screen, the former president could be seen raising his arm in a fist to his supporters before being taken away in a car. let me play for you now that moment as the shots rang out. , ~ , that moment as the shots rang out. a, ~' a, a, a, “ that moment as the shots rang out. ,, ~ ,, a, a, ~ ,, a, out. take a look at what happened... _ out. take a look at what happened... . _ gunshots screaming very scary scenes there in pennsylvania. former president trump has now posted on social media from his truth social media from his truth social media account he said he wants to thank the united states secret service and all of law enforcement for the rapid response on the shooting that just took place in butler pennsylvania. most importantly i want to extend my condolences to the family the person at the rally who was and to the family of another person badly injured. it is incredible that

such an act can take place in our country. nothing is known at the time about the shooter was now dead. i was shot at the bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear i knew immediately something was wrong and i heard a whizzing sound, shot and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. much bleeding took place so i realised then what was happening and he ends that post by writing god bless america. the president spoke about the incident a short time ago while he was in the state of delaware. let's now listen to that address byjoe biden. i have been thoroughly that address byjoe biden. i have been thoroughly briefed by all the agencies and the federal government regarding the situation based on what we know now. i have tried to get a hold of donald with his doctors and apparently he is doing well. i hope to talk to him shortly, i hope, look, there is

no place in america for this kind of violence. it is sick. it is sick. it's one of the reasons we have to unite this country. we cannot allow for this to be happening, we cannot be like this, we cannot condone this and so, i want to thank the secret service and all of the agencies, including the state agencies, have engaged in making sure that the people — we have more detailed account relative to other people who may be injured in the audience i don't have all the detail, we will make that available to you and may be able to come back a little later tonight but we will put out a statement if we don't, if i'm not able to everyone, if it's not convenient for you or but the bottom line is the trump rally is a rally that he should have been able to conduct peacefully without any problems but the idea — the idea that this political violence or violence in america like this is just unheard of. it's just not appropriate. everybody, everybody must condemn it. everybody. i will keep you informed

and if i may well speak to donald, i will let you know that as well. so far, it appears he is doing well, number one. number two, that there is thoroughly investigating what is happening to anyone else in the audience. i have — have some reports but not final reports. every agency in the federal government — and i'm going back to my phone to speak with the federal agencies that have been put together again to give you an update briefing if anything has happened they are learning anymore in the last couple of hours, so thank you very much and i hope i get to speak to you tonight and i will get back to you if i do, 0k? mr president, do you think this was an assassination attempt? i don't know enough to — i have an opinion but i don't have any facts, so i want to make sure we have all the facts before i make some comment, any more comments, thank you. that was the us residentjoe biden speaking a little earlier today. let's go live now to our thing in north american correspondent terry o'donoghue who has been covering all the

events that took place today at that rally in pennsylvania. he has been outside the rally grounds and gary i know it is nighttime there now and we can see several different police cars behind you where you what is leaders there in pennsylvania?- is leaders there in pennsylvania? is leaders there in penns lvania? ., , pennsylvania? -- what is the latest there? _ pennsylvania? -- what is the latest there? the _ pennsylvania? -- what is the latest there? the latest - pennsylvania? -- what is the latest there? the latest we l latest there? the latest we haveis latest there? the latest we have is a full statement now from the secret service which has confirmed a number of details we have been reporting on bbc news for the last few hours. they say the shooter, there was a shooter and an elevated position outside the farm showground where the rally was taking place. that tallies with what eyewitnesses tell us. they say that two people are dead, one is the shooter, one is someone who was inside the crowd and two other people are critically injured presumably in hospital. resident tom has also said that he was hit by a bullet. he says it tore through the skin of the upper part of

