The FBI director disclosed that the 20-year-old assailant who targeted Donald Trump at a campaign gathering flew a drone over the vicinity approximately two hours prior to the former US president’s speech commencement.
During his testimony before a congressional panel, FBI head Christopher Wray indicated that the investigation into the shooting incident on July 13 had not yet unveiled a motive for the perpetrator.
Thomas Matthew Crooks shot at Trump with an AR-style rifle just after 6:00 pm as the Republican candidate was speaking at a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Perched on a nearby building’s roof, Crooks was swiftly neutralized by a Secret Service marksman less than half a minute after the initial shots were fired.
Trump sustained injuries to his ear, two attendees were gravely hurt, and a 50-year-old Pennsylvania firefighter lost his life.
Following an acknowledgment of the agency’s failure to avert the assassination attempt, US Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned on Tuesday.
Wray mentioned that Crooks flew a drone over the rally area for approximately 11 minutes, between 3:50 pm and 4:00 pm, positioning it roughly 200 yards away from the stage where Trump was slated to speak.
The drone and its controller were eventually found in the gunman’s vehicle.
Moreover, the FBI director disclosed that two “relatively crude” explosive devices were discovered in Crooks’s car, along with another at his residence.
These devices possessed remote detonation capabilities, and a transmitter was found in possession of the gunman when he was shot.
Wray noted, “It appears that the explosives wouldn’t have functioned if he attempted to trigger them from the roof due to the on-off configuration of the receivers, but this doesn’t diminish the potential danger of the explosives.”
When asked about the number of shots fired, Wray mentioned that eight cartridges were retrieved from the roof.
No Definitive Motive Yet
Wray informed members of the House Judiciary Committee that a clear motive had not yet been established by investigators.
“We have not identified a concrete motive at this point, but we are intensively investigating as it is a key aspect of our inquiry,” expressed the FBI chief.
He added that the gunman seemed to have conducted numerous searches regarding public figures in general, without a discernible pattern discovered thus far.
“Starting around July 6, he significantly fixated on former President Trump and the rally,” Wray revealed.
Referring to a search activity on July 6, Wray noted, “He performed a Google search asking, ‘How far away was Oswald from Kennedy?'” referencing the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy by Lee Harvey Oswald.
Wray clarified that there is no evidence suggesting the involvement of accomplices or co-conspirators with Crooks at this time.
AFP