People standing close to Donald Trump when he was apparently hit by gunshots have spoken about what they saw happened.
One woman, named as Erin, told NBC News that she was stood in the front row and saw the “fresh blood” coming from the former president’s ear.
And a man called Joseph said he counted seven shots and saw a man in the audience get hit.
LATEST UPDATES: Gunman and audience member dead as bloodied Trump tells supporters to ‘fight’
Joseph, who is a doctor and was in the third row, said that the man hit by gunshots was in the bleechers and seemed to have been hit in the head from behind.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Watch moment Trump hits ground
“He was killed instantly as far as I could tell. At that point, state police and a SWAT team started evacuating the bleechers and I helped carry the man out to a tent.”
Joseph said a woman was also hit. “She flinched and then it looked like she had taken a gunshot to the forearm and hand,” he said.
The doctor told how the man who died had been standing with family members. “They were in shock – they didn’t know what was going on but the man was definitely killed instantaneously,” he said.
Secret Service agents rush the stage. Pic: AP
The woman witness called Erin told NBC News: “The guns came up to start. Clear. Clear right, clear left. They said, ‘get him up’. So they lifted him up. Trump said, I gotta get my shoes on, first. His shoes must’ve come off. We couldn’t see it underneath that but his shoes must’ve come off when they dropped him down to the ground. We could all hear it.
“And when he stood up, I see the red teardrop of blood – fresh red blood. Just a little tear. Then, when they got him up and they turned him, I could see the blood from the top of the ear to the bottom. It wasn’t gushing but it was covered. And then he put the fist bump up, ‘stay strong’, and they walked him off.
“I thought it was fireworks,” she said. “Pop pop pop. That’s what it sounded like.”
Erin went on: “His ear must’ve been nipped and it killed somebody in the stands, over to the left.”
She said: “It does appear that he was probably nicked by that bullet and he turned his head just in the nick of time.”
Pic: AP
Speaking about her own safety, Erin said: “I was totally not scared… None of us in that front row went down to the ground. Not one. We only wanted to only help the president. That’s all we wanted to do.”
And on her feelings about the incident, Erin said: “It’s just very sad. All of these people who came to see him and they have him hurt.”
She added: “I feel sad for our country – I feel sad for everybody. You don’t like the guy, don’t vote for him. Don’t kill him. We love the guy, we’re gonna vote for him. I mean, what is up with this violence?”
Read more:
Gunman and audience member dead – as former president injured and rushed off stage
‘No place in America for this kind of sick violence,’ says Biden
People take cover. Pic: AP
Joseph said he had earlier told friends that if something bad was to happen then “this would be the perfect place to do it… and it happened.”
He said that people in the crowd at first thought it was a prank, but that he “knew it was a gunshot cos I just saw a guy get hit”.
Describing the “dangerous and deadly situation”, he said: “It sounded more like a firecracker. I knew better – I know what gunshots sound like.”
He said he thought people started taking it seriously when the Secret Service jumped the barriers.
