A senior FBI official said the shooting at a rally for President Donald Trump is being investigated as an assassination attempt and a “potential” act of domestic terrorism.
“at this point [in] “Our investigation indicates that this was an individual act, but the investigation remains ongoing,” said Robert Wells, assistant director of the FBI’s National Security Division, describing the suspect.
“We are investigating this as an assassination attempt,” but also as a “potential act of domestic terrorism,” he said.
“Therefore, the agency’s counterterrorism and criminal divisions are working together to determine the motive.”
Trump survived after being shot in the ear less than 10 minutes into a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, and was escorted off stage by Secret Service officers with blood on his cheek and near his right ear.
One of the victims, identified as Corey Comperatore, was killed and two others were seriously injured during the incident. The Trump campaign said the former president was “OK.”
The suspect in the shooting was identified as Thomas Matthews Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. According to Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Crooks was an employee at the center where he worked as a dietary aide. Crooks died during the incident.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) has asked Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to appear at a hearing later this month, and some Republican lawmakers have already called for Cheatle to be fired in the wake of the shooting.
Special Agent Kevin Rojek of the FBI field office in Pittsburgh said in a conference call with reporters that the weapon recovered in the shooting was “an AR-style .556 rifle that was purchased legally.” Authorities said they believe the weapon was purchased by the suspect’s father.
Rojek said authorities were searching for the gunman’s mobile phone and “found a suspicious device” while searching the suspect’s car, adding that “a bomb squad has examined the vehicle.”
