‘Absolutely tragic': San Diegan witnessed Trump rally shooting

The shooting at a former President Donald Trump rally has shaken up people across the country.

Blake Marnell is from San Diego. He’s a local delegate for the Republican National Convention. He’s been to many Trump rallies before, but this one was unlike anything he’s experienced.

“I don't really know that I fully, you know, come to grips with it,” Blake Marnell said.

Dressed in his signature border wall suit, Marnell is still trying to process the deadly violence that happened before his eyes Saturday at Trump’s campaign rally.

“And I think more so that comes out when people are asking me about it and I realized how traumatic it still is for them, for everybody who witnessed it,” he said.

He said about 15 minutes into Trump’s speech, chaos ensued after hearing what sounded like firecrackers.

Marnell said he looked around at the audience, but it didn’t immediately register what he was hearing were gunshots. His thoughts and head immediately turned to the former president, who couldn’t be seen because the Secret Service surrounded him.

“I was I was wondering if he was dead. I was wondering if the worst-case scenario had happened. And I was really just trying to listen to what the Secret Service was saying,” Marnell said.

Marnell said he heard a second series of shots and people around began telling each other to get down. Once the gunfire stopped, he got up. Moments later, he saw Trump get up, with blood at the top of his right ear.

He said a wave of emotion washed over the crowd. There was shock, anger, prayer, and a lot of people were worried.

“And, you know, we were still all very concerned with, you know, there could be other injuries that we couldn't see. But we saw him,” he said. “And we saw him walk off largely under his own power. I mean, as best as you can when you have six or seven Secret Service agents with their arms draped all over you. I mean, that's not an easy task.”

It wasn’t until after the former president was whisked away that Marnell said he found out about the Trump supporter who was killed by the gunman and the two others who were seriously injured.

“It's incredibly sad. You know, that's absolutely tragic. I think that Americans, no matter what their political affiliation, would agree that you should reasonably expect to be able to go to a political gathering and not fear for your life," he said.

Marnell is hoping the country can rise above this tragedy.

“And we cannot live our lives in fear in America. We can't. We'll become prisoners of it. And I would like people not to be afraid. This is a situation that makes someone afraid. But broadly speaking, we're not going to solve anything through fear,” he said. “We're not going to solve anything through violence in our political spectrum either. So, I'd like people to consider another solution, which is hope and a plan to move our country forward in a better direction.

Marnell said he’s currently in Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention, which is set to begin Monday.