Former President Donald Trump is safe after being targeted in what authorities are calling an assassination attempt during a Pennsylvania rally just two days before he is set to accept the Republican presidential nomination. Trump was rushed off stage by Secret Service agents on Saturday, July 13, with blood running down the side of his face after a shooter fired multiple rounds of shots toward the stage.
One rally attendee was killed and two others were critically injured, according to Secret Service Chief of Communications Anthony Guglielmi. The former president is “fine” after being treated at a local medical facility, a spokesperson from Trump's camp confirmed. Per Reuters, a bullet grazed the president's ear.
The incident is currently under investigation — here's everything we know:
Shortly after Trump was brought to safety, Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the FBI's field office in Pittsburgh confirmed to reporters that the agency was investigating the incident as an assassination attempt.
“This evening, we had what we’re calling an assassination attempt against our former President Donald Trump. It’s still an active crime scene,” said Rojek. “We do not currently have an identified motive.”
The shooting is the first assassination attempt on a president or presidential candidate since a gunman attempted to kill President Ronald Reagan in 1981.
The FBI confirmed Sunday morning that 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania was identified as the shooter involved in the attack. Secret Service agents fatally shot Crooks after he opened fire from the roof of a nearby office building approximately 430 feet away from the stage Trump was standing on, the Butler County district attorney told The Washington Post. Video footage taken from an attendee showed a person on the roof following the shooting, who is presumed to be Crooks. Officials retrieved an AR-style rifle from the scene, which was reportedly purchased by his father six months ago, the Associated Press reported.
Law enforcement said on Sunday that “suspicious devices” were found in Crooks' car, CBS News reports.
Crooks' motives are unclear at this time.
The AP reports that he was a registered Republican in the state of Pennsylvania, though he donated $15 to a progressive political action committee on January 20, 2021 — when President Joe Biden was inaugurated. Crooks has no criminal history.
Crooks' father, Matthew Crooks, told CNN on Saturday that he needed to figure out “what the hell is going on” and would “wait until I talk to law enforcement” before discussing his son with the press.
Authorities closed off the road where Crooks lived with his parents after Bethel Park Police said there was a bomb investigation involving the Crooks home, according to CBS News.
President Biden made a brief on-camera statement from Delaware on Saturday evening regarding the shooting, stating that he was waiting to speak directly to Trump. The White House later confirmed that Biden had spoken briefly with the former president.
“There's no place in America for this kind of violence,” Biden said. “It's sick. It's one of the reasons why we have to unite this country. We can not allow for this to be happening. It can not be like this. We cannot condone it.”
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Several lawmakers from both sides of the political spectrum reacted to the news of the shooting, condemning the act of violence. Former President Barack Obama shared a statement on X on Saturday, writing, “There is absolutely no place for political violence in our democracy.”
“Although we don’t yet know exactly what happened, we should all be relieved that former President Trump wasn’t seriously hurt, and use this moment to recommit ourselves to civility and respect in our politics," Obama continued. "Michelle and I are wishing him a quick recovery.”
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) shared multiple statements on X and wrote that the House would conduct a “full investigation” on the day's events. “GOD protected President Trump yesterday," Johnson wrote on Saturday. "Ironically, just as He miraculously protected George Washington from a gunfire ambush on July 9, 1755 – also in Pennsylvania, less than 50 miles from the Trump rally stage.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) wrote on X that he is “horrified by what happened at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania and relieved that former President Trump is safe. Political violence has no place in our country.”
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also shared a statement about Saturday's “horrifying incident," recalling when her husband Paul was attacked by a man who broke into the couple's home in 2022 in an attempt to hold the former speaker hostage. “As one whose family has been the victim of political violence, I know firsthand that political violence of any kind has no place in our society. I thank God that former President Trump is safe,” Pelosi wrote.
Moments after reports about an assassination attempt on Trump's life emerged, some right-wing leaders and commentators began spreading baseless conspiracy theories about the incident. Georgia Republican Rep. Mike Collins even accused President Biden of ordering the attack on Trump — writing on X, “Joe Biden sent the orders.” Other Trump allies like Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) also tried to blame Democrats for the attack on Trump.
