Wyatt Zang, 14, of Connoquenessing Township, wrote the following essay as a school assignment during the 2024-25 school year.

On the morning of July 13, I had no idea that later that day I would witness history and the whole world would know the name of my hometown of Butler, Pennsylvania.

We arrived at 8:30 a.m., parked, then waited in line until around 1 p.m. The morning was nice and cool, but as the day went on it got really hot and people in line were passing out.

Finally, we were let in the gates and ran to get good seats. We sat one row back right in front of the podium.

After waiting for so long, Trump finally came out on stage at 6:02 p.m. It was exciting, and everyone was hyped up and ready.

Unfortunately, all day something felt off, especially with the security, because people were allowed to stand in between the rows and up against the gates all around the podium.

Other rallies I’ve been to were way more protected and strict with security. This rally just felt different.

Not long after Trump started talking I could tell there was something weird going on.

At 6:11 p.m. we heard a noise that sounded like firecrackers or a balloon popping.

It turns out it was neither … It was gunshots.

There were several shots fired before people realized what was happening and hit the ground. Trump went down, then everyone else went down.

After what felt like an eternity, the shots stopped. It was silent except for a scream from the bleachers behind him. Someone had been shot.

Everyone was just in shock of what just happened. No one really knew anything. We had no idea if there was more than one shooter or anything.

What we did know was that Trump was alive. He got up with the Secret Service and that is when he yelled “Fight! Fight! Fight!” with his fist in the air. It was good to know he was alive. It was such a sigh of relief.

The security told everyone to not move, they had to clear the area to make sure it was safe.

But after about 15 minutes we were told it was safe to leave. While we were leaving the rally I was in shock thinking about how I just witnessed a part of history in my hometown.