his right ear and if you think about that for a moment that means it is inches, one inch away from going into his head. that is how close the former president came this evening to getting a bullet in the head. this is an incredibly shocking development, shocking news here on the ground. president trump extended condolences to people who were injured and died. he has also thanked law enforcement for their rapid action and you can see from the video that they order him to the ground as soon as the shooting starts and then they pile on top, which is what they are trained and paid to do, to put their bodies between him and the bullets. this we are hearing from the campaign of course that he is fine, his children have been on social media as well, donald trump children have been on social media as well, donald trumer spoke to his father and said he is fine, eric from spoke on

social media as well. i must say to you that about 30 minutes ago on the perimeter here there was an electronic billboard on the back of a truck that was parked and it had a picture of donald trump �*s face on it with a target and it said in terms democrats trying to assassinate donald trump. that is a shocking development and an indication perhaps of what may be to come in terms of the divisions that this may deepen in the country. there is a chance of course that this kind of thing will make people stop and think about the political atmosphere and the dialogue in america but there is a chance that it can make it a whole lot worse. it make it a whole lot worse. it has been a charged atmosphere for many months and years, really. you covered the events of january 6 really. you covered the events ofjanuary 6 and this is something that may have been bubbling under the surface for a long time, speaking to those kind of tensions. you mention and i want to flashback, you

were there outside the uk and when you heard the shots you spoke to people who are inside. can you walk us through and help us understand what those moments were like? we help us understand what those moments were like?— moments were like? we were standin: moments were like? we were standing a _ moments were like? we were standing a few— moments were like? we were standing a few feet _ moments were like? we were standing a few feet from - moments were like? we were l standing a few feet from where i am now and talking to our colleagues on the bbc world service and suddenly we heard a volley of gunfire and it was immediately obvious that that is what it was, it was gunfire. it was not a car backfiring or a motorcycle or anything like that. we got down on the ground, we had no idea whether bullets were going or where they were coming from or who was being shot at, no cover, there are fields, there is nowhere to go so we were flat in the dirt. people started to stream out, you heard the screaming happening and we spoke to people as they came out and we spoke to a number of people. some were emotional, somewhere angry. 0ne

people. some were emotional, somewhere angry. one guy here on bbc news tried to stop us telling you what was happening are telling the world what was happening and we had explain to him live on air that this is what we do, this is what we try and do. we try and explain the world to people in the best way we possibly can. we had another eyewitness who said he had been just outside the perimeter and he had come down after a party with friends to listen to the rally, they had no tickets or anything, he had seen a guy climbing onto this single story building to the right of the stage as donald trump was on it. a white roof and he said he saw the bloke detriment guy climb onto the roof with and tried to point this out to the security services, the secret service and the police, he said he was doing this for a few minutes, he was not sure about the timing body thought it was happening about five or so minutes into the speech and then a few minutes later the shooting started. and in graphic terms he told us about

how he had seen the man on the roof with the rifle and how he had seen him shot or neutralised as the security service here like to call it. all all happened incredibly quickly and you can hear on the video, you can hear there are two bursts of gunfire in fact. clearly there is an initial burst and probably an exchange of fire there. another eyewitness we spoke to, a young teenage boy, colby who was here with his father, they had a farm just two miles down the road from here and he said he saw the flare from the muscles of the rifles of —— from the muzzle of the rifles of the secret service snipers and they had seen a couple of people put on stretches and taken away in an ambulance as well. incredibly shocking moments. that was their first rally, their first political rally, this teenage boy coming to his first little rally and he gets this. his father was shocked and i must tell you, this is trompe country in this part of

pennsylvania. firmly trompe country. people told us afterwards that they support gun ownership and gun rights but at least two or three of them said we have to think about what we do about this about what we do about this about people having guns in doing this. about people having guns in doing thie— about people having guns in doing this. about people having guns in doin: this. , ., ., doing this. gary o'donoghue our senior north _ doing this. gary o'donoghue our senior north american _ senior north american correspondent, thank you again for all of the reporting. i want to bring in new lines we are getting here from our sources. afp, the newsagency reporting that one person has been killed, two people critically injured in the shooting. reuters say that the new york police department increases security at the trump tower where donald trump �*s main building there in new york city. we also get this from reuters, coming from a statement posted to letter x, formerly twitter by the secret service saying this, that the secret service has neutralised the shooter who is now

