Trump will meet FBI for victim interview in shooting investigation, agency says
Victim interviews are a routine part of criminal investigations, but are voluntary.
Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh Field Office, told reporters on a conference call Monday that investigators have focused their efforts on uncovering the motive of the 20-year-old would-be assassin.
The shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was “highly intelligent” and had a growing interest in shooting, Rojek said. While officials had already revealed that Crooks searched “how far away was Oswald from Kennedy” before the shooting, Rojek said Monday that he also made searches related to “power plants, mass shooting events, information on improvised explosive devices and the attempted assassination of the Slovakian Prime Minister earlier this year.”
His primary social circle “appears to be limited to his immediate family, as we believe, he had few friends and acquaintances throughout his life,” Rojek said.
“While the FBI investigation may not yet have determined a motive, we believe the subject made significant efforts to conceal his activities,” Rojek said. “Additionally, we believe his actions also show careful planning ahead of the campaign rally.”
Used alias to buy guns and chemicals
Crooks also used aliases to make firearms-related purchases online.
“Starting in the spring of 2023, the subject made more than 25 different firearms related purchases from online firearms vendor using an alias,” Rojek said.
In the first half of 2024, Crooks also made “six chemical precursor-related purchases online of materials used to create the explosive devices recovered in the subject’s vehicle and home,” Rojek said.
“For those purchases he used aliases,” Rojek added.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
The ongoing investigation into Thomas Matthew Crooks' actions has revealed that he showed interest in politics, as evidenced by his search for information about the assassination of the Slovakian Prime Minister. The FBI's investigation into the shooting incident at the campaign rally also uncovered that Crooks used aliases to make firearms-related and chemical precursor purchases online, suggesting a deliberate effort to conceal his activities related to politics and potential violent actions.
