A BBC News reporter has revealed what it was like hearing shots fired at the Donald Trump rally while still sheltered on the ground, minutes after the incident occurred.
On Saturday July 13, the former US President was captured on video falling to the ground after shots were fired at a rally in Pennsylvania.
When he rose while surrounded by security detail, blood could be seen dripping from his right ear onto his cheek as he was escorted off the stage.
It’s now been confirmed that the shooter was Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old registered Republican who was ‘neutralised’ after the assassination attempt.
The BBC’s Senior North America Correspondent Gary O’Donoghue, who’s worked with the broadcaster for several decades since graduating from university, was present at the rally.
In a video posted online, O’Donoghue was shown lying down on the ground as he explained to viewers what had just happened at the political event, in the lead-up to the 2024 US presidential election.
‘Ok, so we were about 10 minutes into Donald Trump’s speech, and while we were just about to go live on the BBC World Service, we heard some shots fired, probably a few hundred metres from where we were standing. Probably about half a dozen shots, we heard,’ he said, as he lay down on his front on the grass in his suit.
‘There was a woman shouting that someone had been shooting. A guy came by and said that he thought there had been a couple of snipers, but he wasn’t sure. And we’re just waiting to see if things have cleared.’
As O’Donoghue spoke, people could be seen walking on the pavement in the distance, as cars drove by on the road.
The former Chief Political Correspondent continued: ‘As you can see we’re on the ground behind our car, which is not ideal, but that’s the shelter we have at the moment.
‘That’s what we’re trying to ascertain, what’s happened. I think the speech has stopped, I can’t hear Donald Trump speaking anymore.’
The BBC explained that O’Donoghue was ‘forced to take cover after shots were fired a few hundred metres from where the BBC team was standing’.
In a tweet that he shared in the aftermath of the shooting, the journalist shared a link to an interview that he conducted with a witness, who was wearing a red Trump visor.
The witness claimed that he saw a man ‘bear-crawling up the roof of the building’ that was beside them, which was around 50 feet away from them.
The interviewee told O’Donoghue that he could ‘clearly’ see that the man had a rifle and that he tried to alert the police, adding that he was ‘100%’ certain that he was the person who fired the shots at the rally.
Underneath the tweet that he shared linking to his interview, the reporter was praised for the work that he had conducted.
‘How [re]freshing to see a journalist just letting the witness speak with no interruptions, no biased or no prompting to give answers to what they think they saw. Old school journalism at its finest. Well done Gazza, it’s about time the world saw how fantastic you are,’ Emma commented underneath.
Claire wrote: ‘Great, great work Gary. It was clear from the first live link on BBC News you were in some shock yourself, your hand shaking. But you pressed on and took us through it.’
Pippa praised him, saying: ‘Gary, I saw your live piece with BBC Breakfast just now; I commend your measured and incisive reporting, especially in light of being there as the incident unfolded.’
‘Such an important interview, bravo Gary,’ Christine added.
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