In the 24 hours since former President Donald Trump was shot during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, details are slowly emerging.
The FBI identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, who died shortly after the shooting.
Trump was speaking to supporters in the Pittsburgh suburb of Butler about Biden’s immigration record when gunfire rang out minutes into his speech. Trump was seen clutching his ears after what sounded like a gunshot.
Secret Service agents quickly surrounded the former president on all sides as he ran onto the stage, shocking onlookers and eliciting screams from the crowd.
Shooting at Trump rally investigated as assassination attempt
Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump is assisted by security guards after shots rang out during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. (Reuters/Brendan McDiarmid)
Trump pumped his fist into the crowd, his supporters cheering, as officers helped him from the ground, escorted him off the stage and into a car.
Trump was largely unharmed, but one spectator, Corey Comperatore, 50, of Thurber, Pennsylvania, was killed and two others, David Duch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74, of Thurber, Pennsylvania, were injured. Both were in stable condition, Pennsylvania State Police said Sunday.
Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump reacts as multiple gunshots ring out during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. (Reuters/Brendan McDiarmid)
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said Comperatore, a former firefighter, was protecting his wife and two daughters when he heard gunshots.
Crooks was shot and killed by a U.S. Secret Service agent moments after the shooting, which authorities said the suspect fired from an elevated position outside the rally’s security perimeter.
Biden meets with Trump after Pennsylvania rally shooting
An undated file photo of Thomas Matthew Crooks. Crooks is the alleged gunman behind the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Fox News Digital Law Enforcement Source)
Participants in the rally reportedly noticed someone on the roof of a nearby building and called local police.
The officer climbed down the ladder and Crooks immediately opened fire on Trump, according to the Associated Press.
When Secret Service agents first saw the shooter, he was already firing on the roof, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Gugliemi told Fox News.
Minutes later, “Secret Service counter snipers neutralized him,” Gouriemi said.
The FBI has recovered the weapon used in the shooting, an AR-style rifle, and Crooks’ cellphone, and the bureau said Sunday it was trying to gain access to the devices.
Authorities believe the rifle Crooks used was legally purchased by his father several months earlier, but the FBI said it remains unclear how Crooks obtained the weapon.
Authorities said explosives were found in the gunman’s car, which was turned over to the FBI in Quantico, Virginia, and bomb-making materials were also found at Crooks’ home.
Investigators are trying to determine a motive for the shooting. Voting records show Crooks was registered as a Republican. November 8, 2022 State Election, Because of my age.
Records show he donated $15 to the Progressive Turnout Project, a Chicago-based political action committee that supports Democratic candidates for office and claims to advocate for “the Democratic Party’s core constituencies: young people, minorities and low-income voters.”
President Biden is scheduled to deliver the speech from the Oval Office at 8 pm ET. On Saturday, Biden said he had spoken with President Trump and had directed the Secret Service to provide him with “all the resource capabilities and safeguards necessary to continue to ensure his security.”
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The Secret Service said Sunday that there were no changes to security plans for the Republican National Convention.
