A man who attended Donald Trump's rally in Pennsylvania has claimed that he warned officials about the gunman before they opened fire on the former POTUS.
The FBI is now investigating what they have called an attempted assassination attempt on 78-year-old presidential candidate Donald Trump.
The former president had been speaking in front of hundreds of supporters at a rally at the Butler Farm Show grounds in Pennsylvania, before cameras captured the moment shots rang out.
Trump could be seen clutching his ear before taking cover and being swamped by his security detail.
the FBI has since identified the gunman as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. Sources have claimed that Crooks positioned himself on the rooftop of a manufacturing plant just over 130 yards away Trump's stage.
Crooks was killed by Secret Service snipers and an AR-style rifle was later recovered by his body, reports say.
Despite Trump surviving the attack, sadly, one male rally-goer was killed and a further two men were injured in the attack.
Trump has now returned to his home in New Jersey after receiving medical attention.
To add to the concern, an eye-witness has spoken out following the shooting, telling BBC News that he attempted to warning the authorities about the shooting before shots were fired.
Speaking to the BBC, Greg Smith revealed he saw a man - who he says was shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks - crawling on top of a a building outside of the rally, with a rifle in plain sight.
"We noticed the guy bear-crawling up the roof of the building beside us, 50ft away," Smith said. "He had a rifle, we could clearly see a rifle.
The rally-goer says he attempted to warn the police, saying: "We're pointing at him, the police are down there running around on the ground, we're like 'Hey man, there's a guy on the roof with a rifle'... and the police did not know what was going on."
Smith says he spent three to four minutes attempting to alert the authorities - pointing Crooks out for the Secret Service - but he believes they failed to see the shooter due to the slanted roof.
"I'm thinking to myself 'Why is Trump still speaking, why have they not pulled him off the stage'... the next thing you know, five shots ring out," Smith said.
Smith adds that the tragedy was a "security failure, 100% security failure".
The witness then recalled the moment he saw the assailant confronted by authorities. "They crawled up on the roof, they had their guns pointed at him, made sure he was dead. He was dead, and that was it - it was over," he added.
Following the alarming incident, one of Trump's senior advisers has told BBC's World Service show Weekend that his "heart sank" when he heard the news.
Describing the event as a "scary day", Stephen Moore said: "I got a text from one of my associates saying that Trump had been shot and my heart just sank, and I was afraid to ask the question ‘is he going to be alright?’"
"It appeared from the video that he’d only been grazed by this bullet but what’s so frightening to all of us is that if that bullet had been one inch further towards his head this would have been an assassination."
Moore went on to state that the former POTUS "needs more protection", before questioning whether or not "the Secret Service was totally prepared" for an incident like Saturday's to occur.
Our thoughts continue to go out to everybody impacted by this tragedy.
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