The FBI and Secret Service on Sunday are investigating the possible motive of the gunman who opened fire during former President Donald Trump’s rally, grazing the former president’s ear and leaving a bystander dead.
Snipers “neutralized” suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, not far from the Butler County site of Trump’s rally.
Trump’s ear was grazed, one spectator was killed and two others were critically injured in the shooting, apart from the shooter. Trump is “safe,” as the Secret Service confirmed Saturday night, and President Biden is continuing to receive updates from top administration officials.
According to law enforcement sources, bystanders spotted Crooks shortly before the incident unfurled and reported his presence to law enforcement. Officials momentarily lost track of the suspect. Minutes later, he crawled up the side of the shed, “popped up” on the roof, and immediately began shooting, according to officials. The suspect fired 6-8 rounds using a semi-automatic AR-15, approximately 400 feet from the podium.
Suspicious devices were found in the suspect’s vehicle, a law enforcement source confirmed Sunday. The FBI and Secret Service are still combing through Crooks’s history. The Pentagon said Sunday morning that Crooks had no military service history.
Trump and Mr. Biden spoke Saturday night in what a White House official called a “good, short and respectful” call. The president addressed the nation in brief remarks from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, Saturday night, returning to the White House late Saturday night.
Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, Sunday morning, saying it “was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.”
“We pray for the recovery of those who were wounded, and hold in our hearts the memory of the citizen who was so horribly killed,” he wrote. “In this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand United, and show our True Character as Americans, remaining Strong and Determined, and not allowing Evil to Win.”
The Republican National Convention is expected to continue as planned in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, this week, albeit in a mode of even more heightened security.