Thomas Matthew Crooks Obituary, – The Secret Service confirmed that a suspected gunman opened fire during a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and was fatally shot by a Secret Service sniper. One rally attendee was killed and two more were critically wounded.
The suspect was shot and killed by a member of a Secret Service counter-assault team. The gunman was outside of the cordoned-off rally area, about 200 to 300 feet from the rally, and was on top of an elevated structure, believed to be a shed. The shooter was armed with an AR-style rifle. Several shots rang out while Trump was speaking on stage at about 6:15 p.m. local time. Video showed the former president immediately touch his ear and then crouch to the ground, with his Secret Service agents rushing the stage.
Some blood could be seen on his face as he stood up and held up his fist to the crowd. He was rushed out to his motorcade and the Secret Service later confirmed that he was safe. Trump said he was “shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear.” The FBI is leading the investigation, with assistance from the Secret Service and state and local agencies.
The shooter was identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. In a news conference late Saturday night, Kevin Rojek, special agent in charge of the FBI Pittsburgh office, refused to speculate on a possible motive. He disclosed that “there was identification of suspicious packages around where the shooter was, and so we deployed, in an abundance of caution, bomb a.
