Beaumont woman details seeing the shocking moment Former President Donald Trump was shot during Pennsylvania rally

A woman with ties to the Coachella Valley is opening up about attending the Donald Trump Campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania. She is sharing her first-hand experience with News Channel Three's Tori King.

Julissa Evans is originally from the Beaumont area but recently moved to Pennsylvania. She was one of thousands in attendance at Saturday's rally. She says it's a day she will never forget.

“I just remember them screaming, lay down and don't move, just stay where you're at," said Evans, recalling the harrowing day that a gunman tried to assassinate Former President Donald Trump.

"He moved his hand and it looked almost like a bug or something hit him by the ear. And it went so quick," said Evans, who witnessed the entire thing through a jumbotron on site. "That's when you heard you heard the gunshot, the gunfire. The Secret Service brought him to the ground."

Evans says it was a stark contrast from the mood at the beginning of the rally.

"It was so hot, and we had been standing around for a long time. Trump was actually running about an hour and a half behind," said Evans. "And everyone was just so excited, you know, like he's finally here. And when he popped up on the big jumbotron, even more excitement."

Evans says getting into the venue took time, and that she felt safe because of the strict safety protocols.

"We went through the metal detectors and they checked our purses," explained Evans. "You weren't allowed backpacks or coolers, and they checked you with the wand. So I'm thinking we're good. You know, who's gonna get through that?"

Evans was taking pictures and videos moments before the gunfire rang out.

"At first, it sounded to me like fireworks. And then when you started really hearing the screaming, and the "Get down on the ground" orders, and the snipers, that's when it was like, Oh my God this is real," said Evans.

"I was in shock. I was shaking," said Evans. "I didn't know whether to cry, or I almost felt like I wanted to pass out. But I'm like, we have to get out of here."

According to Evans, hundreds of people around her were on the ground, including some children and several babies who were shielded by their parents.

"I laid there, and I just felt my body start shaking, it's like an adrenaline rush," said Evans. "And I'm looking around and everyone's just, they're screaming, they're crying, they're praying. There were little kids, there were babies. And I was laying next to a mom with her two kids and she had her arms around her two boys and they started praying."

Moments later, Trump stood up, surrounded by security.

"I saw, him get up, I saw him throw up his fist. I just took that as "I'm okay", said Evans. She and her party were standing towards the back perimeter of the venue, placing her less than 75 yards away from the gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, who had positioned himself atop a warehouse nearby.

"Had the snipers not taken him down when they did, who's to say that he would not have started in on the crowd," said Evans. "Just thinking that could have been us, that could have been me."

After Trump was escorted off the stage, the crowd cleared out in an orderly manner, according to Evans.

"I heard "Suspect down", and then I heard the police and everyone coming around telling us just to quickly exit the grounds," Evans said. "Thankfully, we all exited, as we were told. And we cleared up pretty quickly. We got to our cars safely. And I just prayed that no one's waiting on the outside as we're leaving. I was just like, please, Jesus and Dad, I always pray to my dad, just get us out of here safely." Evan's father was an Army Veteran who served during Vietnam. He passed away in 2017 because of complications caused by exposure to Agent Orange. Evans told News Channel Three she attended the rally in his honor, but now it's a traumatic scene that is stained into her memory forever.

"I didn't sleep very good, I kept hearing the gunshots," said Evans. Now, she's just trying to move forward and heal from the experience.

"My mom was alive during Reagan's attempted assassination, and I just never thought in my lifetime I would ever see an assassination attempt on the Former President of the United States," said Evans. "I wouldn't wish this on anybody."

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