Explosive Devices Found In Car Of Donald Trump Rally Shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks

At a rally on Saturday, July 13, chaos unfolded as Donald Trump was rushed off-stage after an assassination attempt on the former president.

Several gunshots were heard just moments after Trump took the stage, and Secret Service agents immediately swarmed the 78-year-old and ducked behind the podium. Blood was seen on his right ear as he was being taken to safety.

Hours after the attempted assassination, Donald Trump's shooter, who is now deceased, has been identified.

Former President Donald Trump was shot in the ear at a Pennsylvania Rally on Saturday. Federal authorities say the shooting was an assassination attempt. One spectator was killed, and two others were critically injured after "multiple shots" were fired, according to the Secret Service.

The Secret Service shot and killed the suspected gunman, identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks. According to the Wall Street Journal, sources briefed on the investigation say authorities also discovered explosive devices in the car Crooks had been driving.

On Sunday morning, Trump said that God "prevented the unthinkable," following his survival of a shooting at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The FBI identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, a predominantly white city located in the southern part of the greater Pittsburgh area. The rally occurred in Butler, about an hour's drive north of Pittsburgh.

He was a 2022 graduate of Bethel Park High School. A law enforcement official reported that there are currently no known ties to foreign terrorism for Crooks, and he was not on law enforcement's radar, per CBS.

Pennsylvania voter records listed a Thomas Matthew Crooks with the same address and birth date as a registered Republican. However, the records did not specify when this registration took place. He did previously make a $15 donation to a Democratic-aligned group.

According to NBC, Crooks used a semi-automatic rifle, and approximately eight shots were fired. Law enforcement sources stated that he was positioned on top of a shed outside the security perimeter set up by the Secret Service and opened fire from approximately 400 feet away from the stage.

A motive has not been announced at this time.

Hours after the shooting, Donald Trump took to social media to release a statement.

"I want to thank The United States Secret Service, and all of Law Enforcement, for their rapid response on the shooting that just took place in Butler, Pennsylvania," he said. "Most importantly, I want to extend my condolences to the family of the person at the Rally who was killed, and also to the family of another person that was badly injured. It is incredible that such an act can take place in our Country."

"Nothing is known at this time about the shooter, who is now dead. I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear," the former President revealed. "I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening. GOD BLESS AMERICA!"

The former President is expected to speak Thursday at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

On Sunday, law enforcement officials searched the home thought to be linked to the shooter involved in the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.

A neighbor told CBS Pittsburgh that police evacuated her home in the middle of the night, informing her that she would not be allowed back until at least noon on Sunday.

"They asked us to leave our house. They told us it was a state of emergency, no warning, just a knock on the door in the middle of the night," Kelly Little told the news station. "They told us we could come back in a couple of hours, likely."