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By James Bickerton
News Reporter
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Donald Trump is significantly more likely to win the 2024 presidential election after an apparent attempt to assassinate him on Saturday left him injured, according to a leading bookmaker.
A gunman opened fire on a Trump rally near Butler, in Pennsylvania, on Saturday, killing one attendee and leaving two others seriously wounded, according to a Secret Service spokesperson.
Broadcast footage from the event showed Trump was struck on his right ear, leaving it bleeding, before he was surrounded by Secret Service agents and led from the stage after defiantly raising his hand in a clenched fist. The suspected attacker, who the FBI identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was shot and killed by return fire.
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On Saturday, prior to the assassination attempt, Trump's odds of winning the 2024 presidential election were 8/15 (65.2 percent) according to William Hill, a U.K. based betting company. However, after the shooting, this was slashed to a 4/11 (73.3 percent) chance of Trump achieving victory.
Newsweek contacted representatives of the 2024 Trump and President Joe Biden's campaigns for comment on Sunday via email outside of usual office hours.
Reacting to the shooting on his Truth Social website, Trump offered his condolences to the family of the person killed, adding: "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.
"I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening. GOD BLESS AMERICA!"
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Biden condemned the attack in a post on X, formerly Twitter, writing: "I have been briefed on the shooting at Donald Trump's rally in Pennsylvania.
"I'm grateful to hear that he's safe and doing well. I'm praying for him and his family and for all those who were at the rally, as we await further information.
"Jill and I are grateful to the Secret Service for getting him to safety. There's no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it."
According to The Guardian, Crooks, who authorities are treating as the "subject involved" in the shooting, is a registered Republican voter in Pennsylvania, but in 2021 donated $15 to a left-leaning political action committee.
In the immediate aftermath of Saturday's shooting Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO and X owner, endorsed Trump, later adding: "Last time America had a candidate this tough was Theodore Roosevelt."
Speaking to the BBC, Greg Smith, a Trump supporter who was outside the rally, said he saw a man with a rifle crawling along a rooftop prior to the shooting and attempted to alert the authorities.
He said: "We noticed the guy bear-crawling up the roof of the building beside us, 50 feet away from us. He had a rifle; we could clearly see a rifle.
"We're pointing at him, the police are down there running around on the ground, we're like, 'Hey man, there's a guy on the roof with a rifle'... and the police did not know what was going on."
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