Thomas Matthew Crooks had twice been to Donald Trump rallies, his phone contained photos of Trump and President Joe Biden and his search history included dates for the Democratic National Convention and upcoming Trump events, three US officials told CNN.
The new details shed more light on what Crooks was up to in the days and hours leading up to the attempted assassination of the former president, but investigators combing through Crooks’ physical and digital footprint still lack a key detail that explains why the 20-year-old climbed onto a roof in Butler, Pennsylvania, with an AR-type weapon.
Sources told CNN that police had been searching for the gunman about 19 minutes before the shooting, but didn’t find him until he was on the roof.
Butler County Executive Tom Knights said police responded to a report of a “suspicious male” around the same time that Trump arrived for a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday.
Knights said Wednesday that the report said he was near the AGR building where the would-be assassins of President Trump ultimately launched their attack.
Knights said the officer tried to get onto the roof with the help of a colleague who tried to lift him up, and as the officer was scaling the side of the building, he saw a person on the roof pointing a rifle at him.
Butler Township police “immediately” communicated the shooter’s location, but “minutes later, he began firing shots,” the statement said.
From the roof of a building about 150 yards north of the rally stage, Crooks fired several shots at Trump, grazing him in the ear and hitting several rally attendees, one of whom was killed.
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