deceased. the suspected shooter fired multiple shots confirming what we have been hearing from eyewitnesses on the ground, multiple jobs towards the stage from an elevated position outside the rally. you are secret service quickly responded with protective measures in the former president is safe and being evaluated. that comes from the chief of communications for the secret service. we are also getting confirmation there that one spectator was killed, two spectators in critical condition. the incident is currently under investigation by the secret service and there is also now formally notified the federal bureau of investigation. let's go now to tom pateman who has been standing by all night. what is the latest you are hearing? there have been so many reactions coming in from politicians here in the us. fix, politicians here in the us. flood of shock and condemnation and appeals, really, for calm

and appeals, really, for calm and to state that there is no place for this kind of violence in the united states. many politicians from across the political divide saying there is no place for political violence. in the last 90 minutes also former presidents themselves putting out statements about this. barack 0bama saying that there is absolutely no place for political violence in our democracy. although we don't know yet what happened we should be relieved that former president trump was not seriously hurt. he said we should use the moment to recommit ourselves to civility and respect in our politics. former president george w bush talking about the cowardly attack on president trump saying that we commend the men and women of the secret service for their speedy response. george w bush himself was targeted by an attacker who tossed a grenade that did not explode while he was into blue sea in georgia back into thousand and five. bill

clinton, anotherformer president who during his time in office was subjected to violence, when somebody shot at the white house in 1994, saying that violence had no place in america especially in the political process. they are thankful that president trump is safe saying they are heartbroken for all those affected by the attack at the rally today in pennsylvania. thank you for bringing us all those reactions. i want to come now to the studio. 0ur reporter has been reporting from the studio and i want to talk about about the secret service response. we heard from a former secret service agent. what do you make of the way they are going about this and what may come next in terms of investigation and whether or not, we heard the word assassination thrown around, we cannot confirm that, it will be an important word because that takes on a different meaning

once we are able to determine what was behind this and who was behind this. i what was behind this and who was behind this.— was behind this. i don't think that is something _ was behind this. i don't think that is something you - was behind this. i don't think that is something you will. was behind this. i don't think. that is something you will hear from the secret service. they will wait for another agency, maybe the fbi or white house to make that determination. there are a few things in the statement that stand out to me. first of all the way they phrased it. they said multiple shots fired towards the stage from an elevated position. they did not say this is a nation attempt, they would you the facts. they will have questions about motive but they will not be able to find that out right now. the other thing is it says the shots were fired from a location outside the venue. that is not necessarily outside the perimeter. that is a question that i have, ? question that i have,? what is the difference _ question that i have,? what is the difference between - question that i have,? what is the difference between the . the difference between the perimeter and the venue? the venue is the — perimeter and the venue? the venue is the arena, _ perimeter and the venue? tue: venue is the arena, the stadium, the field. that is the venue. at the perimeter, the security perimeter extends much further than that and usually includes any high position that could potentially be at risk

for someone taking this kind of shot for this reason. i would be curious to know if the place where this man fired the shot from was swept, was a place at the secret service had looked over and allegedly secured within the venue perimeter. not just the actual staging area where it takes place. the other thing to think about and this is something we will be thinking on in the days and months to come as we learn the identities of the victims is when you take a shot at a president who was standing in front of a crowd of supporters who are notjust firing a shot at that president, there is no way even the best shooter will fire at that distance are not potentially hit someone. indie fire at that distance are not potentially hit someone. we saw the images _ potentially hit someone. we saw the images haven't _ potentially hit someone. we saw the images haven't we? - potentially hit someone. we saw the images haven't we? it - potentially hit someone. we saw the images haven't we? it was . potentially hit someone. we saw the images haven't we? it was a | the images haven't we? it was a packed area with thousands perhaps tens of thousands of people there. we heard that there are people seriously injured. there is historical president —— precedents. just down the street here where hinckley tried to shoot reagan

