The line of fire: Analyzing the Trump assassination attempt
NBC News Digital analyzes the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump by recreating the perspective of witnesses and tracking the movements of the shooter and security.
NBC News Digital presents: The Line of Fire. Analyzing the Trump assassination attempt. At 6:11pm on Saturday, July 13th, shots rang out as former President Donald Trump was addressing thousands of people at an outdoor rally in Bethel, Pennsylvania. NBC News geolocated witness accounts, analyzed footage from the scene, and harnessed our reporting to understand how the 10 minute attack unfolded and where there may have been missed opportunities to stop the shooter.
(NBC NEWS)- At 6:02 p.m., former President Trump walked on the stage. Thousands were there to see him speak. They would witness the first assassination attempt of a president by gunfire in more than forty years. He was immediately surrounded by Secret Service, his ear bloodied. By 6:13 p.m., he was rushed off the stage.
In a video posted to TikTok, rallygoers noticed the shooter at least two minutes before shots were fired. By identifying features of the building and matching the location of the tree in the video, we can tell that this was filmed about 200 feet from the shooter. The gunman was on the rooftop of a nearby glass and plastics company, 450 feet from President Trump. In that same video, one officer appears to be walking along the building, another standing nearby—all of this happening as Trump addresses the crowd.
“We noticed a guy bear crawling up the roof of the building,” said one witness. Other attendees also spotted the gunman said, “We could clearly see him with the rifle. We were telling police. We were pointing at him for the Secret Service.”
Earlier, the would-be-assassin was seen behaving suspiciously near the metal detectors at the entrance to the event. In this video, a man who appears to be the shooter was filmed watching the rally near the building he would use for his attack.
According to a senator briefed by Secret Service, there was a report of a suspicious person an hour before the shooting. The Secret Service alerted snipers 9 minutes before Trump took the stage. A local Butler Township police officer came into contact with the shooter moments before he opened fire. A local official says that he pulled his head up over the roof, where he saw the shooter, who pointed his rifle at the officer. He says the officer ducked his head and fell 8 feet to the ground and radioed for help.
Law enforcement tells NBC News there were multiple counter sniper teams at the rally handling security. Video captures one team, about 150 feet northeast of Trump, appearing to react to something just before the first shot is heard.
At 6:11 p.m., Trump turns his head to reference a chart on stage. Moments later, popping sounds erupt. Nine shots are heard over 16 seconds, ending with one person killed—the former president wounded and two rallygoers seriously injured. The gunman dead on the rooftop.
There were three sets of bleachers behind Trump. This man was in the bleachers over Trump’s right shoulder—50-year-old firefighter Corey Comperatore, a father of two daughters, was directly in the line of fire between the rooftop and the podium. He was killed shielding his family. David Dutch, a 57-year-old Marine veteran, was seated in the bleachers on the other side of the stage. Seventy-four-year-old James Copenhaver, seated in the same area, was also shot. The hospital says both are in serious condition. The FBI is now leading the investigation into the assassination attempt and security at the rally.
