United States: Donald Trump, the erstwhile American president and the prevailing candidate in the forthcoming US presidential race, sustained a gunshot wound to his ear during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday. He remains unscathed.
The assailant, identified by the FBI as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, unleashed the attack at the Butler, Pennsylvania, rally.
Crooks hailed from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, roughly an hour’s drive from Butler.
A Secret Service sniper neutralized Crooks at the event, according to officials, as per CBS News Reports.
The FBI released a statement declaring:
“The FBI has identified Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the individual involved in the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on July 13, in Butler, Pennsylvania. This investigation remains active and ongoing. Anyone with pertinent information is urged to submit photos or videos online at FBI.gov/butler or call 1-800-CALL-FBI.”
“We do not currently have an identified motive,” stated Kevin Rojek, FBI Pittsburgh special agent in charge, during a briefing Saturday night. A law enforcement official noted early Sunday that there are no known ties to foreign terrorism at this time and that the suspect was not previously on law enforcement’s radar, although they are continuing to investigate his background.
Federal investigators indicated that the gunman was not carrying identification, prompting them to use DNA analysis for biometric confirmation of his identity, according to CBS.
A law enforcement official mentioned early Sunday that the Secret Service and FBI are delving into the suspect’s background and interviewing his family. The FBI has secured his residence, and federal law enforcement is conducting a search of his family’s home in suburban Pittsburgh, the official added.
The shooting resulted in the death of one rally attendee, with two others in critical condition. Officials disclosed that the victims were all men but did not release their names.
Trump conveyed via social media that a bullet had grazed the upper portion of his right ear. He was examined at a local hospital before departing the area under Secret Service protection and flying to New Jersey late Saturday night.
The assailant fired an AR-style rifle from a distance of 200 to 300 feet away from the rally stage, positioned on the roof of a shed beyond the security perimeter, multiple law enforcement sources reported.
In line with the protocol for the presumptive nominee, Trump’s Secret Service detail had been augmented with additional assets, including more personnel, counter-sniper teams, drones, and robotic dogs, a law enforcement official revealed. On Saturday, there were four counter-sniper teams on-site, the official stated, as reported by CBS News.
Moreover, Trump’s teleprompter is fortified, and the flag and podium banners are constructed of steel, the official noted.
A rally attendee recounted that shortly after Trump began speaking, he observed a man “bear crawling” up a building.
“We’re pointing at the guy,” said the witness, named Greg, adding, “he had a rifle—you could literally see him with a rifle.” He informed the BBC that he and others alerted the police and pointed him out to US Secret Service agents, estimating that the man was on the roof for “three or four minutes” before shots were fired.
Other witnesses told CBS Pittsburgh station KDKA that they, too, saw the gunman and attempted to alert officers before the shooting.
The FBI is spearheading the investigation into the shooting.