Donald Trump
By Victory Oghene
The Federal Bureau of Investigation.(FBI) has uncovered the identity of the gunman suspected of shooting at the former United States President, Donald Trump.
According to a statement by the FBI, he was 20 years old, Thomas Matthew Crooks from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.
Trump was shot at during a rally in Pennsylvania, with Secret Service agents swarming the former president after a series of gunshots. He was quickly bundled off stage and into a waiting vehicle and has since returned home to New Jersey.
He is “doing well” and is grateful to law enforcement officers, according to a statement published on the Republican National Committee (RNC) website.
The FBI said they are treating the incident as an assassination attempt on Trump. In a post to his Truth Social network, Trump said a bullet pierced the “upper part” of his right ear. “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. “Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening.”
Blood was clearly visible on Trump’s ear and face as protection officers rushed him away. The FBI statement added that the incident is an “active and ongoing investigation.”
Pennsylvania police say there are no further threats following the shooting. The suspect was shot dead at the scene by a US Secret Service sniper, the agency’s spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said.
He added that one bystander was killed in the shooting and two others were critically injured. All three victims were male, officials later confirmed.
Law enforcement sources told CBS News that Crooks had been armed with “an AR-style rifle” and had fired from a building a few hundred metres away outside the venue. Special Agent Kevin Rojek confirmed the agency was treating the shooting as an assassination attempt. He added that the Crooks had not been carrying ID and that investigators used DNA to formally identify him. They have yet to identify a motive for the assassination attempt, Mr Rokek said.
State voter records show that Crooks was a registered Republican, US media report. He is also reported to have donated $15 to a liberal campaign group in 2021.
