Rico Elmore, vice chairman of the Beaver County Republican Party, was sitting in a section for special guests, facing President Trump, when he heard what sounded like firecrackers.
“So, everyone hesitated — and it was like, no, these are actual shots. So I yelled, ‘Get down!’”
Elmore saw Secret Service agents helping Trump off the stage and then heard someone from his left calling for a medic.
Elmore knows first aid and CPR from his time in the military, and he knew a medic wouldn’t be able to reach the cries for help fast enough.
He took off his tie and jumped a barricade, but when he reached the person, Elmore saw he had been shot in the head. Elmore said he held the victim’s head but it was too late. The man was unresponsive.
“I mean, it was a horror,” Elmore says. “I pray to the family that had to deal with this that is going through this now. Because it is hard. It is so hard.”
He says that the shots came from behind the bleachers but did not see the shooter.
It's not (only) about you.
Supporting The Times of Israel isn’t a transaction for an online service, like subscribing to Netflix. The ToI Community is for people like you who care about a common good: ensuring that balanced, responsible coverage of Israel continues to be available to millions across the world, for free.
Sure, we'll remove all ads from your page and you'll unlock access to some excellent Community-only content. But your support gives you something more profound than that: the pride of joining something that really matters.
Join the Times of Israel Community
Join our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this