Photo Shows Bullet Flying Past Trump's Head During Assassination Attempt

A photo captured by New York Times photographer Doug Mills shows a bullet flying past former President Donald Trump 's head during an assassination attempt at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday (July 13).

Mills told CNN that he'd moved around the stage, getting different angles of Trump, 78, just before gunshots were fired and didn't even realize the bullet was included in the photo until being informed by editor Jennifer Mosbrucker .

“Jen called me back five minutes later and said, ‘You won’t believe this,’” Mills said. “I thought I’d (messed) it up. That was my first thought. And she said, ‘There’s an actual picture of a bullet behind his head.’ I was like, ‘What?’ She goes, ‘You were at such a high shutter speed that it captured it.’”

Mosbrucker told Mills that an FBI ballistics specialist observed the photo and claimed that the bullet being shown flying past Trump's head was a "one-in-a-million" shot. The former president spoke to the Daily Mail on Sunday (July 14), hours after his right ear was grazed during the shooting and claimed he was "supposed to be dead" had he not turned his head slightly.

"I rarely look away from the crowd," Trump said. "Had I not done that in that moment, well, we would not be talking today, would we?"

Trump claimed that he turned his head to read a chart showing data on illegal immigrants, which happened just as bullets were fired.

"The most incredible thing was that I happened to not only turn but to turn at the exact right time and in just the right amount," Trump said, claiming he survived "by luck or by God."

'If I only half-turn, it hits the back of the brain," he added. "The other way goes right through [my skull]. And because the sign was high, I'm looking up. The chances of my making a perfect turn are probably one tenth of one percent, so I'm not supposed to be here."

One spectator, identified as Corey Comperatore , 50, was killed during the incident while two others, David Dutch , 57, of New Kensington, and James Copenhaver , 74, were initially critically wounded but have since been upgraded to stable condition. Police identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks late Saturday night. Crooks, 20, was reportedly on the roof of a manufacturing plant more than 130 yards away from the stage where Trump addressed his supporters in Butler, Pennsylvania, when he took fire at the former president.

Secret Service snipers immediately took out Crooks, who was found with an AR-style semi-automatic assault rifle and wearing a shirt for the popular gun YouTube channel Demolition Ranch, after he opened fire. Crooks is reported to have donated $15 to the liberal ActBlue political action committee on the day of President Joe Biden 's inauguration in January 2021, but later registered to vote as a Republican upon turning 18 in September 2021, according to records obtained and shared by the Intercept .

A motive for the shooting was not determined when FBI officials identified the 20-year-old during an update late Saturday night. The shooter's father, Matthew Crooks , told CNN that he was trying to figure out "what the hell is going on" after his son was identified by authorities.

The elder Crooks said he wouldn't provide details about his son and wanted to "wait until I talk to law enforcement" before speaking out on the shooting incident. Trump is scheduled to accept the Republican presidential nomination during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, this week.