it was his press secretary who was permanently injured from that shooting whereas reagan recovered quickly. it is the other part of malice when any of these kinds of incidents, someone is not only going after a politicalfigure but they someone is not only going after a political figure but they are going at it with complete disregard for all those people standing around him at that venue and it sounds like people were very, very hurt.— were very, very hurt. christina it is worth _ were very, very hurt. christina it is worth noting _ were very, very hurt. christina it is worth noting in _ were very, very hurt. christina it is worth noting in that - it is worth noting in that statement that we heard from donald trump on his truth social account that he personally said he was struck by a bullet. he said he felt that bullet go through his ear. he did and that is something as i was texting sources today, it is always unfolding you never know exactly until the fbi gets in that what exactly happened. there were concerns at one point it could have been glass, that it could have hit a teleprompter and that what hit him. he says he was hit by a bullet and we will see what the specifics of that were as this comes out in the next few days.

ijust comes out in the next few days. i just want to play for you now and this is a statement that was given to gary 0'donoghue our senior north american correspondent who was there on the ground. this is a witness telling gary the moment that he believes the secret service took down the alleged shooter. so, so, we had a party here all day and you can see behind us at the greenhouse we had a party. and we all decided he, you know, when we hear trump there, we will walk up through the field, stand by the trees up there under the shade and watch, and listen to the rally, right? we could not see him but we could hear him. so, we walked up and probably 5—7 minutes of trump speaking, i'm estimating here, i have no idea, but we noticed a guy crawling, army, you know, they're crawling up the roof of the building, beside us, 50 feet away from us. so we are standing there

and we are pointing at the guy crawling up the roof. and he had a gun, right? he had a rifle. we could clearly see him with a rifle, absolutely. we are pointing at him, the police are down there running around on the ground and we are like hey, man, there is a guy on the roof with a rifle and the police like huh? what? they didn't know what was going on. we're like here, on the roof, we can see him right here, we see him, you know, he's crawling! and next thing you know, i'm like, i'm thinking to myself why is trump still speaking? why have they not pulled him off the stage? i'm standing there pointing at him for, you know, two or three minutes, secret service is looking at us from the top of the barn, i'm pointing at the roof, just standing there like this. and next thing you know, five shots rang out. so you're certain the shots came from that roof?

100%. it was up there for a couple of minutes, you saw him up for a couple of minutes? at least three or four minutes. you were telling the secret service? we were telling the police, we were telling him the secret service who were looking at us from the top of the barn, they were looking at us for the whole time i was by the tree, binoculars.. could they see him? probably not because the way the roof, the slow point, he was behind where they could see but why is there not secret service on all of these roofs here? i mean, this is not a big place. gary 0'donoghue they're speaking with an eyewitness earlier on today. i want to bring in lindsay now, residential historian. welcome back. looking at the events of today we now have confirmation from former president trump himself that he was struck by a bullet, that is what he said, in his right ear. as a presidential historian goes through your mind when you detail at that? t

through your mind when you detail at that?— detail at that? i already felt like we were _ detail at that? i already felt like we were living - detail at that? i already felt like we were living through | like we were living through unprecedented times. i think that has been the case for the last ten years or so but this is just one last ten years or so but this isjust one more last ten years or so but this is just one more element that i think makes it a really challenging and historic and not necessarily in a good way historic year and i am a little bit uncertain about what is going to happen next. walk us throuuh. going to happen next. walk us through. this _ going to happen next. walk us through. this is _ going to happen next. walk us through. this is a _ going to happen next. walk us through. this is a country - going to happen next. walk us through. this is a country with j through. this is a country with a history of political violence and there has been attempts on the life of presidents of political candidates. what kind of president is there and again we are working through the details of this event but what can you remind us of that we should pay attention to that has happened in america's history? t has happened in america's histo ? ~ ., has happened in america's histo ? ~' ., ., history? i think there are a coule history? i think there are a c°uple of _ history? i think there are a couple of moments - history? i think there are a couple of moments worth | history? i think there are a - couple of moments worth looking at. the first most recent time that a president or former president or even a presidential candidate has been shot was the shooting of ronald reagan in 1981. that was

