m.
Trump’s private jet lands at Newark Liberty International Airport.
Video posted by an aide showed the former president deplaning, flanked by Secret Service agents and heavily armed members of the agency’s counterassault team. It was an unusually visible show of force by his protective detail.
Trump travels to his private golf club in nearby Bedminster, New Jersey, to spend the night.
Monday
The FBI says analysts were able to gain access to the shooter’s phone, but the device did not reveal meaningful information about any potential motive.
The agency has conducted nearly 100 interviews of law enforcement officials, rallygoers and other witnesses, and it has received hundreds of digital media tips.
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Stengle reported from Dallas. Associated Press writers Michael Balsamo in Chicago, Colleen Long in Washington and Martha Bellisle in Seattle contributed to this report.
