Suspected Trump shooter identified as 20-year-old Pittsburgh-area resident, FBI says

Update: 7/14/24-11:00 a.m. – Law enforcement personnel found explosives both inside the car belonging to the suspected shooter and inside the house where he was living, according to a CNN report.

Update: 7/14/24-12:15 p.m. – Pa. Gov. Shapiro said at a news conference that the victim who was killed at the rally has been identified as 50-year-old retired Buffalo township volunteer fire chief Corey Comperatore. Shapiro said Comperatore “died a hero” after diving on members of his family in an effort to save them from nearby gunfire.

Update: 7/14/24-1:15 p.m. – A former classmate of the suspected shooter relayed in a CNN interview that the suspect was bullied in high school and had had trouble making friends.

The suspect who fired multiple shots at former President Donald Trump on Saturday afternoon at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa. has been identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, the FBI said in a statement to multiple media outlets early Sunday morning.

Crooks was killed by Secret Service agents who returned fire during the incident.

Trump sustained injuries to the top of his right ear after having been “pierced” by a bullet, the former president said in a statement on the social media platform Truth Social on Saturday evening.

Trump’s campaign has confirmed to media outlets that following the rally he was taken to a local hospital for a medical evaluation and was released shortly thereafter and is doing “fine.”

Trump returned to his private golf club in Bedminster, N.J. on Sunday morning, according to media reports.

The Republican National Convention is scheduled to begin on Monday in Milwaukee.

Gunfire from the suspected shooter led to the death of one rally attendee and critical injuries for another. The identity of those individuals has yet to be reported.

Crooks was a registered Republican but gave $15 to a Democratic-affiliated group, according to media reports citing Federal Election Commission records.

Crooks was a resident of Bethel Park, a suburb of Pittsburgh, where he lived with his parents. He had graduated from a local high school in 2022. It is unclear what his motive for the apparent assassination attempt may have been.

Crooks’ parents declined to speak with media outlets following the incident.

Crooks is believed to have used an AR-15 assault rifle to have fired at the former president, according to the Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies.

Authorities had been warned before the rally that a man carrying a rifle had been seen climbing up a building located about 50-ft away from the secured area where the rally was to take place, a witness said in an interview with the BBC on Saturday.

“Why is there no Secret Service on all of these roofs here,” Greg Smith asked. “This is not a big place.”

Smith described the situation to the BBC as a “100% security failure.”

The incident occurred while Trump was giving a speech.

At the sound of a suspicious noise, Secret Service agents jumped on the former president and held him down until they received confirmation that threat had been neutralized. Agents then escorted Trump off the stage and later into an armored vehicle.

While flanked by agents, Trump could been seen bleeding and visibly upset.  The former president waved his fist in defiance.

Audio obtained by CNN relays agents discussing their next move and Trump asking if he could pick up his shoes before leaving the podium.

President Joe Biden strongly condemned the attack on Trump in a statement on Saturday afternoon and later at a news conference in the evening.

“There’s no place in America for this kind of violence,” Biden said. “It’s sick. It’s sick. That’s one of the reasons why we have to unite this country. You cannot allow for this to be happening. We cannot be like this. We cannot condone this.”

Biden later spoke with Trump via phone, the White House confirmed to CBS on Saturday evening.

Biden was in Delaware when the incident took place and subsequently travelled back to Washington to get briefed on the matter by law enforcement agencies.

The incident is being investigated as an assassination attempt.

Biden was joined by politicians from across the aisle in condemning the incident, including former Presidents George W. Bush. Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

Pa. Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), who is seen as rising star in the party, said in a statement that political violence is “unacceptable”

Shapiro said the Pa. State Police are actively “working with our federal and local partners” to investigate the incident.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) echoed similar sentiments to Shapiro.

“Political violence is unacceptable and against what our country stands for,” Moore said in a statement. “This kind of cowardice must be roundly condemned by all Americans. What happened today to President Trump is abhorrent and should never be tolerated. Ever. We are grateful for the swift action of law enforcement as we await more information and pray for former President Trump and his family.”

The goodwill coming from many of Trump’s harshest critics is considerably rare.

Democrats often describe Trump as an authoritarian figure and some have even gone as far as to say he has “fascist” tendencies.

The apparent assassination attempt on Trump is perhaps the most serious situation the Secret Service has had to deal with since the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan by John Hinkley.

Other notable incidents in recent history include a 1972 assassination attempt on Ala. governor and independent presidential candidate George Wallace-which left Wallace paralyzed from the waist down-and the 1968 assassination of Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy.

Wallace had Secret Service protection. Kennedy did not.

Former presidents get Secret Service protection for life, but the details are not as large and as comprehensive as that of a sitting president.

Major candidates for president also are entitled to Secret Service protection. The Secretary of Homeland Security generally makes the determination.

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has often complained that he has not received Secret Service protection despite having reportedly received several threats.

While candidate protection is expected to increase further after the attack on Trump, it is unclear whether that courtesy will extend to long-shot candidates.

This story is being updated…