Trump rally shooting is being investigated as an assassination attempt, officials say

Former President Donald Trump was the target of an apparent assassination attempt Saturday at a Pennsylvania rally, days before he was to accept the Republican nomination for a third time. The Secret Service said it killed the suspected shooter who it said attacked from an elevated position outside the rally venue, a farm show in Butler, Pennsylvania and that Trump was safe.

Former President Donald Trump was the target of an apparent assassination attempt Saturday at a Pennsylvania rally, days before he was to accept the Republican nomination for a third time. A barrage of gunfire set off panic, and a bloodied Trump, who said he was shot in the ear, was surrounded by Secret Service and hurried to his SUV as he pumped his fist in a show of defiance.

Trump's campaign said the presumptive GOP nominee was doing “fine” after the shooting, which he said pierced 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. Much bleeding took place,” he wrote on his social media site.

Law enforcement officials told The Associated Press the assailant who opened fire at the rally was a 20-year-old man from Pennsylvania. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details that hadn't yet been publicly released.

At least one attendee was dead and two spectators were critically injured, authorities said. The Secret Service said it killed the suspected shooter — who it said attacked from an elevated position outside the rally venue, a farm show in Butler, Pennsylvania — and that Trump was safe.