Eyewitness claim Donald Trump’s security was warned about gunman 'three or four minutes' before shots were fired

An eyewitness to the attempted assassination of Donald Trump has claimed that they pointed out the shooter minutes before he opened fire.

Yesterday (13 July) the former US president was shot in the ear at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The suspected shooter has been identified as a 20-year-old man the FBI identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, who, according to the New York Post, was registered as a member of the Republican party as per state records.

Trump had been giving a speech at the rally and was lecturing the crowd on the topic of illegal immigration when a number of loud noises were heard.

He could be seen clutching his ear and there appeared to be blood, while Secret Service agents rushed onto the stage and got him down to the ground.

Trump was then rushed off the stage and away from the rally, though not before he raised a fist to the crowds.

A bullet hit Trump's ear before the Secret Service could shoot the gunman. (REBECCA DROKE/AFP via Getty Images)

A photo taken during the rally appears to show how close the bullet came to Trump's skull.

According to the authorities, Crooks had taken an 'elevated position' on top of the roof of a building outside the site of the rally.

They also said that one person who attended the rally had been killed and two others were seriously wounded.

Secret Service gunmen returned fire on Crooks, with a Secret Service spokesperson saying he was 'neutralised' by agents just after he opened fire on Trump.

However, a witness who attended the rally told the BBC that several minutes before the shots rang out he and others 'noticed a guy bear-crawling... up the roof of the building'.

Greg Smith said they were pointing at the man and confirmed they could see that he had a gun with him.

Trump was rushed off the stage by his security detail. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

"He had a rifle, we could clearly see him with a rifle, absolutely," Smith explained.

"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 were like 'huh, what?'.

"You know, like they didn't know what was going on. We're like 'right here on the roof, we can see him from right here'. We see him, you know he's crawling."

Smith said he was pointing at the gunman 'for two or three minutes' and he had been up there for 'at least three to four minutes'.

At a press conference after the shooting Kevin Rojek, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh Field Office, was asked if law enforcement didn't know the gunman was on the roof until he started shooting, and the agent replied 'that is our assessment at this time'.

Rojek said 'it is surprising' that the gunman was able to open fire before Secret Service agents were able to shoot him.