live icon
Updated

FBI Director Says Gunman Flew Drone Near Stage Hours Before Trump Shooting

| Published | Updated
FBI Director Says Gunman Flew Drone Near Stage Hours Before Trump Shooting
FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before the House Judiciary Committee at the Capitol on July 24, 2024. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Here is the latest
Wray Confirms Shooter’s Parents Reported Him Missing
Crooks Bought Ammo Hours Before Shooting
Wray: Crooks Bought Rifle From Father
Crooks Believed to Have Visited Gun Range Day Before Shooting
Wray Confirms Shooter’s Parents Reported Him Missing
Samantha Flom
Crooks Bought Ammo Hours Before Shooting
Samantha Flom
FBI Director Says Trump Shooter Searched Details of Lee Harvey Oswald and JFK Assassination
Jack Phillips
FBI Director Says Trump Shooter Searched Details of Lee Harvey Oswald and JFK Assassination
FBI director nominee Christopher Wray testifies during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill on July 12, 2017. Alex Wong/Getty Images

Would-be Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks searched for details about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, including how far Lee Harvey Oswald positioned himself from his target, according to July 24 testimony from FBI Director Christopher Wray.

After an FBI analysis of Mr. Crooks’s laptop, according to Mr. Wray, it was determined that the suspected gunman searched for how far Oswald was from President Kennedy during the 1963 assassination. Mr. Crooks carried out the Google search on July 6, the same day the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, was announced, the FBI director told members of the House Judiciary Committee.

“On July 6, he did a Google search for ‘how far away was Oswald from Kennedy,’” Mr. Wray told the House panel.

Crooks Believed to Have Visited Gun Range Day Before Shooting
Samantha Flom
Wray: Shooter Likely Used ‘Mechanical Equipment,’ Piping to Scale Building
Samantha Flom
At Least 700 FBI Agents Investigating Assassination Attempt
FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before the House Judiciary Committee at the Capitol on July 24, 2024. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before the House Judiciary Committee at the Capitol on July 24, 2024. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
No Evidence So Far That Shooter Had Accomplices, Wray Says
Samantha Flom
Gunman Visited Shooting Site Week Before Rally
Samantha Flom
Wray: Shooter Used Drone to Help Set Up Shot
Samantha Flom
Wray: Images of Trump, Biden on Shooter’s Phone Cached From News Articles
Samantha Flom
FBI Director Says Trump Shooter Flew Drone Near Rally Two Hours Before
Jack Phillips
FBI Director Says Trump Shooter Flew Drone Near Rally Two Hours Before
FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, on June 4, 2024. Drew Angerer/AFP via Getty Images

FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday provided an update on the federal investigation into the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump at a Butler, Pennsylvania, rally earlier this month.

So far, the FBI has not identified a motive for suspected gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks’ actions. He was shot and killed immediately after opening fire on the rally, killing one rally-goer, injuring two others, and striking former President Trump in the right ear.

“We have recovered a drone that the shooter used,” he said at a House Judiciary Committee hearing, adding that it was taken from his vehicle.  Two hours before the rally shooting, Mr. Crooks was flying the drone “about 200 yards away” from the rally stage area, the FBI director said.

State Police Warned Secret Service About Trump Shooting Suspect, Pennsylvania Chief Says
Jack Phillips
State Police Warned Secret Service About Trump Shooting Suspect, Pennsylvania Chief Says
Law enforcement officers during a rally on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pa. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Local law enforcement had alerted the U.S. Secret Service to a suspicious individual before the shooting at former President Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania earlier this month, according to the head of the Pennsylvania State Police.

During questioning before the House Homeland Security on July 23, Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Col. Christopher Paris revealed new details about the security failure that led to the attempted assassination of former President Trump, which left one person dead and two injured.

Col. Paris said that “there was a text thread going” with the Butler County Emergency Services Unit, who had seen suspected gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks and reported him as a suspicious person before the incident.

Shooter Flew Drone Near Stage Hours Before Rally
Jack Phillips
Wray: ‘Heinous’ Trump Assassination Attempt Exemplifies Elevated Threat Level
Samantha Flom
Body Camera Footage Released After Trump Shooting
Jack Phillips
Trump Shooter Had Detonation Device on Him: Police Official
Trump Shooter Had Detonation Device on Him: Police Official
Law enforcement agents stand near the stage of a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pa., on July 13, 2024. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

The man who shot former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania on July 13 had a detonation device, the state’s top police official said on July 23.

“We were aware of that very early on and that was a serious tactical consideration in the immediate aftermath as we worked that crime scene,” Col. Christopher Paris, commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police, told a U.S. House of Representatives hearing in Washington.

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) had asked Col. Paris for confirmation that Thomas Crooks, the 20-year-old shooter, had a detonation device and bombs in his car, which was parked near the rally.

Trump Shooter’s Motive Unclear Days Later; Father Has ‘No Comment’
Jack Phillips
Trump Shooter’s Motive Unclear Days Later; Father Has ‘No Comment’
This June 3, 2022 still image taken from video provided by the Bethel Park School District shows student Thomas Matthew Crooks in the 2022 Bethel Park High School Commencement in Bethel Park, Pa. The Bethel Park School District via AP

Ten days after the failed assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally, officials have not found a motive, while other details about the shooter, who was killed that day by a Secret Service sniper, remain unclear.

The shooter’s father, Matthew Brian Crooks, 53, was spotted leaving a store on Monday, telling Fox News that he won’t be releasing a statement on the shooting for the time being.

“We just want to try to take care of ourselves right now. Please, just give us our space,” Mr. Crooks told the Fox News reporter in a videotaped encounter in Bethel Park. “We’re going to release a statement when our legal counsel advises us to do so—until then, we have no comment.”
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle Resigns
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle Resigns
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle testifies during a House Oversight Committee hearing examining potential security failures surrounding the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill, on July 22, 2024. Chris Kleponis/AFP via Getty Images

Kimberly Cheatle, the director of the U.S. Secret Service, resigned on July 23, one day after her testimony before Congress about the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

“I take full responsibility for the security lapse,” she said in the email to Secret Service staff. “In light of recent events, it is with a heavy heart that I have made the difficult decision to step down as your director.”

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas soon after said he was appointing Ronald Rowe, the service’s deputy director, to serve as acting director.