Jul 14, 2024,10:20am EDT
Topline: Authorities are investigating the motive of Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old from Pennsylvania, who the FBI says is responsible for gunshots fired at a Trump rally on Saturday. The incident injured the former president, killed one attendee, and seriously injured two others.
Key Facts:
- The FBI identified Crooks as the suspected shooter early Sunday morning but has released no additional information about him or his motive.
- Crooks was shot and killed by Secret Service after firing shots at the Trump campaign event from a nearby building, according to the Associated Press. An AR-style rifle was recovered at the scene.
- Crooks was a 2022 graduate of Bethel Park High School and a registered Republican with no criminal history, The New York Times reported.
- He donated $15 to the Progressive Turnout Project, a Democratic voter contact campaign, in 2021 but did not appear to be otherwise politically involved.
- Little else is known about Crooks, who was not old enough to have voted in a presidential election before.
- Crooks was identified as the shooter using his DNA and biometric information, according to law enforcement officials.
- CNN reached Crooks’ father, Matthew Crooks, on Saturday, but he declined to comment until he understood “what the hell is going on” and spoke to law enforcement.
- The FBI said the investigation into the shooting is ongoing and officials are working to determine both a motive and if Crooks acted alone.
What We Don’t Know:
- The identity of the attendee who was killed. Law enforcement officials have not released this information. Trump posted on Truth Social, “We pray for the recovery of those who were wounded, and hold in our hearts the memory of the citizen who was so horribly killed.”
Key Background:
- Trump was hosting a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, about an hour from Crooks’ hometown of Bethel Park, when the shooting occurred. Trump ducked behind a podium and was surrounded by Secret Service agents, who ushered him off the stage with blood visible on the right side of his face. Trump later said he was “shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear.” The former president pumped his fist into the air several times as he was escorted away to loud cheers from his audience. The bullets were fired from several hundred feet away, local District Attorney Richard Goldinger told CNN. President Joe Biden said in a statement he is “grateful” to hear Trump was safe and condemned acts of political violence.
Crucial Quote:
- “We will FEAR NOT, but instead remain resilient in our Faith and Defiant in the face of Wickedness,” Trump posted Sunday morning. “Our love goes out to the other victims and their families.”