WASHINGTON: Former US president Donald Trump on Sunday called on the United States to “stand united” after surviving an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, reported German news agency (dpa).
The 78-year-old, who is running to dethrone his successor President Joe Biden in November’s election, was shot in the ear during the incident in Butler, north of Pittsburgh, on Saturday.
One spectator was killed and two critically injured, while the shooter — named by the FBI as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks — was killed by US Secret Service agents.
Writing on his social media platform Truth Social on Sunday, Trump said “it was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening”.
Trump paid tribute to the victims of the shooting. “Our love goes out to the other victims and their families. We pray for the recovery of those who were wounded, and hold in our hearts the memory of the citizen who was so horribly killed,” he wrote.
He continued: “It is more important than ever that we stand United, and show our True Character as Americans, remaining Strong and Determined, and not allowing Evil to Win.”
With the Republican National Convention set to begin in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Monday, Trump said he was looking forward to “speaking to our Great Nation” as he receives the party’s official nomination for the presidential election.
Meanwhile, the police in the US state of Pennsylvania said on Sunday they were still looking into information to determine if the suspect gunman at the campaign rally of ex-president Donald Trump acted alone.
“We have one shooter tentatively identified — we’re not stopping there, we’re following up on a lot of information,” a police spokesperson told a televised press conference, adding that they could not yet give a definitive response to the question if the gunman had accomplices. — BERNAMA-dpa
