FBI: Shooter acted alone, motive for shooting at Trump rally remains unknown

Investigators said they were still working Sunday to determine what drove a Bethel Park man to open fire on a political rally the evening before in Butler County, killing a Buffalo Township man and wounding former President Donald Trump.

Two others, including a man from Plum and one from Moon, were injured in what authorities have described as an assassination attempt.

“At present, we have not identified an ideology associated with the subject, but … we’re still very early in this investigation,” said Kevin Rojek, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office. “We’re working hard to determine the sequence of events related to the subject and his movement in the hours, days and weeks prior to the shooting.”

Investigators believe Bethel Park’s Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, acted alone. Rojek said there were no mental health issues.

“We are investigating this as an assassination attempt, but also looking at it as a potential domestic terrorism act,” said Robert “Bobby” Wells, assistant director of FBI’s counterterrorism division.

Gunshots rang out during Trump’s speech at the Butler Farm Show grounds, prompting hundreds of terrified rallygoers in attendance to seek safety. The former president, who said on social media that a bullet pierced the upper part of his right ear, ducked behind the podium before being swarmed by Secret Service agents.

Crooks, who fired from an elevated position outside the rally venue, was fatally shot by agents, the agency said.

One attendee, Corey Comperatore of Buffalo Township, was killed, and two spectators were critically wounded, authorities said. They were identified Sunday by state police as David Dutch, 57, of Plum, and James Copenhaver, 74, of Moon. Both were listed in stable condition.

All available FBI resources were directed to the scene and to assist elsewhere with processing evidence, authorities said during a press call Sunday afternoon. The scene was still being processed then and the shooter’s weapon, phone and an explosive device found in his vehicle were sent to a lab for testing. Wells described the device in the car as rudimentary.

There were also bomb-making materials found at his home, the Associated Press reported, citing law enforcement officials who were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said he spent the morning in briefings with the Justice Department and President Joe Biden.

“The violence that we saw yesterday is an attack on our democracy itself,” he said. “The Justice Department has no tolerance for such violence and as Americans we must have no tolerance for it. This must stop.”

FBI Director Christopher Wray echoed those comments.

“An attempt to assassinate a presidential candidate can only be described as absolutely despicable and will not be tolerated in this country,” he said.

The “AR-style” rifle found next to the shooter’s body was purchased legally by his father, Rojek said. Authorities were still trying to determine how Crooks got access to it.

Working on motive

He had no prior contact with police. Investigators were attempting to examine the shooter’s cellphone content and combing through his social media accounts, but said they’ve been stifled so far in determining why Crooks planned the attack.

“The primary avenue we’re trying to get to is determine motive,” Wray said. “We’re looking into his background, his day-to-day activities, any writings or social media posts that might help us identify what led to this shooting. We have not seen anything threatening at this time.”

Meta — owner of Facebook and other social media properties — did not return a request for comment about the shooter’s social media accounts.

A statement from the social media platform Discord said: “We have identified an account that appears to be linked to the suspect; it was rarely utilized and we have found no evidence that it was used to plan this incident or discuss his political views.”

Rojek did not have any information about the shooter having contact with police prior to getting onto the nearby roof. Authorities were still working on interviewing those at the scene, he said.

The Associated Press reported that rallygoers noticed a man climbing to the roof of a nearby building and warned local police, according to two law enforcement officials.

One local police officer climbed to the roof and encountered Crooks, who pointed his rifle at the officer. The officer retreated down the ladder, and Crooks quickly took a shot toward Trump from about 150 meters away before being shot himself, the officials told the AP.

The AP analyzed more than a dozen videos and photos from the rally, as well as satellite imagery of the site, and found that the shooter was able to get astonishingly close to the stage where the former president was speaking. The Secret Service is investigating how that happened.

FBI authorities said they remain vigilant in advance of the Republican and Democratic national conventions. Deputy Director Paul Abbate said they’ve seen violent rhetoric online increase in the aftermath of the shooting, with some mimicking or posing as the shooter.

Trump called Sunday for unity and resilience. Aides to the presumptive Republican presidential nominee said he was in “great spirits” and doing well.

“I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin,” Trump wrote on his social media site. “Much bleeding took place.”

Records show Crooks was registered as a Republican voter in Pennsylvania, but federal campaign finance reports also show he gave $15 to a progressive political action committee on Jan. 20, 2021, the day President Joe Biden was sworn in to office.

The attack was the most serious attempt to kill a president or presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981. It drew new attention to concerns about political violence in a deeply polarized United States less than four months before the presidential election. And it could alter the tenor and security posture at the Republican National Convention, which begins Monday in Milwaukee.

Convention will continue

Organizers said the convention would proceed as planned.

Trump flew to New Jersey after visiting a local Pennsylvania hospital, landing shortly after midnight at Newark Liberty International Airport. Video posted by an aide showed the former president leaving his private jet flanked by Secret Service agents and heavily armed members of the agency’s counter-assault team, an unusually visible show of force by his protective detail.

Biden, who is running against Trump, was briefed on the attack and spoke to Trump several hours after the shooting, the White House said. He called for an independent review of rally security.

“There’s no place in America for this type of violence,” the president said. “It’s sick. It’s sick.”

Biden late Saturday cut short a weekend at his beach home in Delaware’s Rehoboth Beach to return to Washington.

Many Republicans quickly blamed the violence on Biden and his allies, arguing that sustained attacks on Trump as a threat to democracy have created a toxic environment. They pointed in particular to a comment Biden made to donors on July 8, saying, “It’s time to put Trump in the bullseye.”

Police are following up on more than 2,600 tips received since the shooting. Anyone with information can contact 1-800-CALL-FBI or visit fbi.gov/butler.

The Associated Press contributed.