fortunate that ronald reagan was able to recover from that shooting but that was, believe the most recent thing that anyone alive today can remember. perhaps the closest parallel that we know of thus far is the shooting of theodore reserve belt when he was campaigning. he was no longer the president he was a candidate under his new third party and he thankfully survived because of the folded speech and classes case in his pocket. hejoked later speech and classes case in his pocket. he joked later that speech and classes case in his pocket. hejoked later that it was a good thing his speech was so long because it meant there were many pages folded up the could slow the bullet. the other parallel worth looking at is the 1960s when robert kennedy was unfortunately killed when he was running for president whenjohn f. kennedy was killed and when some other important political leaders like doctor martin luther king and malcolm x were killed as well. that reminds us that it is very rare for a political violence to occur as a 1—off

thing. you do need to be cautious that it does not escalate and continue and turn into a cluster of assassinations or assassination attempts that we saw in that decade. , ., , ., , decade. given what you 'ust said and what i decade. given what you 'ust said and what we �* decade. given what you 'ust said and what we have h decade. given what you just said and what we have been hearing from people on the ground, we heard from some people attending the rally that there is anger and emotion right now. how the danger that the kind of emotion could develop into further violence? incredibly high. we are already at a point where political violence was likely because the rhetoric was so intense, titus and animosity is so heated at the moment and some leaders are not being particularly responsible with how they are using their rhetoric and are not necessarily being as discouraging a political violence as they should be. we've also seen a lot of other act of political violence even if they are not necessarily assassination attempts like, for example, there was a man who tried to drive into the

white house last year, there were bombs sent to various political figures or journalists. these are things that do not represent a healthy political system. so we were already in a place where the likelihood was quite high but now there is the threat of a need to pursue vengeance or potentially the cycle of escalation and it is essential that leaders try to tamp that down and encourage people to express themselves with their voice and with their ballots, not their bullets. just looking back at history, _ not their bullets. just looking back at history, you - not their bullets. just looking back at history, you were - back at history, you were describing the scene now and the political tensions. how would you compare this moment and what we have been saying to other moments of history in the united states? where does this rank in terms of the level of political tension we are seeing? t political tension we are seeing?— political tension we are seeina? ~ , , seeing? i think it is up there with the other _ seeing? i think it is up there with the other highest - seeing? i think it is up there - with the other highest moments. i would put those decades as

the 1790s, the 1850s, the 1890s and the 1960s. what is nerve racking about all of those moments is that there was political violence. moments is that there was politicalviolence. in moments is that there was political violence. in the 17905 political violence. in the 1790s there was a mob outside the capital threatening to kill anyone who tried were different president in place for stopping the 1850s that led to the civil war and in the 1890s we saw a rush of assassinations as well and so generally when we see that sort of political violence it is a physical manifestation of both tension between the parties but also interparty fractionalisation of violent rhetoric, intense animosity and it is a demonstration that the political system is quite sick. a question for you, looking at historical presidency, how do the events playing out in pennsylvania today, how do something like that change the character of a presidential race? tt

