Trump shooting: Questions for Secret Service on how gunman came so close to assassinating ex-president

Major questions on security provided to Donald Trump are being asked after the Republican presidential candidate was targeted by a lone gunman at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday night.

Trump was shot in the ear in the attempted assassination around 15 minutes after he took to the stage at the campaign event in Butler.

He was quickly swarmed by security agents before re-emerging with his fist pumped in the air, mouthing the words “Fight! Fight! Fight!” Later, after being discharged from hospital, Trump was said to be “doing well”.

On Sunday morning the FBI identified the“subject involved” in the attempted assassination as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks. He was shot dead by agents from the Secret Service.

But asan investigation is launched, serious questions are being asked of the Secret Service, whose job it is to provide former presidents, such as Trump, lifetime protection.

Follow out live blog for updates on the aftermath of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump

The gunman fired multiple shots with an AR-style rifle at the stage from an “elevated position outside of the rally venue,” the agency said.

Associated Press analysis of more than a dozen videos and photos taken at the Trump rally, as well as satellite imagery of the site, showed the shooter was able to get close to where Trump was speaking.

The shooter was less than 500ft from the stage.

In an interview aired by the BBC heard from an eyewitness who said he’d pointed out the gunman to the Secret Service minutes before the attack too place.

The man, identified only as Greg, said: “We’re pointing at the guy crawling up the roof. We could clearly see him with a rifle.

“I’m standing there pointing at him for two to three minutes. Secret Service is