Trump shooter flew drone in rally area two hours before shooting, FBI director says

Originally Published: 24 JUL 24 11:10 ET

Updated: 24 JUL 24 11:55 ET

By Holmes Lybrand and Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN

(CNN) — Donald Trump’s would-be assassin flew a drone in the area near the rally just two hours before the former president took the stage on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, FBI Director Christopher Wray said Wednesday.

Speaking to the House Judiciary Committee, Wray revealed that “around 4 p.m.,” the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, “was flying the drone around the area” of the rally, approximately 200 yards from the stage.

The drone was in the air for approximately 11 minutes, and investigators believe Crooks watched a live feed from the drone on his phone. CNN previously reported that the drone was found in his car following the shooting.

In addition, Crooks had two explosives in his car at the time of the shooting and one in his home, but likely did not have the ability to detonate them from the roof where he was killed, Wray testified.

“It looks like because of the on/off position on the receivers, that if he had tried to detonate those devices from the roof, it would not have worked,” Wray said.

The FBI is investigating the shooting as both an attempted assassination and as a potential act of domestic terrorism.

Investigators say that Crooks fired approximately eight times from an AR-style rifle at the former president before being killed by a US Secret Service counter sniper.

The rifle Crooks used was purchased from his father, Wray testified.

“The weapon that he used for the attempted assassination was an AR-style rifle that was purchased legally, that he – as my understanding – acquired, I think bought actually from his father, who was the one who originally bought it,” Wray said.

Previously, officials said they believed the firearm belonged to Crooks’ father – not the shooter – and they didn’t know how Crooks accessed the weapon.

FBI officials have repeatedly asserted that they believe Crooks acted alone, and used a rifle purchased legally by his father. On Wednesday, Wray reiterated that there is no evidence of any co-conspirators.

“I have been saying some time now that we are living in an elevated threat environment,” Wray said. “The shooter may be deceased but the FBI’s investigation is ongoing.”

Investigators have gone through the shooter’s phone and computer, scoured his search history and bedroom and have interviewed his family and friends, but have struggled to identify what motivated the 20-year-old would be assassin to act.

Crooks also had no prior contacts with the FBI, officials say, and had not been previously on their radar or databases.

Shooter was searching for news stories

Wray pushed back against reports that Crooks searched for images of specific prominent public officials online, saying that it appears he was actually searching for news articles.

“The shooter appears to have done a lot of searches of public figures in general, but so far we are seeing kind of news articles and things like that,” Wray said. He continued, “so the images that have been reported about, really what we are talking about there are when you do a news search of an article the image appears in a cache as opposed to like a search for that specific individual.”

The FBI director cautioned that the effort to uncover Crooks’ motive is ongoing, but warned that “it is, quite frankly, a dangerous time to be a prominent public official.”

The House Judiciary Committee hearing is ongoing.

This story is breaking and will be updated.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.