The gunman who tried to fatally shoot former President Donald Trump may have had a firearm with a collapsible stock, making it easier for him to carry and conceal his gun until moments before the shooting, and had researched John F. Kennedy’s assassination, the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation testified Wednesday.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said that would explain why witnesses did not see Thomas Crooks, 20, walking around with a weapon beforehand and why the firearm was not spotted until Crooks was already on the roof.
Crooks fired at least eight shots and also flew a drone around the Butler, Pennsylvania, campaign rally site about two hours before it began, Wray said during a House Judiciary Committee hearing.
The gunman flew the drone about 200 yards away from the event’s main stage area around 4 p.m. on July 13, Wray said.
Authorities recovered the drone in Crooks’ vehicle, where they also found a drone controller and two explosive devices that had the ability to be remotely detonated, Wray said.
Crooks had a transmitter on him, the director said, adding that it appears the remote detonation “would not have worked.”
Eight bullet cartridges were found on the roof with the gunman’s body, he said.
Wray said Crooks had purchased a ladder that was about 5-ft. tall but that it was not found at the scene. “It’s not clear that he used the ladder to get on top of the roof,” Wray said.
Wray is expected to continue testifying Wednesday about the FBI’s investigation into the gunman’s motive and his preparations.
Lawmakers have demanded answers to key questions surrounding the shooting that they say remain unanswered, particularly by former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who resigned Tuesday after apparently failing to fully cooperate with the House Oversight Committee the day before.
“We need to know play-by-play, moment-by-moment, second-by-second,” Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told Wray at the start of the Wednesday morning hearing.
The Congressional committee hearings this week have since begun to yield more information.
On Tuesday, Pennsylvania State Police Col. Christopher Paris told the House Homeland Security Committee that officers with the Butler County Emergency Services Unit spotted Crooks from a second-story window and left their post to search for him.
Paris said Crooks was identified as suspicious before the shooting because he was hanging around but never attempted to enter the rally. That suspicion was later heightened, Paris said, when Crooks was seen with a rangefinder.
That day, three other people had been identified as suspicious, the state police commissioner said.
Crooks was not designated as an actual threat until seconds before he opened fire, Paris said. The gunfire struck Trump in the ear, killed one rallygoer and wounded another.
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