Pittsburgh CBS Affiliate to Air Documentary About Attempted Assassination of Trump

Trump was wounded in July 2024 at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Then-presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump raises his fist shortly after an assassination attempt at a campaign rally, in Butler, Pa., on July 13, 2024. Evan Vucci/AP Photo

KDKA, a CBS affiliate stationed in Pittsburgh, is set to air a documentary delving into the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump, nearly a year after he was targeted at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The 30-minute program, titled “In the Crosshairs: The Attempted Assassination of Donald Trump,” will premiere on July 10.

The short film will provide a detailed account of the assassination attempt “through the eyes of the KDKA-TV journalists on the ground that day, with context not previously shared with the public,” CBS announced on Monday.

During the assassination attempt, which occurred on July 13, 2024, Trump—then the presumptive GOP nominee in the 2024 presidential election—sustained a gunshot wound to the right ear. A video of the shooting, which was widely circulated online, shows Trump turning his head mere seconds before the bullet struck him.

One spectator, a firefighter named Corey Comperatore, was killed at the rally, while two others were left seriously injured. The gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed by U.S. Secret Service agents shortly after he began shooting.

“Our team witnessed and documented one of the most unforgettable events in recent U.S. history,” Shawn Hoder, KDKA’s vice president of news, said in a statement.

“This documentary provides a comprehensive, firsthand narrative of how the day unfolded — what our journalists saw, how they responded, and what happened in the critical moments after the shots were fired.”

Then-presidential candidate Donald Trump gestures with a bloodied face while he is assisted by Secret Service personnel after he was shot in the right ear during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pa., on July 13, 2024. Brendan McDermid/Reuters

KDKA photojournalists Bryce Lutz and Fred Williams, along with reporters Lauren Linder and Jen Borrasso, will share exclusive footage and firsthand accounts of the incident in the documentary.

Linder, an Emmy Award-winning reporter, recalled witnessing the harrowing shooting in an Instagram post shared the day after it took place.

“It turned into a 17-hour day for me, a horrific one. ... Within moments, what was already a great honor and responsibility, suddenly had much more significance,” she wrote.

“It will be hard to forget the sound of bullets, the sound of cries from the crowd, and jumping to the ground to take cover myself.

“If we can take anything away from this it’s that life is fragile, hold your loved ones close and love each other.”

“In the Crosshairs” serves as the first installment in the television station’s new documentary series, KDKA Originals.

Julie Eisenman, president and general manager of KDKA, said the forthcoming series “represents a strategic expansion of the station’s content offerings, allowing for deeper exploration of complex stories that extend beyond the constraints of traditional newscasts.”

“We will provide nuance and detail to certain stories that simply can’t be told in a few minutes,” she said.