New details are emerging about the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump as investigations scrutinize — and seek to understand — the security missteps that preceded the Saturday shooting at his campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
Video, witness accounts and details from law enforcement are revealing what unfolded in the moments before the attack that killed a rallygoer and wounded Trump and two others.
The U.S. Secret Service was notified by the Pennsylvania State Police of a suspicious person with a rangefinder on the ground at 5:51 p.m. on Saturday — about 20 minutes before the gunman opened fire, according to three sources familiar with a law enforcement briefing to members of Congress on Wednesday. At that time, local law enforcement did not know the suspicious person had a gun, according to a local law enforcement officer and the Butler County sheriff.
Cellphone video also shows rally attendees pointing toward the shooter, later identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks , and trying to alert authorities to his presence — a full two minutes before he opened fire on the former president.
The gunman's motive in the attack remains unclear. A drone and four magazines full of the same ammunition that was used in the attack were among the items investigators seized from the gunman's vehicle after the shooting, according to sources. Two explosive devices and a tactical vest with plates in the front and back were also seized from his vehicle, and more than a dozen weapons were taken from his residence in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.
The U.S. Secret Service is now facing mounting questions about the shortcomings that enabled the shooter to fire from a rooftop near the rally. Investigations are focusing on the gunman and the shooting itself, and on how the assassination attempt was able to happen.
Trump has made three appearances this week at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee with a bandage over his right ear and with increased security around him. The former president's son, Eric Trump, told CBS News his father has a "nice flesh wound" but is "in great spirits."
Gunman's father called police before rally shooting concerned about his whereabouts
The father of Thomas Matthew Crooks called police before Crooks opened fire at a rally for former President Donald Trump, a law enforcement source confirmed Thursday.
The father was concerned about his son and his whereabouts, the source said.
Crooks fatally shot one man and wounded three others, including Trump, during the Butler, Pennsylvania, rally. He was killed by a Secret Service sniper.
Law enforcement sources told CBS News the gun used in the attack, a semiautomatic AR-style rifle, was legally purchased in 2013 and was registered to the shooter's father.
Authorities are still looking into Crooks' motive.
The family is cooperating with investigators , according to the FBI.
– Pat Milton
Secret Service calls attacks against female agents "baseless" and "disgusting"
The Secret Service on Thursday criticized attacks against its female agents made in the wake of the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle is facing calls to resign after the shooting left one man dead and Trump and two others injured.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene , who has joined the calls for Cheatle to resign, referred to her as a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion hire. Rep. Tim Burchett also made a similar post about Cheatle, who previously worked as a security director for Pepsi.
"I can't imagine that a DEI hire from @pepsi would be a bad choice as the head of the Secret Service. #sarcasm," he wrote after the shooting.
Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi pushed back claims that female agents are unqualified, saying all Secret Service agents are highly trained and fully capable.
"It is an insult to the women of our agency to imply that they are unqualified based on gender," Guglielmi said in a statement. "Such baseless assertions undermine the professionalism, dedication and expertise of our workforce. Our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion ensures that we attract the best talent, fostering a robust and effective team that reflects the society we serve. We stand united against any attempt to discredit our personnel and their invaluable contributions to our mission and are appalled by the disparaging and disgusting comments against any of our personnel."
Female agents have been part of the Secret Service for more than 50 years. Cheatle served with the Secret Service for nearly three decades before her appointment as director.
She's not the first woman to serve as director of the agency. Julia Pierson served as director during the Obama administration.
Cheatle last year told CBS News she aims to have 30% female recruits by 2030 in an effort to diversify the Secret Service .
Fire trucks lead funeral procession of Trump rally victim
People are paying their respects to Corey Comperatore, the former Buffalo Township fire chief and dad who died protecting his family from gunfire at the Trump rally on Saturday.
Visitation was scheduled from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday at Laube Hall on Community Park Road in Freeport, Pennsylvania.
In the morning, Buffalo Township fire trucks led a van carrying their former chief's body from Redmond Funeral Home downtown towards Laube Hall in a small procession.
Read more here.
–CBS Pittsburgh
Investigation focuses on how shooter hid weapon
Authorities are continuing to investigate how the assault rifle used by the gunman at the Trump rally was apparently not seen by law enforcement officers before the shooting, according to a person familiar with the investigation.
