FBI names suspect in Donald Trump assassination

The man suspected of shooting former US President Donald Trump has been identified by the FBI as Thomas Matthew Crooks.

He is 20 years old and from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, they said in a statement.

Trump was shot during a rally in Pennsylvania, with Secret Service agents surrounding the former president after a series of gunshots. He was quickly taken off stage and into a waiting car and has since returned to his home in New Jersey.

The FBI said it was treating the incident as an assassination.

In a post on his Truth Social social network, Trump said a bullet had passed through the “upper portion” of his right ear. His spokesman had earlier said he was being treated at a local medical center.

“I knew right away something was wrong when I heard the whistling, the gunshot, and immediately felt the bullet go through my skin,” Trump wrote. “There was a lot of blood, so I realized what was happening.”

Blood was clearly visible on Trump’s ears and face as security guards rushed him away.

The FBI statement added that the incident is under “active and ongoing investigation.”

Pennsylvania police said there were no further threats following the shooting.

The suspect was shot and killed by Secret Service officers at the scene, agency spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. He added that one bystander was killed in the shooting and two others were seriously injured.

Officials later revealed that all three victims were male.

Law enforcement sources told CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, that Crooks was armed with a rifle and fired from an elevated structure several hundred metres from the event venue.

Agents previously told reporters in Butler that they had not yet determined a motive for the assassination.

Special Agent Kevin Rojek confirmed the agency is treating the shooting as an assassination.

He added that the suspect was not carrying identification and investigators were using DNA to try to formally identify the suspect.

The Republican presidential candidate had just begun speaking to his supporters in Butler, Pennsylvania – a key swing state in November’s election – when shots rang out.

Loud explosions rang out as Trump spoke about his successor, President Joe Biden, and his administration.

Several supporters holding signs and standing behind Trump ducked when they heard the gunshots.

Witnesses who spoke to the BBC said the gunfire may have come from a single-storey building to the right of the stage where Trump was speaking.

One witness – Greg – told the BBC he spotted a suspicious-looking person “crawling like a bear” on the roof of the building about five minutes after Trump took to the stage. He said he pointed the person out to police.

“He had a rifle, we could clearly see he was holding a rifle,” he said. “We were pointing at him, the police were running around on the ground – we were like ‘hey man, there’s a guy on the roof with a rifle’ and the police didn’t know what was going on.”

Tim – who was also at the protest – told the BBC he heard “a bunch” of gunshots.

“There was a jet of water coming out that we thought was a fire hose at first, then the speaker on the right side started falling,” he said.

“Something hit the hydraulic line. [which caused it to fall]. We saw President Trump fall to the ground and people started lying on the ground because of the chaos.”

Warren and Debbie were at the scene and told the BBC they heard at least four gunshots.

They said both dropped to the ground as Secret Service agents walked through the crowd, shouting at attendees to get down. They said everyone remained calm.

“We couldn’t believe it was happening,” Warren said.

Debbie said a little girl sitting next to them cried that she didn’t want to die and asked “why is this happening to us?”

“That breaks my heart,” Debbie said.

Republican congressman Ronnie Jackson told the BBC that his nephew was injured in the shooting. Mr Jackson said in a statement that his nephew suffered a minor neck injury and was treated at the scene.

Speaking in his hometown of Delaware, President Biden condemned the attack and called it “sickening.”

“There is no place for this kind of violence in America,” he said. “Everyone must condemn it.”

The White House later said President Biden spoke with Trump before returning to Washington DC.

Trump remains locked in a fierce battle with President Biden — the presumptive Democratic nominee — in a rematch of the 2020 election.

Politicians from both parties joined Mr Biden in condemning the apparent attack.

Former President Barack Obama said there was “absolutely no place for political violence in our democracy” and he was “relieved that former President Trump was not seriously injured”.

Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, said he and his wife were praying for their former ally, and called on “every American to join us.”

“My thoughts and prayers are with former President Trump. I am grateful for the decisive response of law enforcement. America is a democracy. Any form of political violence is never acceptable,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement.

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer led international condemnation of the shooting, saying he was “appalled by the shocking scenes at President Trump’s rally”.

“Political violence in any form has no place in our society and I extend my condolences to all the victims of this attack,” he said in a statement.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called on people to protest against violence that “challenges democracy”.

And Canadian leader Justin Trudeau said he was “disgusted by the shooting of former President Trump”.

Trump is set to accept his party’s presidential nomination at the convention in Milwaukee on Monday. Some have speculated that he is set to unveil his running mate at the Butler rally.

Some Republicans were quick to blame President Biden for the shooting, accusing him of stoking fears of a possible Trump return to power.

Sen. JD Vance, who is believed to be on the short list to be Trump’s vice presidential nominee, said Biden’s campaign rhetoric led directly to the incident.

Mike Collins, a Republican congressman, accused the president of “inciting an assassination.”

Meanwhile, James Comer, chairman of the House’s powerful oversight committee, said he would summon the Secret Service director before his panel.