Chainkeen Exchange-Trump rally attendee says he saw alleged shooter "move from roof to roof"

Attendee at Trump rally claims he saw the alleged shooter on a rooftop near the event

BUTLER, Pa. (KDKA) -- An attendee at former President Donald Trump's rally at the Butler County fairgrounds says he saw the alleged shooter on a nearby rooftop as Trump was delivering remarks to supporters Saturday.

Trump is safe after he was rushed offstage by Secret Service agents and whisked away to a secure location. Blood could be seen coming from his face after shots rang out. The shooter was fatally shot by a Secret Service sniper, law enforcement sources told CBS News. 

Ben Macer told KDKA-TV's Jennifer Borraso that he was up along the fence line and "saw the guy move from roof to roof. [I] told an officer [the alleged shooter] was on the roof."

"When I turned around to go back to where I was, it was when the gunshots started, and then it was just chaos, and we all came running away, and that was that," Macer said. 

Butler resident Ryan Knight, another witness along the fence line, also said he saw the suspected shooter atop the American Glass Research building.

"[I] walked over about 20 minutes before the shooting happened to stand along the fence line where Trump was. As I was doing that, I was right beside the AGR building, which had the shooter on it," Knight said. "When I was sitting there, a guy said, 'Oh God, he had a gun.' When I looked up, there was a guy on top of the building with an M16 with a blanket, pointing at the president. He starts shooting. Four to five shots rang out. I throw the guy I'm with to the ground. I jump to the ground, I look up, and I see his head get split up from the shot from the Secret Service."

"All the cops started flying over, pushing us out, they took my name, witness report, [and] cell phone number to go over what happened because there [weren't many] eyewitnesses," Knight said.

"There were two officers, who, you could tell, were actively looking for somebody, and we just tried to help them and tell them where the guy was. At some point, somebody found him, or the snipers found him, and that was the end of his decisions," Macer added.

The Secret Service confirmed one attendee was killed and two others were critically injured in the shooting. 

In a post on social media, Trump said that he was injured when a bullet pierced the upper part of his right ear. He was treated at Butler Memorial Hospital and has since been discharged.     

"My main thought is why wasn't the Secret Service on top of AGR?" Knight asked. "That's a very big vantage point to shoot at the president. How did that get missed?"  

Macer said he did not get a clear look at the alleged shooter, but reiterated that he saw him move from building to building.

"At first, I didn't know what I heard, and once it became clear what I heard, it was just, getting out of there. I helped a lady that had a 4-year-old kid, I helped them get out, and that was it. We were done," Macer said, visibly shaken after watching the events unfold.

"It's not every day you're that close to anything like that," Macer added. "I'm just curious like anybody else, and seeing what all is still going on. I live close to here, so I am taking it all in." 

In:
• Trump Rally
• Donald Trump
• Butler County

Garrett Behanna

Garrett Behanna is a digital producer for CBS Pittsburgh who has been with the KDKA team since May 2022.