The shooter who shots fired at former President Donald Trump’s campaign meeting in Butler, Pennsylvania, was identified by the FBI Saturday evening as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.
Crooks was from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, about an hour south of Butler. He is killed by a Secret Service sniper during the meeting, officials said.
The FBI said in a statement:
“The FBI has identified Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the subject of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania. This remains an active and ongoing investigation and anyone with information that may assist the investigation is encouraged to submit images or videos online at FBI.gov/butler or by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI.”
“We have not identified a motive at this time,” Kevin Rojek, FBI special agent in charge of Pittsburgh, said during a briefing late Saturday night.
A law enforcement official said early Sunday morning that there are no known foreign ties to terrorism at this time and that the suspect is not on law enforcement’s radar, but his name is still being sought.
Federal investigators say the shooter had no identification on him, so they analyzed his DNA to confirm his identity biometrically.
A law enforcement official said early Sunday morning that the Secret Service and the FBI are investigating the suspect’s background and speaking with his family. The FBI has secured his home and federal law enforcement officers are searching his family’s suburban Pittsburgh residence, the law enforcement official said.
A police source confirmed Sunday that suspicious equipment was found in the shooter’s vehicle.
Crooks’ political leanings weren’t immediately clear. Records show he was registered as a Republican voter in Pennsylvania but previously made a $15 donation to a Democratic-leaning group, CBS Pittsburgh station KDKA reported.
Bethel Park School District confirmed to KDKA that Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022. School officials pledged to cooperate with police in investigating the shooting and expressed condolences to the victims of the attack.
One spectator at the rally was killed in the shooting and two are in critical condition, officials said. Police said the victims were all male; their names have not been released.
Trump said in a social media post that a bullet pierced the upper part of his right ear. He was evaluated at a local hospital before leaving the area under Secret Service protection and flying to New Jersey late Saturday night.
The shooter was armed with a semi-automatic AR-style rifle, multiple law enforcement sources said. ATF is tracking the weapon. He opened fire from the roof of a barn outside the cordoned-off rally area, about 400 feet from the stage, sources said.
Trump’s Secret Service team has been given additional resources as part of protocol for the presumptive nominee because of his heavy campaigning, including extra manpower, anti-sniper rifles, drones and robotic dogs, the law enforcement official said. Four anti-sniper teams were on the ground Saturday, the official said.
In addition, Trump’s autocue is protective and the flag and banners on the podium are made of steel, the law enforcement official said.
A man who attended the rally said that shortly after Trump began speaking, he saw a man crawling across the building like a bear.
“We’re pointing at the man,” said the witness, named Greg, adding: “He had a gun – you could literally see him with a gun.” He told the BBC that he and others told police and pointed him out to US Secret Service agents, and he estimated the man was on the roof for “three or four minutes” before shots were heard.
Other witnesses told CBS Pittsburgh station KDKA that they had also seen the shooter and had warned the officers before the shooting.
The FBI is leading the investigation into the shooting.