Wray discloses new details on the FBI’s ongoing investigation into the shooting at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania.
FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before the House Judiciary Committee at the Capitol on July 24, 2024. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Wray Confirms Shooter’s Parents Reported Him Missing
By Samantha Flom
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.
FBI Director Says Trump Shooter Searched Details of Lee Harvey Oswald and JFK Assassination
Would-be Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks searched for details about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, including how far Lee Harvey Oswald positioned himself from his target, according to July 24 testimony from FBI Director Christopher Wray.
After an FBI analysis of Mr. Crooks’s laptop, according to Mr. Wray, it was determined that the suspected gunman searched for how far Oswald was from President Kennedy during the 1963 assassination. Mr. Crooks carried out the Google search on July 6, the same day the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, was announced, the FBI director told members of the House Judiciary Committee.
“On July 6, he did a Google search for ‘how far away was Oswald from Kennedy,’” Mr. Wray told the House panel.
“That’s a search that’s obviously significant in terms of his state of mind. That is the same day that it appears that he registered for the Butler rally.”
The FBI has stated that it is investigating the shooting as an attempted assassination and has opened up a domestic terrorism investigation in connection to the shooting, in which one rally attendee was killed, former President Donald Trump’s right ear was grazed, and two other rally attendees were injured.
When asked whether Mr. Crooks, 20, acted alone, Mr. Wray said there was no indication of any co-conspirators. The FBI also has not established a motive for the shooting suspect, he said.
“[However,] it is, quite frankly, a dangerous time to be a prominent public official,” he said.
“I have been saying for some time now that we are living in an elevated threat environment. The shooter may be deceased, but the FBI’s investigation is ongoing.”
Mr. Wray said reports that Mr. Crooks was searching for images of public officials online may have been related to his searches of news articles.
“The shooter appears to have done a lot of searches of public figures in general, but so far we are seeing kind of news articles and things like that,” he said.
“So the images that have been reported about, really what we are talking about there are when you do a news search of an article the image appears in a cache as opposed to like a search for that specific individual.”
Other new details provided by Mr. Wray included details about a drone that was used by Mr. Crooks. The director said the suspected gunman flew the drone “about 200 yards” away from the rally stage where former President Trump spoke two hours beforehand.
The FBI also recovered three explosive devices, including two that were in Mr. Crooks’s car, he said. However, it appeared that the devices lacked the ability to detonate.
“It looks like because of the on/off position on the receivers, that if he had tried to detonate those devices from the roof, it would not have worked,” Mr. Wray said.
Nearly two weeks after the shooting, few details about Mr. Crooks have emerged. Members of his family have declined to speak to the media about the suspect; his father, Matthew Brian Crooks, told a Fox News reporter on July 22 that he would not issue a comment on the matter until speaking with a lawyer.
“We just want to try to take care of ourselves right now. Please, just give us our space,” he said in a videotaped encounter in Bethel Park. “We’re going to release a statement when our legal counsel advises us to do so—until then, we have no comment.”
Several of his classmates have indicated that Mr. Crooks may have been bullied and was quiet. However, the school district that oversees the high school he attended disputed those claims in a statement last week, also rebuffing reports that he was on the school’s rifle team.
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.
