Rita Odafe
An individual present at a rally for ex-President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, recounts his experience and how he tried to intervene to prevent the shooting incident.
Revealing his observations in an interview, the eyewitness mentions spotting a man with a gun crawling on the roof of a neighboring building near the rally venue and witnessing the subsequent elimination of the suspected shooter by the Secret Service.
He recalls gathering with friends prior to the rally and observing from outside the confined perimeter.
“We noticed a guy bear crawling up the roof of the building beside us, probably 50 feet away,” he shared with the BBC. “So we’re pointing at the guy crawling up the roof…he had a rifle; we could clearly see him with a rifle.”
The man asserts that he and his companions signaled the presence of the individual to the Secret Service and notified the local police.
“The police were like, ‘Huh, what?’ Like they didn’t know what was going on,” he expressed. “I’m thinking, why is Trump still speaking? I’m pointing at the roof… for two to three minutes, and the Secret Service is just looking at us.
“Next thing you know, five shots ring out,” he recounted.
When questioned by the BBC interviewer about the source of the gunfire, the man affirmed without uncertainty that it originated from the roof.
“100%,” he affirmed. “We were telling the police, we were telling the Secret Service.”
Regarding the fate of the shooter, he disclosed, “They blew his head off,” mentioning that both the gunman and a rally attendee lost their lives according to a local district attorney, with Trump visibly affected by the incident.