Investigators are looking at various theories, including that the shooter had the weapon in a backpack or that he might have previously stashed it near the building where he fired from.
Law enforcement sources confirmed the gunman climbed onto an air conditioner unit to access the roof from which he launched his attack and one theory is that he hid the weapon next to the unit.
Investigators are working on reconstructing the movements of the gunman on the day of the shooting and in the months, weeks and days prior to the assassination attempt.
Secret Service let Trump on stage because they didn't know flagged suspicious person had weapon
Multiple people briefed on the investigation into the attempted assassination of Donald Trump told CBS News that U.S. Secret Service agents did not stop the former president from going on stage at the rally in Pennsylvania because they did not know that a suspicious person who had been flagged by security before the shooting had a weapon.
When Trump took the stage, there were reports that a suspicious person, who turned out to be the gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, only had a rangefinder but no weapon and was not making any active threats, the people briefed said.
The Secret Service was notified that local law enforcement officers were following up on the report of the suspicious man, according to the people briefed on the investigation.
A sniper from a local tactical team deployed to assist the Secret Service at Trump's rally on Saturday took a picture of the gunman and saw him looking through a rangefinder minutes before the gunman opened fire, a local law enforcement officer told CBS News.
—Pat Milton, Nicole Sganga
Did the gunman make a donation to Democrats? What the records show.
After the FBI identified the gunman as Thomas Matthew Crooks , CBS News and other outlets reviewed public records that verified he was a registered Republican who had previously donated $15 to a Democratic organization via ActBlue.
The apparent contradiction in Crooks' political alignment didn't fit an easy partisan narrative, and so far, investigators say, many questions about his motive remain unanswered. Some social media users seized on the lack of information to spread false claims and cast doubt on whether the gunman actually made the donation.
Posts spinning a tale of mistaken identity quickly spread. "Thomas Crooks, who donated 15 bucks to Act Blue, is a 69-year-old Democrat who lives in Pittsburgh and just happens to have the same name as the Republican who shot Trump," one X user inaccurately claimed.
In fact, Federal Election Commission records show that the Bethel Park address on the $15 donation, earmarked to Progressive Turnout Project, is the same street address and ZIP code where the gunman lived. But the municipality is mistakenly listed as Pittsburgh, despite Bethel Park being outside Pittsburgh city limits . In screenshots of the FEC filing shared on social media, users blurred Crooks' street address, causing confusion.
Crooks made the donation on Jan. 20, 2021, the same day President Biden was inaugurated. At that point he would have been 17 years old. He was not eligible to register as a Republican or vote in the 2020 election at the time.
The donation was made in response to an email asking recipients if they planned to watch the inauguration, and Crooks unsubscribed from the group's email list two years ago, a representative from the organization wrote in an email to CBS News.
Read more here
Secret Service director briefed Trump on shooting
Trump received a private, in-person briefing with Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle on Tuesday in Milwaukee regarding the failed assassination attempt, a source familiar with the meeting confirmed to CBS.
The briefing took place at Trump's hotel.
Drone among items seized from gunman's vehicle, sources say
A drone and four magazines full of the same ammunition that was used in the attack were among the items investigators seized from the gunman's vehicle after the shooting, according to three sources familiar with a law enforcement briefing to members of Congress on Wednesday.
Two explosive devices and a tactical vest with plates in the front and back were also seized from his vehicle.
Another explosive device as well as 14 weapons were taken from his residence in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, the sources told CBS News.
A rifle, remote transmitter, receipt from Home Depot and primary cell phone were found on and around the gunman's body, the sources said.
— CBS News' Ellis Kim, Chris Laible, Michael Kaplan
Corey Comperatore's family remembers him as "beloved father" ahead of funeral
The family of Corey Comperatore , who was shot and killed in the attack on Trump, released a statement Thursday honoring him after a local vigil and ahead of his private funeral.
"He was a local leader and veteran, a former fire chief, and a committed Christian who found peace and joy through our church. He loved and cared for us, his family," the statement read, calling him a "beloved father and husband."
CBS Pittsburgh reported that Comperatore was honored with an emotional vigil on Wednesday.
"Where do you start when you're asked to speak about somebody who's so loved and one that showed his love for his family?" asked friend Dan Ritter during the vigil.
