WASHINGTON

A witness told the BBC he saw a man with a riffle on a rooftop minutes before a deadly shooting Saturday at a rally for former US President Donald Trump in the state of Pennsylvania.

Greg Smith said he pointed out the gunman to police as the suspect was crawling atop a building outside the venue in Butler County.

"I'm thinking to myself: 'Why is Trump still speaking, why have they not pulled him off the stage,'” he said. “The next thing you know, five shots ring out.”

Smith said he saw Secret Service agents shooting the man, who was later pronounced dead.

Former US President Donald Trump was hit in his right ear and is fine following what the FBI now says was “an assassination attempt.”

"It is incredible that such an act can take place in our Country. Nothing is known at this time about the shooter, who is now dead. I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear," Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social.

The initial moments of the shooting began with gunshots being heard. Moments later, Trump was seen raising his hand to the right side of his head that had a bloodied right ear as he was being whisked from the stage, footage showed.

The Secret Service said the shooter fired multiple shots toward the stage from an elevated position from outside the venue.