Trump says he was shot at rally, possibly in assassination attempt; bystander killed and shooter dead

Former President Donald Trump said he was shot in the ear after a gunman opened fire on the stage at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday – a harrowing incident that left one audience member dead, two others seriously injured and sparked chaos at the event.

Officials briefed on the investigation told ABC News that the shooting – a disturbing development on the eve of the Republican National Convention – is being investigated as a possible attempted murder and that live ammunition appears to have been fired from outside the security perimeter. The incident is being investigated by the FBI under the supervision of the Justice Department’s National Security Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Pittsburgh and comes at a time of heightened threat.

The Secret Service said in a statement that a gunman “fired multiple shots at the stage from an elevated position outside the venue,” after which agents “neutralized the shooter, who is now dead.”

The gunman fired up to eight shots from an AR-style rifle while sitting on a rooftop adjacent to the venue and was 180 to 275 yards away at the time of the shooting, law enforcement sources told ABC News.