(TND) — Investigators are still searching for answers as to why a 20-year-old nursing home worker climbed a roof at farm show grounds early Saturday evening and attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump during a political rally with an AR-style rifle.
Authorities have reportedly conducted hundreds of interviews already, and the FBI is encouraging anyone with information helpful to the investigation to contact it at tips.fbi.gov or 1-800-CALL-FBI.
The FBI said it has accessed the gunman’s phone and continues to analyze his electronic devices. The searches of Thomas Matthew Crooks’ home and car are complete.
On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general said it had opened an investigation into the Secret Service’s handling of security that day, according to The Associated Press.
President Joe Biden had already ordered an independent review of the security at the rally.
And Congress members have announced their own investigations.
“I think pretty clearly there was a security lapse at least,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told CNN over the weekend. “And we need to find out, for example, why were drones not used in the area? I've not gotten a satisfactory answer on that yet. ... We have more questions than we have answers, but Congress is going to get down to the bottom of this.”
The latest on how the attempted assassination unfolded
Gunfire erupted about six minutes after Trump began speaking to the rally crowd in Butler, Pennsylvania.
A bullet grazed Trump’s ear, astonishingly close to potential tragedy.
But tragedy did strike for rally attendee Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old former fire chief who was struck by one of the bullets and killed.
Two other spectators were critically wounded.
Secret Service countersnipers fired back and killed the gunman, who was perched on a roof just about 150 yards from where Trump was speaking.
Trump was speaking about border crossings and pointing off to the side to a video board when the shots were fired at 6:11 p.m. Eastern time.
Trump touched his ear and crouched down behind the lectern as Secret Service agents, within a few seconds, were shielding the former president.
About a minute after the shots – three, then five more shots – Trump got to his feet, surrounded by Secret Service agents.
He pumped his fist to the crowd, blood on his face.
And a couple of minutes after the shooting, Trump was ushered into a waiting SUV and taken from the rally site.
About a half hour later, Secret Service Chief of Communications Anthony Guglielmi confirmed Trump was OK.
Later that night, Trump confirmed that he had been struck by a bullet in his right ear.
“I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin,” Trump said on Truth Social. “Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening. GOD BLESS AMERICA!”
In the aftermath of the shooting, officials from both sides of the aisle called for Americans to seek unity and tone down fiery political rhetoric.
Biden in an Oval Office address Sunday night called on Americans to “lower the temperature in our politics.”
“And to remember, while we may disagree, we are not enemies,” Biden said. “We’re neighbors. We’re friends, co-workers, citizens. And, most importantly, we are fellow Americans. And we must stand together.”
Before the shooting
The shooter's motive remains unclear. His political views aren’t even clear.
The AP reports that Crooks was registered as a Republican voter in Pennsylvania, but federal campaign finance reports also show he gave $15 to a progressive political action committee on Jan. 20, 2021, the day Biden was sworn into office.
No manifesto has been found. No answers have reportedly emerged from the shooter’s phone or online accounts.
The AP reported that classmates recount Crooks as a loner who was bullied. But there haven’t been reports of previous violence or mental health concerns.
John Miller, CNN’s chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst, reported that Crooks, who worked as a dietary aide at a nursing home, asked late last week for Saturday off and told co-workers that he’d see them on Sunday.
Miller said on CNN that it’s unclear if Crooks expected to survive and escape.
Fox News on Wednesday reported that Crooks’ parents called law enforcement earlier on Saturday to report him as missing.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Crooks belonged to a shooting club near his home in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.
CNN reported that Crooks visited the shooting range Friday night.
And Miller reported that Crooks bought a 5-foot ladder Saturday morning at Home Depot and 50 rounds of rifle ammunition that afternoon.
Miller said that ladder hadn’t been found, and Crooks apparently climbed onto the low roof from an air conditioning unit.
Crooks used a gun that was legally purchased by his father.
He also reportedly had a pair of remote-controlled bombs in his car parked nearby.
Miller reported that Crooks was flagged as acting suspicious that afternoon at the security screening area for the rally. Crooks reportedly had a rangefinder, which is used by golfers and shooters to measure distances to remote objects.
But Miller said Crooks wouldn’t have been denied entry solely for having a rangefinder.
Miller reported that Crooks left the secure area – it’s unclear if he actually passed through the metal detectors that afternoon – and wasn’t seen again until bystanders outside the secured area spotted him climbing onto the roof.
CNN reported that bystanders saw Crooks climbing onto the roof nearly two minutes before the shooting.
A local officer reportedly climbed to the roof and encountered Crooks, who saw the officer and turned toward him just before the officer either lost his grip or dropped down to safety.
Miller reported that a sniper team saw Crooks looking at them through the rangefinder before the shooting. Soon after that, an exchange of gunfire left the suspect and rally attendee dead, a presidential candidate wounded, and a nation in shock.
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