The shooter Shots fired To former President Donald Trump Election rally The FBI has identified the suspect in the shooting, which happened Saturday night in Butler, Pennsylvania, as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.
Crooks was from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, about an hour south of Butler. killed Officials said a Secret Service sniper opened fire at the rally.
In a statement, the FBI said:
“The FBI has identified Thomas Matthew Crooks, age 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as a suspect in connection to the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13. This case remains an active investigation and anyone with information that could assist investigators is asked to submit photos or video online at FBI.gov/butler or call 1-800-CALL-FBI.”
“At this time, a motive has not been determined,” Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office said at a press conference late Saturday night.
Law enforcement officials said early Sunday that there are no known foreign terrorism ties at this time and the suspect is not under law enforcement surveillance, but they are still investigating the suspect’s name.
Federal investigators said they were analyzing the shooter’s DNA to confirm his identity because he had no identification.
Law enforcement officials said early Sunday that the Secret Service and FBI were investigating the suspect’s background and were speaking with his family. The FBI has sealed off the suspect’s home and federal law enforcement is searching the grounds of the suspect’s family home outside Pittsburgh, law enforcement officials said.
Law enforcement sources confirmed Sunday that a suspicious device was found in the shooter’s vehicle.
Crooks’ political leanings were not immediately clear: Records show he was a registered Republican voter in Pennsylvania but had previously donated $15 to Democratic-leaning groups. CBS Pittsburgh station KDKA report.
The Bethel Park School District confirmed to KDKA that Crooks is a member of Bethel Park High School’s Class of 2022. School officials pledged to cooperate with police as they investigate the shooting and offered condolences to those affected by the attack.
Authorities said one person at the rally was shot dead and two others were critically injured. Police said the victims, all men, have not been released by name.
Trump He said in a social media post that the bullet had penetrated the top of his right ear. He was examined at a local hospital and then left the area under Secret Service escort for New Jersey late Saturday night.
The gunman was armed with a semi-automatic AR-style rifle, according to multiple law enforcement sources. The ATF is tracking the weapon. He opened fire from the roof of a shed outside the sealed-off rally area, about 400 feet from the stage, officials said.
Law enforcement officials said Trump’s Secret Service unit has been given additional assets as part of the presumptive nominee’s deal due to the heightened primary campaign activity, including personnel, counter-sniper units, drones and robotic dogs. Four counter-sniper teams were on the scene on Saturday, the official said.
Additionally, Trump’s teleprompter is protective and the flag and banner on the podium are made of steel, law enforcement officials said.
A man at the rally said he saw a man “crawling” across the building shortly after Trump began his speech.
“We were pointing at the guy,” said a witness named Greg, adding: “He had a rifle. You could literally see him holding a rifle.” He told the BBC that he and others had called police and pointed him out to US Secret Service agents, and estimated the man had been on the roof for “three or four minutes” before gunshots were heard.
Other witnesses He told CBS Pittsburgh station KDKA They also witnessed the shooter and tried to call police before opening fire, police said.
The FBI is leading the investigation into the shooting.
