The FBI has identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Pennsylvania as the gunman in the attempted assassination of US President Donald Trump, according to US media reports early Sunday.
“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,” according to a statement obtained by NBC and CBS, respectively.
Meanwhile, an eyewitness to Saturday’s shooting at a Donald Trump rally described how a man close to him was fatally shot during the apparent assassination attempt on the Republican presidential candidate.
“I heard several gunshots. The man beside me suffered a gun shot to the head, was instantly killed (and) fell to the bottom of the bleachers. Another woman looked like she got hit in the forearm or hand,” the man, whose name was only given as Joseph, told NBC News.
He stated that it appeared the victim was “in the way of the shots between whoever was shooting the gun and the president.”
A second witness, an unknown man who claimed to be an emergency doctor, reported attempting to help one of the victims.
“Somebody over there was screaming he’s been shot, he’s been shot, so I made my way over, I said I’m an emergency department physician, let me help you,” said the man, who was dressed in a bloodied white USA T-shirt and a red MAGA hat.
“The guy had spun around, was jammed between the benches. He had a headshot here,” he said, indicating a spot on his head.
“There’s lots of blood and he had brain matter,” the man continued in comments that spread widely through US media.
Trump said he was hit in the ear but was not seriously injured by the gunman, who was killed after the incident.
Two other spectators were critically injured, the Secret Service said.