Trump Rally Shooter Identified As 20-Year-Old From Pittsburgh Area

BUTLER, PA — The gunman who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a rally Saturday in Butler was identified by the FBI early Sunday as Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old from Bethel Park.

Snipers guarding the rally fired on and killed the shooter within seconds, authorities said at a news conference Saturday night. A spectator was killed in the attack and two other spectators were critically injured, according to the Secret Service.

The shooting occurred around 6:15 p.m., not long after Trump began speaking at the rally, the Secret Service said, which was being held ahead of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where Trump is to be formally named the party’s candidate for president.

A video tweeted from the rally shows Trump reaching for his ear just after the first popping sounds are heard, and Secret Service members immediately covering him. The video captures the sound of at least three shots, then several more after Trump is covered by the Secret Service.

The former president said in a statement on Truth Social that his upper right ear was pierced and he “felt the bullet ripping through the skin” and “much bleeding took place.”

Trump was seen holding his ear, with blood on the side of his face, as Secret Service agents were escorting him out of the venue to a medical facility. He was released from the facility around 10:30 p.m., according to reports, and ABC News reported he arrived in New Jersey aboard his private jet early Sunday.

The Secret Service said the shooter fired from "an elevated position outside of the rally venue" in Butler, about an hour north of Pittsburgh. An AR-style semiautomatic rifle was recovered at the scene, the Associated Press reported, citing a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss details of the investigation.

Richard Goldinger, the district attorney in Butler County, confirmed in a live interview on ABC News that the shooter had not been inside the rally venue but had fired from the roof of a building adjacent to the venue, meaning the shooter did not have to go through the rally venue security. Video tweeted from the scene shows what appears to be a dead body on top of a nearby building.

Authorities did not release Crooks' name or any information about him during a news conference shortly before midnight Saturday. Kevin Rojek, a special agent with the FBI, said authorities had one shooter tentatively identified and that it was still too early to release the name.

Authorities used a variety of methods to confirm Crooks' identity, including DNA, biometric markers and other information, as he was not carrying identification, they said. They also were working to determine his motive.

The political leanings of Crooks were not immediately clear. 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. Bethel Park, where Crooks is from, is about 20 minutes south of Pittsburgh.

Authorities declined to release the identities of the spectators who were injured and killed, except to say they were adult men. The injured were being treated at Allegheny General Hospital, CBS News Pittsburgh reported.

Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) told Fox News that his nephew was among the injured, grazed in the neck by a bullet, Politico reported.

The FBI is leading the investigation into the shooting, the agency said Saturday night. Multiple law enforcement agencies were assisting, including the Secret Service and Pennsylvania State Police.

This is the first assassination attempt on a president, current or former, since President Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981 by John Hinkley Jr.

"There is no place in America for this kind of violence. It's sick," President Joe Biden said in a news conference from Rehoboth, Delaware, where he was spending the weekend. He returned to Washington in the wake of the assassination attempt. "The Trump rally should have been able to be conducted peacefully without any problem."

Federal authorities are working with the Trump and Biden campaigns and "are taking every possible measure to ensure their safety and security," said Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. "Maintaining the security of the Presidential candidates and their campaign events is one of our Department’s most vital priorities."

Anyone with video, audio, photos from the venue or other information about the shooting is urged to submit it at fbi.gov/butler or by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI, the FBI said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.