Former President Trump narrowly avoided being shot by turning his head "right in the nick of time," a witness said.

Vanessa Asher said she was six rows away from the podium facing Trump during the rally. Asher said Trump was gesturing with each of his hands to charts that were being projected onto screens facing the audience.

She said Trump turned his head to look at one of the charts “right in the nick of time,” and had he not done so, she believes the bullet would have hit his head.

The suspected shooter fired "multiple shots toward the stage" at Trump's rally "from an elevated position outside of the rally venue," Secret Service chief of communications Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement.

"US Secret Service personnel neutralized the shooter, who is now deceased. US Secret Service quickly responded with protective measures and the former president is safe and being evaluated," the statement said.

The FBI says the agency is on the scene in Butler, Pennsylvania, and working with the U.S. Secret Service and the district attorney's office as the investigation continues.

Trump just said in a lengthy message on his Truth Social account that he was shot by a bullet that pierced the upper part of his right ear.

"I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear. I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening. GOD BLESS AMERICA!" he wrote.

Trump said he wants to thank the Secret Service and all law enforcement for their rapid response, and he said, "most importantly, I want to extend my condolences to the family of the person at the Rally who was killed, and also to the family of another person that was badly injured."

"It is incredible that such an act can take place in our Country. Nothing is known at this time about the shooter, who is now dead," he wrote.

Shots were fired from outside the venue's security perimeter established by the U.S. Secret Service, three senior law enforcement sources said.

The shooting took place from a position outside the venue and its security measures, the sources told NBC News.

The assertion could answer a question that quickly emerged following the violence — namely how a gunman got a firearm past security and its gun-detecting magnetometers. In this view, they apparently didn't.

Vice President Kamala Harris said she and her husband Doug Emhoff were "relieved" that Trump is not seriously injured.

 "We are praying for him, his family, and all those who have been injured and impacted by this senseless shooting," Harris said in a statement.

"Violence such as this has no place in our nation. We must all condemn this abhorrent act and do our part to ensure that it does not lead to more violence," she said.

Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri called for a thorough congressional investigation into the shooting at Trump's rally, referring to it as "an assassination attempt with at least one innocent bystander murdered."

"It’s a wonder Donald Trump is alive," Hawley posted on X.

"The nation needs to know who did this. And why," he continued. "And we need a full, public investigation by Congress into HOW it happened."

Robert Dandoy, the Democratic mayor of Butler, Pennsylvania, tells NBC News in a telephone interview that he is horrified by what happened and also stunned that anyone was able to get a weapon anywhere near the former president.

“That was the talk today, that people couldn’t even get an umbrella into that rally,” he said. “We all had the same first question: How did anyone get a weapon into that rally?”

Three senior U.S. law enforcement officials told NBC News that the shooting occurred outside the U.S. Secret Service security perimeter of the event.

Dandoy was not there but Butler’s chief of police was, he said. 

“This kind of violence is just unacceptable,” Dandoy said. “We can’t continue as a democratic society if people can’t exercise their free speech rights at a political gathering without fear of something like this happening. This can’t happen. It makes me sick.”

Former U.S. presidents were quick to speak out against the shooting at Trump's rally, with George W. Bush tweeting that it was a "cowardly attack."

"Laura and I are grateful that President Trump is safe following the cowardly attack on his life," tweeted George W. Bush. "And we commend the men and women of the Secret Service for their speedy response.”

Former President Bill Clinton tweeted that "violence has no place in America, especially in our political process."