The shooter was identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks (20). (File)
Milwaukee, United States:
The gunman who shot former President Donald Trump during an election rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday appears to have acted alone, according to the FBI, which is investigating the act as a potential act of “domestic terrorism.”
The shooter was identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks (20).
“At this point in the investigation, it appears he was a lone actor, but we still have more investigations to go,” said Robert Wells, executive assistant director of the FBI’s National Security Section.
The FBI, he said, is investigating this as an attempted murder” and also as a “potential act of domestic terrorism.” The counterterrorism division and criminal divisions are working together to determine the motive, he added.
The FBI is leading the investigation into the attempted assassination of Trump at an election rally in Pennsylvania.
Trump was hit by a bullet that pierced the upper part of his right ear. He is now safe and continuing with his schedule that includes traveling to Milwaukee to attend the Republican National Convention, which would formally nominate him as the party’s presidential nominee against incumbent Joe Biden.
“The shooter may be dead, but the investigation is ongoing. And because of that, we are limited in what we say right now,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray.
“What we witnessed yesterday was nothing short of an attack on democracy and our democratic process,” he told reporters at a press conference in Washington DC.
According to an FBI official, the investigation into the shooter at Donald Trump’s rally on Saturday has not yet revealed any mental health issues, threatening messages or other motives, but cautioned that it is still early days.
The shooter, according to the FBI, used an AR-style rifle chambered in 5.56 mm, a common caliber for such weapons.
The New York Times said authorities were searching the shooter’s social media and other properties as they tried to determine the motive for the attack.
Biden is likely to address the nation at 8 p.m. in the Oval Office. He will deliver “a powerful and necessary speech to update the nation on the horrific attack on Donald Trump and the need for all Americans to come together to not just condemn, but to end political violence in this country once and for all.” a campaign official told the daily.
Crooks graduated from the Community College of Allegheny County two months ago, earning an associate’s degree in engineering science, school officials said in a statement, adding that they were “shocked and saddened by this terrible turn of events.” Kimberly Cheatle, director of the Secret Service, in a memo to her agents said that “the attempted assassination of former President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, is a moment that will forever be remembered in history.”
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
This story originally appeared on Ndtv.com read the full story
