8:18 PM: The local DA is speaking now on CNN. We’ve had reports of what he said. He’s been the source of reports about the spectator and the gunman being killed. He’s repeated that. No new news as far as I can tell other than the second bystander being in, I believe he said, “serious” condition. Says he hasn’t been given any information about the identity of the shooter.
8:12 PM: We’re now seeing reports that Trump was hit not by a bullet but by glass fragments from the plexiglass shields which are there to protect the President. This doesn’t dramatically change the nature of what happened. It’s still the result of an attempt to shoot Trump. But it gives a clearer understanding of precisely what happened and shows, if these accounts are true, that one of the basic protective measures worked.
7:52 PM: We’ve had a basic question from the beginning how someone with a gun could have gotten into a presidential event where everyone goes through a magnetometer. We now have what I believe are reliable reports that the shooter was outside the security perimeter. The area is open and flat. There is no high ground for a shooter to fire from. It appears the shooter got onto the roof of nearby, low building and was able to have a line of sight toward the stage. We now have confirmation that it was the Secret Service that returned fire and killed the shooter. So it appears that the shooter was killed in the first moments of the incident.
7:42 PM: We now have clearer confirmation: Shooter dead; one bystander dead; one bystander with serious injuries.
7:33 PM: Just wanted to connect a few dots and address some issues that seemed unclear at first. It now appears that someone opened fire toward and presumably targeting Trump. It appears Trump was grazed on the ear by a bullet fired by that person. He was tackled and covered by Secret Service. There was then a second volley of shots after which a Secret Service agent can be heard saying “shooter down.” That appears to have been when the shooter was shot and killed, presumably by other Secret Service agents. We now have pretty clear reporting that the shooter is dead. That is presumably why Trump was then moved to the limousine and why the crowd was fairly quickly given an all clear, only a couple minutes after the incident.
7:27 PM: I want to speak carefully because in a chaotic situation initial reports are often wrong or incomplete. With those caveats, it seems clear now based on multiple reports that the shooter was likely killed immediately after the initial incident which we can now probably call a shooting. (The term “neutralized” is being used.) Local authorities are saying that one bystander is dead and possibly a second one. Other reports say a second bystander is hospitalized in serious condition. It’s possible two different bystanders are being discussed. Again, it’s a chaotic situation. Finally, we are getting clearer indication of what was suspected, that this was a shooting incident, law enforcement references to a “shooter”, “shooting” etc. Again, seemed clear but any question that this might have been a few firecrackers going off can likely be set aside.
