Pittsburgh —Nothing but a bullet proof barrier stood between Erin Autenreith and the podium where Donald Trump stood during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13.
This was Autenreith's sixth Trump rally, her third time as a volunteer. And now, it's the first time she has had a front row seat to an attempted assassination of a former president.
“I feel like I’m a part of the group like people who were in Dallas. I saw the president’s blood," said Autenreith.
Trump was showing off a chart of border crossing numbers when gunfire rang out. People in the crowd screamed or ducked while some stood in stunned terror.
“He started speaking and turned his head to point to something on the visual and we all heard ‘pop! pop! pop!’ pop! pop! pop!’ It sounded exactly like a Fourth of July firework," described the real estate agent. "Then he crouched down a little bit, but Secret Service jumped on him forcing him all the way down to the ground. And to the right of him, there were photographers, a heap, like five of them on top of each other on the ground.”
As described by Autenreith, a bullet pierced the upper part of Trumps’ ear.
“When they lifted Donald Trump up, I saw the blood right here [points to right cheek]. But his face was clear and lifelike. And I heard him say, ‘I have to get my shoes.’ They turned him and that’s when I saw the blood from the top of his ear to the bottom. Then he lifted his right hand and said ‘Fight! Fight! Fight!’ and everyone was relieved that he was ok," said Autenreith.
The FBI investigation into the shooting, which killed ex-fire chief Corey Comperatore, 50, and wounded two others, David Dutch, 57, of New Kensington, and James Copenhaver, 74, of Moon Township continues.
The man who authorities said carried out the attack, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania is believed to have acted alone with his father's gun.
U.S. Secret Service officers shot and killed Crooks, officials said.
Annie Gimbel
