What a Trump shooting witness saw from below the rooftop
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BUTLER, Pa. — David James Stewart was trying to get a glimpse of a Trump rally after clocking out from a nearby Sheetz convenience store on Saturday. He ended up becoming a witness to an assassination attempt.
Why it matters: Stewart was standing right below the Butler, Pennsylvania building where the shooter was and took a video, later seized by law enforcement, he told Axios.
- Former President Trump was shot in the ear on Saturday in an attack that left one rally attendee dead and another two wounded, the Secret Service said.
- The suspect was shooting from an elevated position outside the rally's security perimeter.
Zoom in: Someone yelled AK when they saw the shooter, Stewart said.
- Then bullets starting going over Stewart's head. He took video and continued recording for 10–15 minutes after the shooting.
- Stewart told Axios that law enforcement started shooting at the suspect on the rooftop immediately. Another witness told Stewart that he saw the suspect's head get blown apart.
Between the lines: Stewart was taken on the back of a Homeland Security vehicle filled with other witnesses to a building where he was told not to talk to other witnesses and spoke to Pennsylvania State Police, Homeland Security and others.
- Law enforcement told Stewart that 18 total witnesses were held in that building after the shooting.
- Stewart had been just released and was back at Sheetz when he spoke with Axios on Saturday night.
