Police have named the individual who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday.
The FBI reported that the attacker, now deceased, was identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. The motive remains unclear.
The assailant was swiftly “neutralized” by Secret Service agents, according to chief of communications Anthony Guglielmi.
Three senior U.S. law enforcement officials stated that Crooks used a semi-automatic rifle, based on evidence found at the scene.
Bethel Park is a mostly white, affluent suburb south of Pittsburgh. Butler, where the rally took place, is roughly an hour’s drive north of Pittsburgh.
Pennsylvania voting records showed that Thomas Matthew Crooks, with a matching address and birth date, registered as a Republican, though the timing of this registration was not specified.
At a Saturday night (Jul. 13, 2024) press conference, state police Lt. Col. George Bivens said investigators were close to confirming the shooter’s identity, who had no identification on him.
“The shooter has been tentatively identified,” he stated. “It’s a matter of doing biometric confirmations.”
Authorities at the news conference also said that finding a motive and determining whether the shooter had accomplices was a priority.
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