The FBI has identified the shooter at a rally for former President Donald Trump, which resulted in two fatalities and multiple injuries, as Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. Crooks was named by the FBI as the individual responsible for the assassination attempt on Trump, firing multiple shots from an elevated position outside the rally before being neutralized by Secret Service agents.
Multiple witnesses said they saw the gunman before the shooting and alerted authorities. Trump supporter Ryan Knight said he saw the attacker on a nearby building.
“When I was sitting there, a guy said: ‘Oh God, he had a gun’,” Knight told journalists.
Local police said they had “responded to a number of reports of suspicious activity” but gave no further details. The attacker was armed with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, US media reported.
The gunman and a bystander were killed at the rally, while two spectators were critically wounded. Two witnesses told US media they saw a man fatally shot in the head.
“The man beside me suffered a gunshot to the head, was instantly killed (and)… Another woman looked like she got hit in the forearm or hand,” a man, whose name was only given as Joseph, told NBC News.
A second witness, who said he was an emergency doctor, said he went to help after someone shouted that a person had been shot.
“The guy had spun around and was jammed between the benches. He had a headshot here,” he said, indicating a spot on his head, in comments shared widely in US media.
“There’s lots of blood, and he had brain matter,” said the man, who was wearing a white USA T-shirt stained with blood.
Trump lands in New Jersey, plans to spend the night at his private golf club
Trump’s private jet landed shortly after midnight Sunday at Newark Liberty International Airport.
Video posted by an aide showed the former president deplaning, flanked by U.S. Secret Service agents and heavily armed members of the agency’s counter assault team.
It was an unusually visible show of force by his protective detail.
Trump planned to spend the night at his private golf club in nearby Bedminster, New Jersey.
Seunmanuel Faleye is a brand and communications strategist. He is a covert writer and an overt creative head. He publishes Apple’s Bite International Magazine.
