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Former President Donald Trump miraculously escaped an assassination attempt during a rally in Pennsylvania after a 20-year-old man fired eight times from about 140 meters away.
In the 48 hours before he opened fire on former President Donald Trump, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks made a series of stops in and around his suburban Pittsburgh town.
On Friday, he went to a range where he was a member and practiced shooting, a law enforcement official told CNN. The next morning, Crooks went to a home depot, where he bought a five-foot ladder, and a gun store, where he bought 50 rounds of ammunition, the official added.
Crooks then drove his Hyundai Sonata about an hour north, joining thousands of people from across the region who flocked to Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. He parked the car outside the rally, with an improvised explosive device hidden in the trunk that was connected to a transmitter he was carrying, the official said. Then, investigators believe, he used his newly purchased ladder to climb a nearby building and opened fire on the former president.
As investigators continue to search for a motive behind the attempted assassination, they are examining Crooks' movements leading up to the attack and trying to piece together a timeline of his actions leading up to it.
However, nearly 48 hours after the shooting, investigators are struck by the lack of clues they are finding about Crooks' possible mindset and motives. Even after successfully accessing his phone and searching his computer, searching his search history and bedroom, and interviewing his family and friends, agents have yet to find evidence to suggest political or ideological motivation for the shooting. , law enforcement sources told CNN.
Instead, the evidence they have found appears to show typical online activities including an interest in computer coding and gaming, the sources said, and that has raised more questions.
In a sign that his attack could be even more devastating, Crooks had a remote-controlled detonator on his body and the trunk of his car contained a metal canister of explosives that was wired to a receiver, the law enforcement source said. the law.
This suggests the gunman may have planned to set off a remote blast, and investigators are looking into the theory that he may have planned a distraction during the shooting.
It is unclear how Crooks assembled the explosive devices found in his car. Investigators analyzing his Internet search history have found no indication that he was looking for how to make homemade explosives, law enforcement officials said.
The AR Crooks-style rifle used to shoot Trump was legally purchased by his father, Matthew Crooks. It was one of more than 20 firearms registered to the elder Crooks that were kept at the family home, according to Pennsylvania State Police records reviewed by investigators, the official said. All guns are legally purchased.
The gunman and his father were members of the Clairton Sportsmen's Club, a gun club about a 25-minute drive from his home, and liked to go shooting there together, according to law enforcement officials. Rob Bootay, a lawyer for the club, confirmed in a statement that the younger Crooks was a member.
The club, which has about 2,000 members, features a rifle range that is roughly 200 yards, according to a CNN analysis of satellite imagery — longer than the distance between Crooks and Trump when he fired at the former president as he sat in the a place nearby. roof. The range is nestled in 180 acres of woods in the hills south of Pittsburgh.
"The club strongly condemns the senseless act of violence that occurred," Bootay said, adding that he could not "make any additional comment regarding this matter in light of pending law enforcement investigations."
Crooks bought 50 rounds the morning of the attack at Allegheny Arms and Gun Works, a local gun shop in his hometown of Bethel Park, a senior law enforcement official told CNN. Bruce Piendl, the store's owner, said in a statement that "we are thankful that President Trump was not killed, and our hearts and prayers go out to all the victims of this terrible incident."
A spokesman for Home Depot, where Crooks bought the stairs, said in a statement that "we condemn the violence against former President Trump and our thoughts are with him, the other victims of Saturday's horrific events and their families."
It is not clear whether Crooks used the ammunition or the ladders he bought on Saturday during his attack later that day.
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