Donald Trump was rushed off stage during an election rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday after an assassination attempt on the former president.
Secret Service agents swarmed Trump and ducked behind the podium. Blood could be seen on his right ear of Trump as agents surrounded him and led him off the stage to a waiting vehicle to whisk him away.
Trump is “fine,” a spokesperson said. The alleged shooter is dead. One spectator is dead, while two are in serious condition, according to officials.
A Butler County resident whose house is one of the closest properties to the scene of the Trump rally shooting said she was surprised that the Secret Service did not search her home ahead of the event.
“I thought that would be something that they would do since I live so close,” Carol Kerr, 82, told ABC News by phone early Sunday morning.
Kerr’s house on Meridian Road is roughly a quarter of a mile from both the stage where the former president was speaking on Saturday and the location where the shooter is believed to have been firing from.
“I thought they would search the houses that are as close as mine is,” Kerr said. “At least check them out and see if you have anything in your house which is dangerous, which I don’t.”
The FBI early on Sunday identified the suspected gunman as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.
“This remains an active and ongoing investigation, and anyone with information that may assist with the investigation is encouraged to submit photos or videos online at FBI.gov/butler or call 1-800-CALL-FBI,” an FBI spokesperson said.
While law enforcement said at a press conference late Saturday that they believe they know who carried out the shooting, they are still not naming the individual.
Officials said they are also doing DNA testing, because the suspected shooter did not have ID.
“It’s a matter of doing biometric confirmations,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek said. “So, there was no identification on the individual, for example, so we’re looking at photographs right now and we’re trying to run his DNA and get biometric confirmation.”
The shooter’s name will be released once there is an official confirmation, he said.
Law enforcement officials held a press conference after deadly gunfire erupted at a Trump campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.Show More
Trump arrives at Newark Liberty International Airport just after midnight early Sunday.
He arrived in Newark about six hours after the shooting took place.
Trump had been scheduled to spend the night at his club in Bedminster prior to the shooting taking place.
a ‘lone wolf’: Law enforcement source
Authorities believe they have an identification on the suspected shooter, but are not yet releasing a name “as it is a very sensitive point in the investigation,” according to a law enforcement source.
Early indication is that this is a lone wolf, the source said, but the situation is fluid and the investigators want to be absolutely certain that this person had no support and that no one knew what was coming.
The gunman opened fire with a rifle from the roof of a building about 200 to 300 yards away from the stage where Trump was speaking. A U.S. Secret Service counter-sniper team immediately killed the individual.
