Early Sunday, US media reported that the FBI has identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the shooter in the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania.
According to statements quoted by NBC and CBS, the FBI confirmed, “The FBI has identified Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the subject involved in the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump on July 13, in Butler, Pennsylvania.”
An eyewitness at the Donald Trump rally described the chaotic scene during Saturday’s shooting, where a man seated nearby was fatally shot during the apparent attempt on the Republican presidential candidate’s life.
“I heard several gunshots. The man beside me was shot in the head, instantly killed, and fell to the bottom of the bleachers. Another woman appeared to have been hit in the forearm or hand,” recounted Joseph to NBC News.
Joseph believed the victim was caught in the line of fire between the shooter and the president.
Another witness, an unnamed emergency doctor, recounted his efforts to assist one of the victims.
“Someone nearby was shouting that he had been shot, so I went over. I identified myself as an emergency department physician and offered to help,” said the man, dressed in a blood-stained white USA T-shirt and a red MAGA hat.
“The guy was turned around, wedged between the benches. He had a gunshot wound to the head,” he added, pointing to his own head. “There was a lot of blood and brain matter,” his vivid description spread across US media.
President Trump confirmed he was grazed on the ear but sustained no serious injuries from the shooter, who was subsequently killed. The Secret Service reported two other spectators were critically injured during the incident.
