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A timeline of the assassination attempt on former President Trump

The first shots rang out around 10 minutes after Trump had taken the stage at a Pennsylvania rally.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is rushed offstage during a rally on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is rushed offstage during a rally on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
UPDATED:

By Jamie Stengle, Associated Press

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 of the Trump rally 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 was speaking.

Here’s what’s known so far about the timeline of the shooting.

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 both in front of him and behind him on risers.

Donald Trump Holds A Campaign Rally In Butler, Pennsylvania
Natacha Pisarenko / AP
Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a rally at Butler Farm Show Inc. on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. Shortly after, shots rang out and Trump slumped before being whisked away by Secret Service with injuries visible to the side of his head. Butler County district attorney Richard Goldinger said the shooter and one audience member are dead and another was injured. (Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)

Around 6:10 p.m.

— After officers were told that a man acting suspiciously and pacing near magnetometers was climbing a ladder on a nearby building, according to a local law enforcement officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation, 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.

— Trump is showing off border-crossing numbers when gunfire begins.

President Donald Trump is helped off the stage at a campaign event
Aardman Animations
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is helped off the stage at a campaign event in Butler, Pa., Saturday, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

— As the first pop rings out, Trump say “Oh,” and raises his hand to his right ear and looks at it, before quickly crouching to the ground behind his lectern.

— Secret Service agents rush to the stage and pile atop the former president to shield him.

— 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.

— Secret Service counter snipers fire back and shoot Crooks.

About 1 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 to the crowd with his right fist.

Former President Trump has blood smeared across his face as he holds up a fist
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump pumps his fist as he is rushed offstage by Secret Service agents after being grazed by a bullet during a campaign rally on Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/TNS)

— He appears to mouth the word “fight” twice to his crowd of supporters, prompting loud cheers and then chants of “USA. USA. USA.”

About 2 minutes after the shots

Trump turns back to the crowd and again raises a fist right before agents put him into a vehicle and he is taken to a local hospital.

Donald Trump Holds A Campaign Rally In Butler, Pennsylvania
Attendees duck from gunfire during a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump at Butler Farm Show Inc. on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)

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 injured 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.

Donald Trump Holds A Campaign Rally In Butler, Pennsylvania
Campaign signs and empty water bottles are seen on the ground of a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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 U.S. Secret Service agents and heavily armed members of the agency’s counter assault 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.

Stengle contributed to this report from Dallas. Associated Press writer Michael Balsamo contributed to this report from Chicago and writer Colleen Long contributed to this report from Washington.

Originally Published: