James E. Hulings was barely a few feet away from Donald Trump when shootings erupted at the former president’s event in Butler County, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, July 13.

The Secret Service reported that the rally resulted in the murder of one person, the serious injuries of two others, and the death of the gunman.

Trump, who had blood flowing down his face after the gunshot, claimed he was hit in the right ear, but the Secret Service confirmed he was well and being assessed.

Hulings informs people According to Hulings, the gunshots began after “Donald had just started to speak, giving a nice little talk” on the hot July day, which caused some individuals to pass out from heat.

Hulings mistook the sudden, loud noises for fireworks.

“To my left, there were three pops.” Pop, pop, pop—and my first reaction was, “What are they doing setting off firecrackers?” It’s not a desirable thing to do, especially in a crowd. The next president is up there. “Oh my God, what is wrong with people?”

“And then,” Hulings adds, “the president went down, “and Secret Service agents piled on him.”

Trump escaped what officials are investigating as an attempted assassination, immediately jumping up to display a raised fist at his supporters and mouthing the word “fight.”

Trump claimed in a post on Truth Social that a bullet “pierced the upper part of my right ear” and that he heard “a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin.”

Hulings claims that in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, “There was a lot of chaos, as you might imagine, but nobody left. We simply stood in our location.”