A 20-year-old man, named as Thomas Matthew suspected of shooting at former US president Donald Trump, was shot dead on Saturday, Secret Service said in a statement. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) identified him as a Pennsylvanian man later in the day.
Donal Trump was shot at while speaking at a campaign event in Butler. Around four shots were fired, one of which grazed Trump’s right ear. “I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear,” Trump informed on social media shortly after.
According to a statement by the U.S Secret Service, the shooter was killed, while one rally attendee died and two other spectators were injured.
Who was the shooter?
Although the police did not immediately reveal the identity of the attacker, the FBI later confirmed that the shooter was Thomas Matthew Crooks from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. According to voter records accessed by Reuters, Crooks was a registered Republican.
The police have not yet determined the exact motive behind the attack.
CBS News was informed by security officials that the suspect fired shots from a distance of approximately 200 to 300 feet using a rifle similar to an AR-style weapon from an elevated shed.
Also Read | Andrew Tate and Brother Accused of ‘never paying a penny’ Avoiding Taxes on £21m
During an interview with the BBC, an individual who claimed to be an eyewitness stated that they observed a man carrying a rifle crawling up a roof near the location of the incident. The witness and the people accompanying them tried to draw attention to the man, aiming to alert security.
United State’s Secret Service, the security agency responsible for protecting the area, stated that the shots seemed to originate from outside the perimeter they had secured.
What have the U.S police said?
The US police has appealed to public for information and any mobile phone footage of the attack.
The FBI in a news conference said that they were “still working through the security apparatus that the Secret Service had in place, what potentially happened.” Special agent in charge of the Pittsburgh office Kevin Rojek said it was “surprising” the gunman was able to fire multiple shots.
He added that there is going to be a long investigation into exactly what took place and how the individual was able to get access to the location, what type of weapon he had.
“It’s primarily standard procedure of any suspicious packages, In this case, there was identification of a suspicious package around where the shooter was and so we deployed, in an abundance of caution, bomb assets to make sure those were cleared for investigators to move safely in the area,” he said.
