- Donald Trump says he was shot in the ear and a bystander was killed during a rally in Pennsylvania.
- An eyewitness described to the BBC seeing a man with a rifle crawling on a nearby rooftop.
- The U.S. Secret Service was quickly investigated for failing to prevent the incident.
The US Secret Service is under intense scrutiny following a fatal shooting that left former President Donald Trump injured at his rally on Saturday night.
The shooting, which killed one rally attendee and left two others seriously injured, is being investigated as an attempted murder.
The shooter was killed, the Secret Service said.
While news of the shooting was still circulating, notable figures were quick to question the Secret Service and its leadership after the shooting.
While the investigation is still in the early stages, law enforcement experts told Business Insider that the historic shooting will certainly lead to a major overhaul of Secret Service procedures.
Matt Shoemaker, a former intelligence officer with the Defense Intelligence Agency, went so far as to call the shooting a “massive failure” by the Secret Service.
“I’ve been to these types of events before, and there are layers and layers of security,” Shoemaker said. “So for the alleged shooter to be on a rooftop, with a clear shot at the podium — it’s incomprehensible to say that that was ignored.”
Trump said in a post on Truth Social several hours after the 6:15 p.m. shooting that a bullet struck the top of his right ear. In videos of the shooting, the former president can be seen holding his hand to his bloodied face and then raising his fist triumphantly as he was escorted off the stage by the Secret Service.
A Secret Service spokesperson directed Business Insider to public statements posted by the federal agency on social media and declined to answer specific questions about the incident.
U.S. Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi wrote in a post on X that the suspected shooter “fired multiple shots toward the stage from an elevated position outside” the site of former President Trump’s rally.
“The U.S. Secret Service responded quickly with protective measures, and the former president is safe and being evaluated,” Guglielmi’s statement continued, noting that the FBI had been notified of the shooting.
In a separate statement, the FBI indicated it would take the lead on the investigation. FBI representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
At a press conference shortly after midnight, FBI Special Agent Kevin Rojek noted that “it is astonishing” that the shooter was able to fire multiple shots before being neutralized by the Secret Service.
The increased attention on the Secret Service prompted Guglielmi to deny a “false claim” that the agency rejected a request from the Trump team to provide additional security resources.
“There is a false claim that a member of the former president’s staff requested additional security resources and that they were rejected,” the statementshared with X on Sunday, it said. “This is absolutely false. In fact, we have added protection features, technology and capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel pace.”
Secret Service representatives were not present at the press conference to answer questions about the incident.
Shoemaker told BI it appears the shooter’s presence “went unnoticed,” despite first-hand accounts from a witness who told the BBC he saw and tried to alert authorities to the presence of a man with a rifle on a rooftop near the rally.
“Maybe they didn’t pay much attention to it. Maybe they took it seriously, but there just wasn’t enough time before the shots rang out,” Shoemaker said. “But the fact that the shooting happened — that the only thing right now that’s saving the Secret Service is the fact that President Trump wasn’t killed, which means they were relying on pure luck that the individual they’re tasked with protecting didn’t die — if they’re relying on luck, that means there’s a problem, and it means there’s a flaw somewhere.”
Shoemaker was not alone in his assessment that the shooting would prompt a major review of Secret Service policies and procedures.
Ken Gray, a retired FBI agent and professor in the criminal justice department at the University of New Haven, told Business Insider that given the fact that the shooter was outside the cleared protest event, he expects future events will need to “expand the perimeter of the protected zone or move to an indoor location.”
However, Gray noted that it is “too early to make an assessment” about whether the incident should be considered a complete security breach, especially given the flood of unconfirmed information circulating online about the shooting.
Among the highest-profile critics was Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who for the first time publicly supported Trump and criticized Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle. Cheatle previously served as head of security for the soft drink company Pepsi before leading the Secret Service.
“So before she was tasked with protecting the PRESIDENT, she was guarding bags of Cheetos…” Musk wrote in a post on X that included a screenshot of his bio and work history.
The Trump campaign, as well as the Republican National Committee, have indicated that the party’s planned convention in Milwaukee this week will go ahead after the shooting at the rally. It is unclear what modifications, if any, will be made to the event’s security procedures.
More visible investigation and security measures
Shoemaker said he expects to see bulletproof glass surrounding the former president at future public appearances, as well as a more pronounced use of drones for aerial surveillance at his events.
“I would expect at least the initial reports of basic findings to be released in the next 48 to 72 hours,” Shoemaker said. “If they take longer than that, it’s going to raise a lot of questions, just in terms of what is the problem — is the problem that they don’t have enough expertise to analyze this?”
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson vowed in a post on X that the House would investigate the “tragic events” that occurred at the rally.
“The American people deserve to know the truth,” Johnson wrote. “We will have Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle and other appropriate DHS and FBI officials appear for a hearing before our committees as soon as possible.”
The FBI will lead an official investigation into the incident, according to a statement released Saturday night. The agency said it is “close” to identifying a suspect in the shooting, but a formal identification is pending confirmation through DNA testing.
