What do we know about the shooter behind the attack on Donald Trump? – NBN News

Former President Donald Trump has confirmed he was shot in the upper ear while on stage at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

At approximately 6:10 p.m. (local time) Saturday night, a gunman fired multiple shots into the stage at Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania, killing one audience member and seriously wounding two others, the Secret Service said.

The shooter was subsequently killed by the Secret Service.

The shooter was able to fire at Trump from the roof of a nearby building. (Image: Polly Hanning)

Police snipers return fire after shots were fired as Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump spoke at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Saturday, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) (AP)

Who Shot Donald Trump?

The FBI this afternoon named Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the suspect involved in the attempted murder.

The agency said the investigation is still ongoing.

At a press conference earlier this afternoon, Lt. Col. George Bivens, the FBI’s deputy commissioner for operations, said authorities have not yet identified the shooter or the motive behind the attack. He would not rule out the possibility that the shooter acted alone.

“I think it’s too early to say that we have identified one shooter for now, but we won’t stop there,” he told reporters.

“We absolutely do not believe this was a lone attack and that is why we are looking for additional information that could point us to someone else who may have had a hand in this.

“We are busy following up on a lot of information. It will take some time before we can definitively ask or answer that question.”

Bivens said their biggest priority was determining the motive and whether other parties were involved in the attack.

“I think once the shooter is identified, anyone who has specific information about him would be very helpful as well,” he said.

Was the shooter at Donald Trump’s rally?

Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger said the shooter was outside the protest grounds at the time of the attack, but he did not provide further information about where.

“Honestly, I don’t know how he got to where he was, but he was off the property and I think that’s what we need to find out: how he got there,” he said.

According to the Secret Service, the shooter fired multiple shots into the stage, killing one audience member and seriously wounding two.

The agency said the shooter fired from “an elevated position outside the location of the rally.” Officers “neutralized” the shooter, who is now dead.

U.S. Secret Service agents surround the stage during a campaign rally with Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) (AP)

The agency said the shooter fired from “an elevated position outside the location of the rally.”

Witness Greg Smith told the BBC that about five minutes into Trump’s speech, he saw a man crawl onto a building near the Butler County event and alerted police.

“We saw the man crawling like a bear across the roof of the building next to us, about 50 feet away,” he said.

“He had a gun, we could clearly see a gun.”

Smith said he later saw the officers shoot the gunman: “They got on the roof, they had their guns on him, made sure he was dead. He was dead, and that was it — it was over.”

What kind of weapon did the shooter have?

Police found an AR-style rifle at the scene of a shooting at a Trump rally, an AP source said.

In Trump’s post on his Truth Social account, he explains that he was hit by a bullet that pierced the upper part of his right ear.

“I was hit by a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear. I knew something was wrong because I heard a whooshing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet rip through my skin. There was a lot of bleeding, so that’s when I realized what was happening. GOD BLESS AMERICA!” he wrote.

With Associated Press, CNN