WASHINGTON — Federal investigators are examining the possibility that an alleged assassin examined the area where the former president donald trump was scheduled to speak six days before a campaign rally in Pennsylvania where Trump was injured.
A cellphone linked to the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, included geolocation data that indicated he may have been in the area of the Butler Farm Show grounds on July 7, according to federal authorities. and information provided by the FBI on Wednesday during a congressional press conference. Crooks opened fire on the roof of a warehouse there on Saturday, grazing the former president’s right ear, killing one rally attendee and seriously injuring two others.
The new details about Crooks’ possible whereabouts on July 7 mean he may have checked the site before law enforcement even performed a security assessment. The Secret Service met with local law enforcement officials for an initial visit on July 8 and finalized plans a few days later.
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The Secret Service finally decided to exclude a warehouse complex north of Trump’s stage from the security zone, despite the closest one being within shotgun range. That decision is now under intense congressional scrutiny. The FBI is responsible for investigating the attempted assassination, but officials have not said whether the agency intends to write a report.
Federal officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss details about the ongoing investigation, said the FBI learned more about Crooks’ movements after he may have staked out the venue.
He told his employer at the nursing home where he worked that he needed to take Saturday off because he had to do something important.
Then, the afternoon before the shooting, Crooks visited a shooting range, authorities said. The next morning, he purchased a ladder at a Home Depot — although authorities do not believe he used any ladder to climb to the warehouse’s roof — and then purchased ammunition at a nearby gun store, Allegheny Arms and Gun Works.
After Secret Service snipers killed Crooks, authorities recovered from his car a bulletproof vest and several magazines for the rifle, along with rudimentary explosive devices.
The FBI continues to examine cellphones, laptops and flash drives that belonged to Crooks, hoping to glean clues about what led him to shoot the former president. The FBI is intensely focused on developing a portrait of Crooks and what he did during the final months of his life.
Typically, the FBI can gather a huge amount of information in a few days about shooters in high-profile investigations, but for the most part, Crooks remained an enigma, leaving few clues online.
The FBI said Crooks had no known mental illness, but in the briefing to Congress, officials said he had searched online for “severe depressive disorder.”
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