Trump supporters rush to Mar-a-Lago after shooting at rally

Dozens of Donald Trump’s supporters rushed to the Mar-a-Lago Club after learning that the former president had been injured on Saturday during a campaign rally that turned into a crime scene.

Lourdes Mayor, Debbie Macchia, and other demonstrators outside of Trump’s estate in Palm Beach said they were in tears after they heard about the deadly shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania.

“I almost had a heart attack. I started crying,” Mayor said. “I got so nervous.”

Macchia and other Republicans standing along South Ocean Boulevard said that for a moment they worried Trump would not make it to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee or to the November election. They have followed the criminal cases and believe that these were all part of an effort to stop Trump from running.

“I was crying,” Macchia said. “They can’t touch this man! Enough already! They’ve got to stop!”

Genovieve Benavente and other supporters said they couldn’t stop thinking about the images they had seen and heard. One moment they were listening to Trump speak and the next he was bleeding on stage. People at the rally were screaming in terror. The shooter was dead. A rally attendee was dead and two others were injured.

“You start hearing popping fires,” Benavente said.

The U.S. Secret Service announced there was an investigation into a “possible assassination attempt.” The FBI stepped up as the leading agency in the probe. Heather Dowling said she was incensed. She was among the supporters outside Mar-a-Lago who wanted to find a culprit for the terror at the rally.

“The crazy left! They always call us the violent people! We’re not violent,” Dowling said.

Charlie Parish and Brandon Young, both Trump supporters, condemned the political violence.

“I don’t want to see anybody die — not president Biden,” Parish said. “I don’t want any violence on any side.”

Young, who loves Trump, said that is not the American way. He was among the supporters who plan to continue to be politically involved.

“I don’t care if you’re Black, white, purple, green, Democrat, Republican, nobody should ever try to a kill a political candidate,” Young said.

Joaquin Gutierrez said in the end the shooting won’t stop Trump and the red wave this November.

“He is going up!”

VIDEO OF SHOOTING

The shooter died, according to Butler County District Attorney Richard A. Goldinger.

“I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin.”

According to the U.S. Secret Service, a rally attendee also died and two others were wounded.

RELATED STORY | ‘I was shot with a bullet’: Trump releases statement on Truth Social after shooting

A witness who identified as “Greg” told The BBC that he was in the rally when he saw a suspicious man armed with a rifle “bear-crawling up the roof” of a nearby building and he alerted police.

“The next thing you know, five shots ring out,” he said.

During the shooting, Trump stopped speaking to the crowd, held his right ear, and moved lower behind the podium. The U.S. Secret Service surrounded Trump. The witness said he saw the U.S. Secret Service kill the shooter.

“They crawled up on the roof, they had their guns pointed at him, made sure he was dead,” the witness said. “He was dead, and that was it. It was over.”

The loud communication among the agents reflected a coordinated response. Someone near Trump shouted, “Shooter is down!”

There was blood on Trump when he stood back up. He raised his right fist, as U.S. Secret Service agents formed a ring around him to protect him while moving him away from the podium.

RELATED STORY | Biden, Harris show solidarity with Trump after shooting during rally

The agents took him away from the crowd and into a vehicle. Some in the crowd screamed in terror. The U.S. Secret Service counterattack group in military gear rushed into the rally to search for the threat. U.S. Secret Service agents in suits wielded their guns.

Rico Elmore, a Republican who was a speaker at the rally, told CNN that he was walking away from the stage where Trump was when the shooting happened. He saw a man he had never met get shot.

“I jumped over the barrier and put my hand on the guy’s head that was profusely bleeding,” Elmore said.

RELATED STORY | Ivanka Trump after shooting: ‘I continue to pray for our country’

Law enforcement evacuated the rally and used crime scene tape to block an area. A police helicopter flew above the area.

Steven Cheung, a spokesman for the Trump campaign, released a statement: “President Trump thanks law enforcement and first responders for their quick action during this heinous act. He is fine and is being checked out at a local medical facility.”

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This is a developing story. CNN, ABC News, and the Associated Press contributed to this report. Torres is reporting from the Local 10 News headquarters in Pembroke Park.