Witness saw gunman 'on the roof before Trump attack and tried to tell security services'

A witness has reported a chilling incident where a man armed with a rifle was seen on a rooftop just before gunfire erupted at a Donald Trump rally in Pennsylvania .

Greg Smith, the witness, spotted the individual crawling onto the top of a building close to the Butler County event on Friday evening and immediately informed the police.

Speaking to the BBC, he recounted: "I'm thinking to myself 'Why is Trump still speaking, why have they not pulled him off the stage'... the next thing you know, five shots ring out ."

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Secret Service agents swiftly encircled the former president and escorted him to safety. Trump was later observed with blood on his face, confirming that he had been grazed by a bullet.

Authorities later announced that the shooter had been neutralised. Mr Smith told the BBC he saw Secret Service agents take down the gunman, reports the Express.

Mr Smith, who was positioned outside the rally venue, noticed the armed man around five minutes into Trump's address.

Describing the tense moment, he said: "We noticed the guy bear-crawling up the roof of the building beside us, 50ft away," adding, "He had a rifle, we could clearly see a rifle."

Despite their attempts to draw attention to the threat, Mr Smith expressed frustration as he said: "We're pointing at him, the police are down there running around on the ground, we're like 'Hey man, there's a guy on the roof with a rifle'... and the police did not know what was going on."

He speculated that the slope of the roof might have obscured the gunman from the view of the authorities, despite their efforts to alert them.

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"Why is there not Secret Service on all of these roofs here? " he questioned. "This is not a big place. "[It's a] security failure, 100% security failure.

He later recounted witnessing the agents neutralise the gunman: "They crawled up on the roof, they had their guns pointed at him, made sure he was dead. He was dead, and that was it - it was over."

"Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesperson for the Secret Service, confirmed that agents had "neutralised the shooter" and "quickly responded with protective measures". The incident is under investigation as an attempted assassination. One person in the crowd was killed, and two others were critically injured, according to the service. Mr Smith later told BBC that his child was "crying and begging me to take him home" after the shooting."

"There were a lot of kids up there with us who were terrified, they're still terrified," he said.

Another witness in the event described dropping to the ground upon hearing five quick gunshots. Jason, who chose not to reveal his last name, told the BBC: "We saw the Secret Service jump on Trump to protect him; everyone dropped very quickly on the ground."

Then he "stood up and put his fist up in the air". Jason added: "He was a little bloody, his ear was bleeding. He stood up and he was alive and breathing."

An emergency department doctor at the rally informed CBS News, the BBC's US partner, that he treated a member from the crowd for a gunshot wound to the head.

"I heard the shots, I thought it was firecrackers to begin with," he mentioned.

"Someone over there was screaming 'He's been shot, he's been shot'."

"They guy had spun around [and was] jammed between the benches. There was a lot of blood."

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