Police shoot dead knife-wielding suspect near RNC, days after Trump's assassination attempt: Report
Police officer fatally shoots person near Republican National Convention main building in Columbus, Ohio
Three days after Donald Trump was shot at a rally in Pennsylvania, reportedly a police officer from Columbus, Ohio, who was providing security support at the RNC, fatally shot a person of concern in close proximity to the convention's main building.
According to the reports, the individual was observed using two knives and flashing them at the officers right before the deadly shooting occurred. The deceased's sibling informed Post that the individual was homeless.
Knife-wielding suspect shot dead near RNC
Trump, currently in Milwaukee, has been officially declared the Republican presidential nominee. The Republican National Convention (RNC) is set to continue until July 18. Reportedly, the shooting took place about a mile away from the Fiserv Forum, the venue of the political campaign, in a residential area.
“We were sitting out there and there was an altercation between two individuals," another source told The Mirror US. “The police were sitting up in the parking lot, saw the altercations and came running out. They were saying ‘drop the knife, drop the knife," they added.
Also read: Trump rally shooter's official cause of death finally revealed; ‘the motive of young man…’
The incident took place two hours before the party's big show on Tuesday. Witnesses present at the scene reported that the shooting happened when the victim, identified as Sam, tried to escape from security, who fired around eight shots. Further details about the incident have not yet been disclosed. “Within about 20 yards the guy turned around and looked shocked, because he didn’t realise the police were behind him. When he turned back to face who he was arguing with, they shot him."
The man was ‘bipolar schizophrenic’
Dan O'Donnell, the talk show host, mentioned that a guy in his early 20s got CPR from the cops after they shot five bullets at 14th and Vliet in Milwaukee. It's said that these officers, who were near the RNC, were part of a team called the "dialogue team" whose job was to keep the peace between protesters who descended on Trump’s political campaign with differing views.
Earlier, thousands of protesters from across the country came out to protest against Donald Trump and his supporters on the streets around. The protesters, waving flags for Palestine and holding up signs against Trump, walked through downtown Milwaukee.
O'Donnell further mentioned that a woman at the scene, identified as the sister of the deceased, said he was a homeless man who was "bipolar schizophrenic" and that “they killed him when he flashed his knife.”
'This had nothing to do with the convention'
The incident follows closely after the assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Butler, where he was shot by a now-deceased assailant whose motive remains undisclosed. However, a bystander who witnessed the recent incident told the news outlet that the victim had no connection to the convention. The individuals involved were reportedly residents of a homeless encampment.
“If the police weren’t here and that altercation took place, they would probably be having fun right now, because we would have broke it up,” the witness added.