The dramatic video captured the moment Secret Service agents whisked Donald Trump into a Pennsylvania hospital after he was shot during an assassination attempt on Saturday. Law enforcement can be seen scrambling to secure the front entrance of Butler Memorial Hospital as frantic citizens press up against the glass to catch a glimpse of the former president, who was struck in the ear by a bullet at his Pennsylvania rally.
Rick Foerster, the man behind the camera, said, “President Trump was just shot … and they just rushed him here.” One woman can be heard crying in the background before agents marched Trump out of an SUV and through an emergency door. Foerster told Fox News Wednesday that he got emotional because he was expecting Trump to be dead or for them to be carrying him, but the former president walked on his own power.
The motorcade of SUVs flew into the hospital parking lot just six minutes after those in the waiting room watched the former president get shot by a gunman during the televised campaign rally. Shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, grazed Trump’s ear and killed an audience member. Two other rally-goers were injured in the gunfire.
Ironically, Foerster had a front-row seat for the rally — and would have witnessed the mayhem firsthand — but had to give up his VIP tickets when his wife began to feel sick about 90 minutes before bullets started flying. The couple arrived at the Butler Fairgrounds at 9 a.m. to secure their seats and endured 97-degree heat with no shade. His wife, Karen, was taken to the hospital around 4:30 p.m. when she began to suffer from dehydration.
Foerster continued watching the rally from inside the hospital and saw Trump drop to the ground before he was carried off the stage by Secret Service agents. He was also talking on the phone with a friend who was at the rally, who told him: “Oh my gosh, President Trump has been shot.” The charge nurse “was in tears” and another lady fell off her wheelchair at the announcement.
Foerster told Fox News that six minutes later, they heard loud sirens, and his wife informed him that the hospital would be bringing Trump there since it was only ten minutes away but six miles. That’s when the crowd rushed to the windows and watched the presidential hopeful walk himself inside — a moment in history Foerster captured on film.
Crooks’ motive for the attempted assassination remains unclear.
