Law enforcement authorities have made headway in the investigation of the recent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump during a rally in Pennsylvania.
Officials have identified the individual responsible for the attack, providing crucial details as the investigation unfolds and the nation attempts to grapple with the severity of the incident, NBC News reports.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has confirmed that the assailant who fatally wounded himself after the assassination attempt on former President Trump was a local Pennsylvania resident, Thomas Matthew Crooks. Officials are still in the dark about the suspect’s motivation for the shocking attack, which has sent shockwaves throughout the nation.
In light of the Pennsylvania voter records, the assassination attempt on former President Trump has become even more confounding. Its records listed a Thomas Matthew Crooks with the same address and birth date as a registered Republican, though it was not clear from the records when that was put in place.
In the wake of the brazen attack, Secret Service agents swiftly responded, neutralising the gunman before he could cause further harm.
The suspect, identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, was from the relatively affluent and predominantly white suburb of Bethel Park near Pittsburgh. The site of the rally, Butler, is about an hour’s drive north of Pittsburgh.
During a press conference on Saturday night, law enforcement officials announced that they were nearing a positive identification of the shooter, who was not carrying any identification at the time of the incident, according to State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens.
"The shooter has been tentatively identified," he said. "It’s a matter of doing biometric confirmations."
As the investigation into the assassination attempt on Donald Trump presses on, law enforcement agencies have zeroed in on uncovering the suspect’s potential motives and any possible collaborators.