As investigators continue to analyze data extracted from the suspect’s cellphone, laptop and other digital devices, more details are emerging, including that Thomas Matthew Crooks had an interest in attacking Prime Minister Robert Fitcho, who was critically wounded in a shooting in May.
FBI officials said in a conference call with reporters on Monday that Trump had agreed to be interviewed about the July 13 assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“We want to hear his version of what he saw,” said Kevin Rojek, FBI Pittsburgh field office director, who is leading the investigation. “This is standard interviewing that we do with any crime victim.”
FBI officials said Crooks’ motive for the shooting remains unclear and they have not found any evidence pointing to anyone involved in the attack. They plan to continue searching Crooks’ cellphone, gaming and social media accounts to determine a motive or look for signs of co-conspiracy.
Officials said the suspects used false names and at least some encrypted communications accounts to buy firearms materials and supplies to make explosive devices.
Crooks, 20, opened fire from a rooftop just outside the security perimeter as Trump was speaking at an outdoor rally, firing at least eight shots, killing one person, wounding two and wounding Trump in the crowd before being shot dead by a Secret Service sniper.
The FBI said last week that a bullet or shrapnel grazed the former president’s ear.
Investigators found two explosive devices in Crooks’ car, which was parked at the rally. Authorities said Monday that the devices were capable of detonating but were “off.”
Investigators have interviewed more than 450 people, including Crooks’ parents, who did not appear to have had any indications before the incident and are cooperating with authorities, authorities said.
“We believe the suspect went to great lengths to conceal his actions,” Rojek said.
While the FBI is primarily focusing on the perpetrator and his actions prior to the assassination attempt, separate congressional and federal investigations are ongoing into security failures that allowed a rifleman to position himself to shoot Trump from about 150 yards away. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) have appointed seven Republicans and six Democrats to a bipartisan special committee to investigate the assassination attempt. The committee will have subpoena power and will oversee all House committee investigations related to the attack.
Rojek said Monday that the gunman scaled a heating and cooling unit near the building, got onto the roof and then worked his way across other roofs before settling into position to launch the attack.
Investigators are still trying to understand the gunman’s actions leading up to the evening attack, which they said he drove to the rally about 11 a.m., spent about an hour there and then drove back to his home about 50 miles away.
Later that day, the gunman told his parents he was going to a shooting range but instead drove back to the rally, arriving about 3:45 p.m. and flying the drone around the event for about 10 minutes, authorities said. The drone did not contain a memory card, so investigators were unable to determine what information the gunman may have obtained from it about the event’s security, authorities said.
Officials said the man left the rally for about an hour before returning prepared to attack, carrying a backpack and an AR-style weapon with a folding stock, a modification that makes the weapon more compact.
Authorities said they were still investigating how the weapons were hidden at the rally.
Officials described the gunman as a “highly intelligent” man who had attended college and had a stable job, but said he didn’t have many friends and they were struggling to determine much about him or his motives.
Authorities said Crooks’ social interactions were primarily with close family members. His family owns more than a dozen guns, and Crooks had a hobbyist interest in guns for several years. That hobby morphed into more formal shooting training and lessons in September, authorities said.
His father, who purchased the gun used in the attack in 2013, legally transferred ownership of it to his son last year.
“We believe he had very few friends or acquaintances throughout his life,” Rojek said.
Meanwhile, aides to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) sent text messages Monday to police officers assisting with security that day, indicating they were aware of the shooter and were concerned about him. However, he was not seen with a weapon until shortly before the attack.
About two hours before the gunman opened fire, a local police officer texted a colleague that he had seen a young man firing a gun at a picnic table. Watching for counter-snipers on the roof. “He knows you guys are up there,” an officer texted.
About 30 minutes before the shooting, another An officer said they saw an individual using a rangefinder to look towards the stage and passed on their concerns to others.
“FYI, if you want to let the SS sniper know, be careful, I lost him,” the officer texted, referring to the Secret Service.
The text message exchange was reported Sunday by The New York Times and ABC News.
FBI officials have not investigated the extent of security lapses at the event, but noted that no witnesses who saw Crooks that day reported seeing him with a weapon.
That wasn’t until a local police officer was sent up onto the roof to peer at the shooter and see that he was holding a rifle. Butler County Sheriff Michael T. Throop told The Washington Post earlier this month that the officer didn’t have the hands to draw his weapon so he went back down.
FBI officials said Monday that the gunman opened fire about 30 seconds into the encounter.
Samuel Oakford contributed to this report.
