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One of the rounds grazed Trump’s right ear; the former president was not seriously injured. Still, the rally descended into chaos as terrified attendees hit the deck and a bloodied Trump was hustled offstage by his Secret Service detail.

Secret Service snipers quickly “neutralized” Crooks, whose body could be seen on bystander video, lying prone on the roof from which he fired at least eight shots. Crooks was dressed in gray camouflage and had explosives in his car, according to the FBI, which is heading up the investigation.

Trump was taken to a local medical center and quickly released, then flew to New Jersey in advance of the RNC, which kicks off in Milwaukee on Monday.

Mr Trump was left bloodied after the shooting but defiantly raised his fist as he was rushed off the stage
Mr Trump was left bloodied after the shooting but defiantly raised his fist as he was rushed off the stage (AP)

The shooting was emblamatic of “a security breakdown from start to finish,” former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker said in an appearance on Fox News.

Moments after being shot, Trump pumped his fist to the crowd and mouthed the words, “Fight! Fight! Fight!” This, Swecker argued, never should have happened.

“[H]e should have been off that stage, in that car, and out of there in seconds,” he said. “And it was a lifetime. If there had been a second shooter, they would have taken him out… it was almost a kill-shot as it was… So this breaks every rule of the Secret Service’s protocol, and just executive protection in general.”

One rally attendee was killed in the shooting, and two others suffered critical injuries, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.

A day after the violent episode, retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent Dennis Franks told The Independent he was still trying to wrap his head around what went down at the rally.

“How did this happen? How did they let it happen?” he asked. “It’s usually something [the Secret Service] has under control.”