Shooter at trying to kill in the former President Donald Trump flew a drone over the field adjacent to the grounds where the rally was held on July 13, three law enforcement sources familiar with the federal investigation into the shooting told CBS News there.
Investigators​​​​are still investigating the exact time of the shooter, who was identified as 20 years old Thomas Matthew Crooks, flew the drone, law enforcement officials said. However, he believed there were several days of rallies, although it was not clear whether he flew the drone hours or days before the event.
The Wall Street Journal was the first to report on the use of drones at rally sites.
CBS News reported earlier that the drone was one of the items that investigators found in the shooter’s vehicle, according to three sources familiar with the US Secret Service and the FBI’s joint briefing call with lawmakers on Wednesday. Two explosive devices, a tactical vest with plates on the front and back, and four magazines full of the same ammunition used in the attack were also found in the shooter’s vehicle.
During the call, lawmakers also learned that the shooter was looking online for photos of the Butler Farm Show grounds — the site of the rally — and searching about Allegheny Arms, a gun shop in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, where he lives. He was also told that he had visited the rally site at least once before the attack, sources told CBS News.
In the days after the rally was announced, they made internet searches related to Trump, President Biden, former presidents on July 13 and the Democratic National Convention.
In a statement Friday, the Butler Farm Show said its involvement in the rally was merely renting space to the Trump campaign.
“The Butler Farm Show is fully cooperating with the FBI’s investigation into this incident,” it said in a statement. CBS Pittsburgh affiliate KDKA. “Due to the sensitive nature of the investigation, we are unable to comment on these events at this time.”
Over the next few days, federal law enforcement will face questions from lawmakers about how the gunman was able to shoot.
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle is is scheduled to testify to the House Oversight Committee on Friday morning, when FBI Director Christopher Wray will testify before the House Judiciary Committee on Friday.
Meanwhile, Trump is back on the campaign trail after he was officially named the Republican Party’s presidential candidate. He will appear with the vice president, JD Vance, at a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Saturday.
Rep. Ronny Jackson of Texas, the White House physician during the Trump administration, has said that he has provided medical treatment performed on Trump since the shooting. In a statement posted to social media Saturday, Jackson wrote that Trump was “good.”
Jackson said the swelling in Trump’s right ear has “started to resolve” and “the wound is ready to granulate and heal properly.” He said Trump was still experiencing “intermittent bleeding” that required dressing. According to Jackson, no stitches are needed.
The high school Gunman said there was “no record” of him trying out for the rifle team
The high school from which Crooks graduated said there was “no record” of him trying to join the school’s rifle team.
Former high school classmate Jameson Myers, a member of Bethel Park High School’s varsity rifle team, told CBS News that the gunman had tried out for the team his freshman year but did not make the junior varsity roster and did not return to try out for the team in subsequent years. .
The Pennsylvania school disputed the claim in a fact sheet shared online.
“It has been reported that Thomas Crooks was a member of the Bethel Park High School rifle team or tried out, but was fired due to poor performance or because the coach had character issues,” the school said. “Thomas Crooks was never a member of the school’s rifle team and we have no record of him trying out. The coach does not recall meeting him. However, it is possible that Crooks went to practice unofficially, took a shot, and never returned. We have no record of that happening. .”
The school also responded to a statement that the gunman had been bullied at the high school. Some friends said that he is an outcast. Myers, who shared a rifle team anecdote, remember him as “a good boy who never said anything bad to anyone” and said he was not chosen.
“According to our records, Mr. Crooks excels academically, attends regularly, and has had no disciplinary incidents, including those related to bullying or threats,” the school said. “Mr Crooks was known as a quiet and bright young man who generally got on well with his teachers and peers.”
The investigation into the gunman has become little about political ideology, federal investigators told members of Congress last week. Analysis of the device showed that they had been looking for Trump and President Biden, and had been looking for where Trump would speak during the rally. He has also searched for the location Democratic National Convention. On the day of the attack, they searched for photos of the ranch where Trump’s rally was held and a nearby gun store that cooperated with investigators, according to CBS News affiliate KDKA.
Investigators also conducted more than 200 interviews, including family, neighbors and co-workers. All were interviewed family members said the gunman never discussed politics or ideology.
Pat Milton
