Washington: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks as the "subject involved" in the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, it said in a statement on Sunday. The shooter was dead, one rally attendee was killed and two other spectators were injured, the Secret Service said in a statement. The incident was being investigated as an assassination attempt.
Crooks, who was from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, was registered as a Republican, according to the state's voter records. The Federal Aviation Administration said on Sunday that the airspace over Bethel Park was closed "effective immediately" for special security reasons. Records show Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was registered as a Republican voter in Pennsylvania, but federal campaign finance reports also show he gave $15 to a progressive political action committee on Jan. 20, 2021, the day President Joe Biden was sworn in to office.
Motive of the attack unknown: Official
Law enforcement officials told reporters the motive behind the shooting is yet to be known. Trump, 78, had just started his speech when the shots rang out. He grabbed his right ear with his right hand, then brought his hand down to look at it before dropping to his knees behind the podium before Secret Service agents swarmed and covered him. He emerged about a minute later, his red "Make America Great Again" hat knocked off, and could be heard saying "wait, wait," before the fist bump, then agents rushed him to a black SUV.
"I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear," Trump said later on his Truth Social platform following the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, about 30 miles (50 km) north of Pittsburgh. "Much bleeding took place."
He left the Butler area under the protection of the U.S. Secret Service with the assistance of the Pennsylvania state police and later arrived at his golf resort and residence in Bedminster, New Jersey.
The shooting occurred less than four months before the November 5 election, when Trump, the Republican candidate, faces an election rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden. Most opinion polls including those by Reuters/Ipsos show the two locked in a close contest.
Trump is due to receive his party's formal nomination at the Republican National Convention, which kicks off in Milwaukee on Monday. The shooting raised immediate questions about security failures by the Secret Service, which provides former presidents including Trump with lifetime protection. It was the first shooting of a US president or major party candidate since the 1981 attempted assassination of Republican President Ronald Reagan.
(With inputs from agency)
