Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray testifies on Wednesday about the bureau’s investigation into the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at 10 a.m. ET on July 24. Follow here for the live updates:
Wray Confirms Shooter’s Parents Reported Him Missing
FBI Director Wray confirmed reports that suspected Trump shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks’s parents reported him missing, though Mr. Wray was unsure as to when that call was made.
“My recollection is they did call concerned that he was missing. My recollection, though, is that they didn’t call until … I think this was after the event, but I’m not certain of that,” Mr. Wray said.
The director said his understanding was that Mr. Crooks’s last interaction with his father was to tell him that he was going to the gun range.
“And then, of course, he didn’t go to the range and he didn’t come back from that, and so I think that may have added to the level of concern,” Mr. Wray said.
Crooks Bought Ammo Hours Before Shooting
Would-be Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks purchased 50 rounds of ammunition hours before he allegedly opened fire on the former president’s Butler, Pennsylvania, rally, FBI Director Wray said.
Laying out the timeline of events, Mr. Wray noted that Mr. Crooks went to a shooting range the day before and then visited the rally site for about an hour on the morning of the event.
“He buys the ammunition at around 1:30,” Mr. Wray said. “At around 3:50 is when he’s back on the grounds of the rally, and that’s when he used the drone that I’ve talked about already today.”
Then just over two hours later, a little after 6 p.m., is when “the worst happens,” he said.
Wray: Crooks Bought Rifle From Father
FBI Director Christopher Wray said that suspected shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks purchased the AR-style rifle that he allegedly used to shoot former President Donald Trump from his father.
“His father bought it legally, but then, our understanding so far, is that his father then conveyed it to him—sold it, in fact, to his son,” Mr. Wray said.
The director said investigators gleaned that information both from Mr. Crooks’s father and supporting documentation.
Crooks Believed to Have Visited Gun Range Day Before Shooting
FBI Director Christopher Wray said investigators believe suspected shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks visited a shooting range on July 12, the day before his attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.
“We do believe, based on what we’ve seen so far, that he went to a shooting range the day before, and that he shot an AR-style rifle at that range the day before,” Mr. Wray said.
He said he wasn’t positive if investigators had confirmed that the gun Mr. Crooks used at the shooting range was the same AR-15 that he allegedly used on July 13 at the Butler, Pennsylvania rally.
“But I think we assessed that it probably is,” the director said.
Wray: Shooter Likely Used ‘Mechanical Equipment,’ Piping to Scale Building
Suspected shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks purchased a ladder prior to the shooting, according to FBI Director Wray. But, he said investigators now believe Mr. Crooks used another method to scale the AGR building from which he attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump.
“We now believe that the subject climbed onto the roof using some mechanical equipment on the ground and vertical piping on the side of the AGR building,” Mr. Wray said.
“In other words, we do not believe he used a ladder to get up there.”
Earlier during the hearing, Mr. Wray said that the ladder Mr. Crooks purchased was not found at the scene of the Butler, Pennsylvania, shooting.
At Least 700 FBI Agents Investigating Assassination Attempt
FBI Director Wray testified that the FBI has “easily 700 agents” investigating the July 13 attempt on former President Donald Trump’s life.
“It has involved over half of the FBI’s 56 field offices, almost every headquarters division—we even have some of our overseas offices working on it,” Mr. Wray said.
Asked why, the director advised that some of the gunman’s communications methods and purchases involved foreign companies.
Wray: Shooter Googled Details on JFK Assassination
Mr. Wray said that starting around July 6, Mr. Thomas Crooks “became very focused on President Trump and his rally”.
“Analysis of a laptop that the investigation ties to the shooter reveals that on July 6, he did a Google search for -quote – ‘how far away was Oswald from Kennedy,'” Mr. Wray said.
“That is the same day that it appears that he registered for the Butler rally,” he added.
Crooks Believed to Have Visited Gun Range Day Before Shooting
Mr. Wray said investigators believe suspected shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks visited a shooting range on July 12, the day before his attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.
“We do believe, based on what we’ve seen so far, that he went to a shooting range the day before, and that he shot an AR-style rifle at that range the day before,” Mr. Wray said.
He said he wasn’t positive if investigators had confirmed that the gun Mr. Crooks used at the shooting range was the same AR-15 that he allegedly used on July 13 at the Butler, Pennsylvania rally.
No Evidence So Far That Shooter Had Accomplices, Wray Says
Investigators have yet to find any evidence that suspected shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks had accomplices in his attempt to assassinate former President Donald Trump, FBI Director Christopher Wray said.
“We’re doing lots of different kinds of cellular analysis, geolocation stuff, looking at his accounts,” Mr. Wray told lawmakers Wednesday.
“From everything we’ve seen—which is consistent with what we’ve learned in interviews—a lot of people describe him as a loner, and that does kind of fit with what we’re seeing in his devices.”
Gunman Visited Shooting Site Week Before Rally
FBI Director Christopher Wray said investigators believe that suspected Trump shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks first visited the site of the former president’s Butler, Pennsylvania, rally one week before the July 13 event.
