Trump shooting: Latest developments in the investigation

BUTLER, Pa. - Investigators are hunting for any clues about what may have driven Thomas Matthew Crooks to try to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally.

The 20-year-old first came to law enforcement’s attention at Saturday’s rally when spectators noticed him acting strangely outside the campaign event. The tip sparked a frantic search but officers were unable to find him before he managed to get on a roof, where he opened fire and was then shot dead by Secret Service snipers.

3 snipers were in building used by shooter

CBS News learned three government snipers were stationed inside the building used by the shooter.

According to the plan, they were to be inside the building looking out toward the rally. The information was first reported by BeaverCountian.com.

One of the snipers inside saw Crooks outside looking up at the roof and the rest of the building and disappearing, a local law enforcement officer told CBS News. Crooks came back, sat down and looked at his phone.

One of the snipers took a photo of Crooks.

Crooks took out a rangefinder and the sniper alerted commanders. Crooks walked away and came back with a backpack. The snipers called in that information and said he was walking toward the back of the building.

Officers believe he might have used an air conditioning unit to get to the roof.

By the time other officers came for backup, he was on the roof. State police started rushing in, but Crooks had been shot when they got there.

Other new details of the investigation:

• Crooks bought 50 rounds of ammunition from a gun store in Bethel Park before the rally, according to a law enforcement bulletin obtained by CBS News.
• Two law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation told CBS News the shooter visited a gun range in the days before the shooting.
• The AR-style rifle used by Crooks was purchased legally in 2013, two sources confirmed to CBS News. It’s previously been reported that it was purchased by the shooter’s father.
• Investigators found three suspected improvised explosive devices after the shooting, including two in the shooter’s vehicle parked near the rally site.
• CBS News reported three law enforcement officials said the shooter’s father called police after the shooting. The exact nature and timing of the call were unknown. The FBI says the family is cooperating with investigators.
• Investigators have gotten access to the shooter’s phone, but it has not so far yielded any meningful information.

The FBI has conducted nearly 100 interviews of law enforcement officials, attendees at the rally and other witnesses, and it has received hundreds of digital media tips.

The FBI said it was investigating the attack as a potential act of domestic terrorism, but the agency had not identified a clear ideological motive. The FBI believes Crooks acted alone.

Acting strangely outside the event

Officials say Crooks came to law enforcement’s attention when spectators at the Trump rally noticed him acting strangely outside the event.

Police had a report of a suspicious man pacing near the magnetometers and were apparently exchanging photos of the suspect. Witnesses pointed and shouted at an armed man on a nearby roof.

When a police officer climbed up to the roof to investigate, the gunman turned and pointed his rifle at him. But the officer did not — or could not — fire a single shot.

Butler Township Manager Tom Knights said the officer lost his grip and was not retreating when he fell 8 feet to the ground.

“He was literally dangling from the edge of a building and took the defensive position he needed to at that time. He couldn’t hold himself up,” Knights said.

Crooks fired six to eight rounds toward Trump after the officer dropped.

A sniper cut down Crooks within seconds of him firing the AR-style rifle, but it was too late.

Security experts are furious over breach

Ron Layton, a former Secret Service agent, told CBS Pittsburgh that he and others in law enforcement are “furious” with the lack of protection that led to the shooting.

“People who worked in the Secret Service and people in the active service are furious. We are angry. I am angry,” Layton said.

“He shouldn’t have access to the roof. That’s the job, that’s why you staff that building. So, that should have never happened.”

Stan Kephart, a former police chief who worked event security for two former presidents, said the shooting followed an “an absolute and abysmal failure” on the part of the Secret Service to protect Trump. The agency is ultimately responsible for the candidate’s safety, he added.

“You don’t get to blame other people. They are under your control,” said Kephart, now a consulting expert on law enforcement event security.

Sheriff says building ‘wasn’t our responsibility’

CBS Pittsburgh station KDKA-TV reporter Andy Sheehan asked Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe about communication with the Secret Service about securing the building.

“I can’t speak to that because, you know, as far as the building goes, I don’t know because it wasn’t our responsibility, but they did have a very good briefing,” Slupe told KDKA-TV. “And, like I said earlier, somewhere along the line, you have a briefing and you identify, adapt and overcome. And there are a lot of well-trained police officers that totally have the ability to do that.”

Slupe said he had “no idea” about plans to secure the building.

“No, the sheriff’s office was not asked to do that, and I don’t know whose responsibility that would have been if that was in their plan,” he said.

House lines up first hearing

The first hearing about the shooting has been scheduled for next Monday, July 22, with the director of the U.S. Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle. She’ll testify before the House Committee on Oversight and ability.

“The United States Secret Service has a no-fail mission, yet it failed on Saturday when a man attempted to assassinate President Trump, killed an innocent victim, and harmed others,” said Rep. James Comer, the committee’s Republican chairman.

Comer said lawmakers were grateful to the Secret Service agents who acted quickly to protect Trump, “but questions remain about how a rooftop within proximity to President Trump was left unsecure.”

Comer’s isn’t the only House committee taking action.

The chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas demanding that he provide the plan to secure the perimeter of the event site, any communications about adding to Trump’s security detail, and materials used to brief President Biden about the assassination attempt.

“The seriousness of this security failure and chilling moment in our nation’s history cannot be understated,” Green wrote in his letter, which includes a request of a briefing for committee no later than July 22.

Senate committees weigh in

The leaders of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee announced Monday they will also conduct an investigation.

First, they are requesting a briefing from the U.S. Secret Service, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. That will be followed by a public hearing as well as requests for documents.

In a letter to Mayorkas and FBI Director Christopher Wray, senators said they want to understand how the shooter was able to get so close to Trump and what steps the department is taking to “increase its protection of presidential candidates and ensure the safety of the election.”

Lawmakers also want to know what additional security requests have been made by Trump’s campaign or protective team since Nov. 15, 2022.

Trump, with bandaged ear, appears at convention

Two days after surviving an attempted assassination, the former president appeared at the Republican National Convention’s opening night on Monday with a bandage over his right ear.

GOP delegates cheered wildly when Trump appeared onscreen backstage and then emerged in the arena, visibly emotional, as country star Lee Greenwood sang “God Bless the USA.” That was hours after the convention had formally nominated Trump to head the Republican ticket in November against President Biden.

Trump, accompanied by a wall of Secret Service agents, did not address the hall but smiled silently and occasionally waved as Greenwood sang. He eventually ed his newly announced running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, to listen to the night’s remaining speeches.

The convention resumes Tuesday, when the focus shifts to immigration, an issue central to Trump’s political brand that helped endear him to the GOP base when he began his first campaign in 2015.

CBS News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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