«What the Hell is Going On?»
Authorities have identified the gunman involved in the attack on former U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks. The shooter was killed by Secret Service agents at the scene.
The FBI named Crooks in a statement early Sunday morning, identifying him as a resident of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, about 35 miles south of Butler, where Trump held his rally, CNN reported.
The gunman opened fire on Trump from a rooftop outside the rally's security perimeter and was killed by Secret Service agents, law enforcement officials said.
Witnesses at the Trump rally described a «bloody» and chaotic scene as people tried to provide first aid to those shot and tried to make their way through the dense crowd.
The shooting left one protester dead and two others in critical condition, authorities said. Trump was wounded and wrote on social media that a bullet struck him in the upper part of his ear, although his campaign said he was otherwise fine. Trump flew back to Newark, New Jersey, late Saturday.
Attention now turns to an active and ongoing investigation that will involve multiple federal and Pennsylvania agencies. The FBI urged members of the public to provide any information they may have via email or on the agency's website, including photos or video of the shooting.
Here’s what we know right now about the shooter: Thomas Matthew Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022. He was registered to vote as a Republican, according to a listing in a Pennsylvania voter database that matched his name, age and Bethel Park address, which law enforcement searched Saturday night and which is linked in public records to the scammers. This year’s presidential election would have been the first in which he would have been old enough to vote.
But here’s the kicker: Federal Election Commission records show that a donor registered as Thomas Crooks with the same address gave $15 to a Democratic political action committee called the Progressive Turnout Project in January 2021.
The suspect's father, Matthew Crooks, 53, contacted by CNN, said he was trying to figure out «what the hell is going on» but would «wait until I talk to law enforcement» before talking about his son.
After Crooks was killed at the crime scene, there was no identification on his body, so agents had to «run his DNA and get biometric confirmation,» said Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek, FBI Pittsburgh Field Office.
Law enforcement sources told CBS News that Crooks, a teenager, was armed with a semi-automatic, «AR-style assault rifle.» At the time of the attack, he was apparently wearing clothing promoting one of the most popular YouTube channels dedicated to firearms, Demolition Ranch, NBC News reported.
Supporters of the Republican candidate have lashed out at the Secret Service, which is responsible for protecting Trump as the former U.S. president. Billionaire Elon Musk has called on the Secret Service's top brass to resign, Reuters reported.
«How was a fully armed sniper allowed to get on the roof closest to a presidential candidate?» — conservative activist Jack Posobiec wondered on social media.
The assassination attempt will undoubtedly lead to a review of Trump's security measures, and in the future he will likely be given a level of protection closer to that of a sitting president, says former Secret Service agent Joseph Lasorsa, who served on the presidential guard.