UTSA Coach Jeff Traylor's son shielded fellow reporter from gunfire at Trump rally

NBC News reporter Jake Traylor, the son of UTSA head football coach Jeff Traylor, shielded a fellow journalist from the gunfire during Saturday's failed attempt by a man to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

As shots rang out and chaos unfolded, Traylor, who's covering the presidential campaign for NBC, acted fast to protect ABC correspondent Rachel Scott in the press pool, covering her on the ground. Scott expressed gratitude to Traylor, security and others in a tweet, sharing video of the moment the press hit the ground.

This was the moment we dove for cover as gunshots rang out

Extremely grateful for my security, Jeff who yanked me off the press riser & @jake__traylor who covered me on the ground. @olivialarinaldi who kept us calm

My heart goes out to everyone who was here tonight https://t.co/AbbmketCcx

— Rachel Scott (@rachelvscott) July 14, 2024

A bullet grazed Trump's ear, causing streaks of blood to run down the presumptive GOP nominee's face as Secret Service agents surrounded him and escorted him to the motorcade. One spectator was killed and three others critically injured.

Coach Traylor released a statement saying he's proud of his son, who's "just wired differently."

JUST IN: UTSA coach Jeff Traylor’s statement after his son, Jake Traylor, who works for NBC, was covering former President Trump’s rally when shots were fired. @CoachTraylor says Jake is OK, but was shook up and it’s not surprising he protected his colleagues. Full statement⬇️ pic.twitter.com/Z1ubKbxdXP

— RJ Marquez (@KSATRJ) July 15, 2024