Witnesses describe mayhem as sniper takes aim at Trump, killing at least one audience member

Trump supporters hoping for the chance to see the presidential candidate describe pandemonium when an attempted assassin opened fire at the Pennsylvania rally.

“First thing I saw, those guys started sniping,” one man told The Post, pointing to a rooftop where the suspected gunman fired up to eight shots at Trump.

Bullets rang out in the middle of his remarks at the open-air rally in Butler. Trump raised his hand to his right ear before being tackled to the ground by Secret Service agents.

Other members of the service’s counter-terrorism unit “neutralized” the would-be assassin, killing them, insiders told The Post.

The action came too late, however — one audience member was killed in the gunfire and a second was seriously injured.

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Other witnesses desperately tried warning police that a rifle-toting sniper was crawling on a roof moments before gunfire erupted

“You could clearly see him with a rifle,” one man, wearing a MAGA 2020 hat, told BBC News.

“We’re pointing at him. The police are down there running around on the ground.

“We’re like, ‘Hey, man, this guy on the roof with a rifle.’ And the police were like, ‘Huh?’ They didn’t know what was going on.”

The witness claimed he and his friends spent several minutes causing a scene as Secret Service members watched on, choosing not to take action until between five and eight shots were fired, the origins of which he said “100%” came from the rifle-carrying man.

“He was up there for a couple of minutes, absolutely at least three, four minutes. We were pointing at him for the Secret Service, who were looking at us from the top of the barn. They were looking at us the whole time.”

Only after the gunman fired did police neutralize the threat: “They blew his head off.”

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The arena erupted into chaos, with half a dozen Secret Service members piling onto Trump to protect him from ensuing gunfire after he was seemingly grazed by a bullet on his ear.

Sources said Trump came within “inches of his life,” and was seen with blood dripping down his face.

“They hogtied him out,” a man wearing a blue shirt and a Pittsburgh Pirates hat, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Post.

“I saw that at least, but I’m not sure if they actually hit Trump,” he added.

“There was blood on the stands, though. Somebody shot the guy. I don’t know who it was.”

Another witness said he twice tried to warn a police officer about the gunman before the shots rang out.

The rally-goer, who was not identified, told CBS News that he was waiting for Trump like everyone else when he noticed a suspicious figure above.

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“I seen a guy on top of one of the buildings go in between one building to the next and I went and told the officer that he was up there and when I went back to my spot I heard that people could still see the person…. And I went back to tell the officer that if he came over there he could see them and when I turned my back was when the shots started.”

A third witness said the sound of gunfire was blaring and sent audience members scrambling for cover.

“We hear six, seven gunshots. And we see Trump get down. And then we get down because we didn’t want to get hit,” the man, who chose not to share his name, said.

Trump popped up and offered a single, prolonged fist pump, which triggered cheering throughout the rally.

The crowd shouted “USA! USA! USA!” as Trump was piled into an SUV.

“We just witnessed someone try to assassinate our former president, and hopefully our future president,” said rallygoer Scott Sosso.

“He was talking about Border Patrol and we heard the first crack of the gunfire,” said rallygoer Nicole Varro. “And I just screamed, ‘It’s the sniper, it’s the sniper!’”

The emotions were split, however. The Post witnessed dozens of other audience members crying and consoling one another as they sat near blood-covered bleachers.

Several men were angry at the media, shouting at them about “civil war.”

The identity of the gunman and his motive is still under investigation.

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