character of a presidential race? , ., ., ~ ., race? it is hard to know in what direction _ race? it is hard to know in what direction it _ race? it is hard to know in what direction it can - race? it is hard to know in what direction it can go i race? it is hard to know in. what direction it can go and race? it is hard to know in i what direction it can go and i think this will be a pivotal moment in the campaign but it could go any number of different directions depending on what we learn over the next few days and how people respond. but there is no doubt that something like this, which is shocking and horrific and should never be the case, violence should never be the answer in politics, will certainly be the topic of conversation. we'll certainly be the focus of people for the next few weeks and i hope it is a sobering moment where people can try and remember how politics should be conducted i have to say i do not have high hopes of that. by, have to say i do not have high hopes of that.— hopes of that. a presidential historian there, _ hopes of that. a presidential historian there, thank - hopes of that. a presidential historian there, thank you i hopes of that. a presidential| historian there, thank you so much for that perspective. it is great to get. i want to go now to nomia iqbal, al correspondent in milwaukee whether rnc is scheduled to take place on monday. what is the atmosphere there like right

now? this the atmosphere there like right now? �* , the atmosphere there like right now? m . the atmosphere there like right now? as you can imagine people were shocked _ now? as you can imagine people were shocked when _ now? as you can imagine people were shocked when the - now? as you can imagine people were shocked when the news i now? as you can imagine people i were shocked when the news came through. the final touches are being made to the convention, it has been quiet and low—key up it has been quiet and low—key up until this extraordinary news broke. remember, the focus was very much on presidentjoe biden for quite some time following his performance at the debate on the huge pressure on him to stand down. the republican national convention is due to start on monday and donald trump will be officially unveiled as the party's leader. the security is already tied here and we expected to be tight because it is, it is one of those events we have the former president coming up and we expected that. we went for a tour around that we understand and i am looking at to bring you more information, that

there will be more security here at some point where the perimeter around the convention will be extended and the secret service will be the leading agency co—ordinating the security here. but there are questions. they are still trying to piece everything together and verify what is true and what is not. a lot of questions around exactly what happened at the rally. and we have been playing that interview by my colleague gary 0'donoghue in pennsylvania speaking to an eyewitness who said he saw the shooter on the rooftop and there are questions being asked about potential lapses in security and i think it is safe to say the security here will be hugely ramped up for when donald trump arrives next week this is a difficult question to answer but in terms

of getting on the ground, is the event likely to go ahead as planned on monday? i cannot imagine it's not going ahead. the reason why i say that is because if you look at donald trump on stage moments after what we believe the shots were fired, the secret service tried to rush him off and he did the fist pump, the statement he has released on his social network site... trump wants to project donald project strength that is what his supporters like about him. i will be amazed if he does not appear at the rnc and amazed if he gets cancelled. i do not think the republican party would even contemplate doing that. there is no signs of them saying that, they have not suggested that. all we have heard so far is that the security will be tightened. band security will be tightened. and we have been _ security will be tightened. and

we have been hearing some of the details about what the republicans were planning to do about the speaker lineup and the people who were invited to the people who were invited to the event. it is probably safe to assume that the tenor and contents of this convention is going to change now drastically given the events of today. hugely. hugely. already we see the reaction from some republicans especially those close to donald trump. jd vance, the senator from close to donald trump. jd vance, the senatorfrom 0hio tweeting... he says that today is notjust tweeting... he says that today is not just an tweeting... he says that today is notjust an isolated incident the central premise of the biden campaign is that president donald trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped. he blames the biden campaign. another centre there is done similar. marjorie taylor green is saying the

same. sorry it is busy here,, but already we are seeing many republicans come out and accuse the democratic party for this. there is political unity across the board but i think we can probably see, probably get more of that at the convention. this will be the talk of the convention, i am certain of that. �* , , ., convention, i am certain of that. �*, i. , that. let's get you caught up on the events _ that. let's get you caught up on the events of— that. let's get you caught up on the events of today. i that. let's get you caught up i on the events of today. former president donald trump has been brushed off stage with blood on the side of his head and his ear after shots were fired just minutes into his rally in butler pennsylvania on saturday, that's a town near pittsburgh fair. he is, of course, the leading republican contender. he then dropped to the ground, security teams rushed to protect the former president after those shots were fired. we now know a male attacker has been killed and at

least one other person is