“I think, a week before, he spent roughly 20 minutes there,” Mr. Wray told the House Judiciary Committee.
Mr. Crooks then returned to the site on the morning of the rally “it appears for about 70 minutes,” Mr. Wray said, noting that he wasn’t entirely sure of the accuracy of that time span.
Wray: Shooter Used Drone to Help Set Up Shot
FBI Director Christopher Wray said shooting suspect Thomas Crooks flew a drone for about 11 minutes at around 3:50 p.m. or 4 p.m. on the day of the rally to survey the surrounding area.
Mr. Wray said Mr. Crooks operated the drone about 200 yards from the stage where former President Donald Trump delivered his speech. The drone, Mr. Wray said, afforded the gunman a “rearview mirror” of the scene behind him and a better assessment of the angle toward the podium.
Trump Shooter Had 3 ‘Relatively Crude’ Explosive Devices, Flew Drone Near Rally: FBI Director
FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday provided an update on the federal investigation into the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump at a Butler, Pennsylvania, rally earlier this month.
So far, the FBI has not identified a motive for suspected gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks’ actions. He was shot and killed immediately after opening fire on the rally, killing one rally-goer, injuring two others, and striking former President Trump in the right ear.
“We have recovered a drone that the shooter used,” he said at a House Judiciary Committee hearing, adding that it was taken from his vehicle. Three explosive devices were also recovered, he said, describing them as “relatively crude” and capable of being detonated remotely.
State Police Warned Secret Service About Trump Shooting Suspect, Pennsylvania Chief Says
Local law enforcement had alerted the U.S. Secret Service to a suspicious individual before the shooting at former President Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania earlier this month, said the chief of the Pennsylvania State Police.
During questioning before the House Homeland Security hearing Tuesday, Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Col. Christopher Paris revealed new details about the security failure that led to the assassination attempt on former President Trump, which left one person dead and two injured.
Col. Paris said that “there was a text thread going” with the Butler County Emergency Services Unit, who had seen suspected gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks and reported him as a suspicious person before the incident.
Shooter Flew Drone Near Stage Hours Before Rally
FBI Director Christopher Wray revealed that the Trump rally gunman flew a drone “about 200 yards” away from the rally stage area hours before the shooting.
“We have recovered a drone that the shooter used,” he said at a House Judiciary hearing, adding that it was recovered from Thomas Crooks’ vehicle.
Hours before the rally shooting, Mr. Crooks was flying the drone “about 200 yards away” from the rally stage area, the FBI director also said.
Wray: ‘Heinous’ Trump Assassination Attempt Exemplifies Elevated Threat Level
FBI Director Christopher Wray began his testimony before the House Judiciary Committee by condemning the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump as a “particularly heinous” example of the alarming security threats he has recently warned of.
“I have been saying for some time now that we are living in an elevated threat environment,” Mr. Wray said, referencing his previous public statements concerning the dangers posed by the porous southern border.
Those dangers, he noted, include the trafficking of illicit drugs across the border to the possibility that terrorists could exploit the crisis to gain entry to the country.
Body Camera Footage Released After Trump Shooting
Body camera footage taken in the aftermath of Trump rally shooting earlier this month was released on Tuesday, showing a member of the Beaver County Emergency Services Unit on the roof of the building after a gunman was shot and killed.
In the blurred, but graphic, footage, the official is seen standing on the roof of the building, while the shooter’s body is seen partially blurred in the clip. Local officials are heard communicating with U.S. Secret Service agents about what they knew as well as a timeline of events prior to the shooting.
The video as well as other records were released by the office of Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Tuesday, acquired from the Beaver County Emergency Services Unit “in compliance with congressional requests,” his office said.
FBI Chief Faces Questions Over Trump Assassination Attempt
The lawmakers at a congressional hearing on Wednesday are questioning Mr. Wray for fresh details about the gunman’s motive and background.
The hearing before the House Judiciary Committee will represent Mr. Wray’s most detailed comments to date about a shooting that has again thrust the FBI into the political maelstrom as agents continue to investigate the 20-year-old gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, and the most serious attempt to assassinate a president or presidential candidate since President Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981.
The hearing had been scheduled well before the July 13 shooting as part of the committee’s routine oversight of the FBI and Justice Department, and though lawmakers may touch on a broad array of topics, questions about the shooting are expected to dominate the session.
The FBI has said that it is investigating the Butler, Pennsylvania, shooting, which killed one rallygoer and seriously injured two others, as an act of domestic terrorism and an attempted assassination. former President Trump’s campaign said the presumptive GOP nominee was doing “fine” after the shooting, which he said pierced the upper part of his right ear.
Mr. Wray and other senior officials privately briefed members of Congress last week, telling them that Mr. Crooks had photos on his phone of former President Trump and President Joe Biden and other officials and had looked up the dates for the Democratic National Convention as well as former President Trump’s appearances.
Epoch Times reporters Jack Phillips, Samantha Flom, Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.