The public has been invited to a procession through Freeport Community Park in Freeport, Pennsylvania, on Thursday afternoon. There will also be public visitation hours, CBS Pittsburgh reported . His funeral Friday will be private.
Post on gaming platform was not the gunman's, federal law enforcement official says
A federal law enforcement official says new analysis shows an account on the Steam gaming platform that investigators initially thought belonged to Trump shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks was not actually his account.
Earlier, two sources said a message posted there read: "July 13 will be my premiere," but the federal law enforcement official says further investigation determined it was a fake account.
Read more here .
Secret Service was aware of suspicious person before Trump took the stage
Pennsylvania State Police notified the U.S. Secret Service of a suspicious person with a rangefinder on the ground at 5:51 p.m. local time on Saturday — 20 minutes before the gunman opened fire, three sources familiar with a briefing given to lawmakers on Wednesday told CBS News.
At 5:52 p.m., the Secret Service disseminated information on the suspicious person to the counter-sniper team at the rally and response agents on the ground, the sources said.
At 5:51 and 5:52 p.m., local law enforcement did not know the suspicious person had a gun, according to a local law enforcement officer and the Butler County sheriff.
Trump took the stage at 6:03 p.m. local time and the gunman opened fire at 6:11 p.m.
— CBS News' Ellis Kim, Chris Laible, Michael Kaplan, Kerry Breen
Multiple apparent missteps, multiple probes
Numerous investigations have been launched into the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. They include probes into the crime itself and how law enforcement allowed it to happen at all.
But it's becoming increasingly clear this was a complicated failure involving multiple missteps and at least nine different local, county and federal law enforcement divisions that were supposed to be working together.
Law enforcement has also warned of the potential for copycat attacks and more violence.
The Secret Service always partners with local law enforcement when a president, political candidate or other high-level official comes to town, and Saturday's rally was no different.
But the designated and accepted responsibilities of the various agencies involved, and how they carried them out, have come into question since the rally.
–CBS/AP
Local authorities told Secret Service they couldn't secure building Trump shooter used
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has said it was going to be up to local law enforcement to secure the building from which the man who shot former President Donald Trump opened fire.
But CBS Pittsburgh reports that Butler County District Attorney Rich Goldinger said the Secret Service was told local police couldn't be responsible for securing the AGR building during the Trump rally.
"I don't know whose responsibility that building was," Goldinger said. "But someone should have been there."
Butler Township manager Tom Knights told the station, "It was indicated we did not have the manpower to take that task on, as well, based on our number of officers on duty."
Knights confirmed that the message was sent to the Secret Service two days before the Trump rally.
Butler Township also told the agency its team could only handle traffic control. CBS Pittsburgh learned the Secret Service never responded to those messages.
"All I know is our township police department was very clear that we did not have the manpower for it," Knights said.
–CBS Pittsburgh
Senators confront Secret Service director at Republican National Convention
Republican Sens. Marsha Blackburn and John Barrasso posted video to social media appearing to show several congressional members confronting Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle in a hospitality suite at the Republican National Convention Wednesday regarding the alleged security lapses leading up to Saturday's assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
In the video posted by Blackburn, which also shows Sen. James Lankford, Barrasso demands a "resignation or full explanation" from Cheatle.
Barrasso references a phone briefing of senators by Cheatle earlier in the day, following which several senators had expressed frustration that the call included no pertinent information and was cut off after only a few questions had been allowed.
"We didn't get any of the responses that were necessary from you," Barrasso tells Cheatle in the video.
After fielding a barrage of questions and criticism from the senators, Cheatle responds in the video, "I don't think that this is the place to have this discussion."
She then exits the suite as the senators rush out after her, following her down a hall and continuing to yell questions at her.
Earlier Wednesday, Cheatle agreed to testify before the House Oversight Committee. A committee spokesperson said the hearing would take place as scheduled on July 22
Gunman had 2 phones and searched about Trump appearances, Democratic National Convention
Law enforcement sources offered additional details Wednesday evening about the cellphone search history of Trump rally shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks .
Sources had shared earlier that Crooks searched for images of former President Donald Trump and President Biden ahead of the shooting. On Wednesday evening they said that in addition to the images, Crooks did searches about Trump's appearances and dates, and about the Democratic National Convention.
Crooks also did searches of FBI Director Christopher Wray, Attorney General Merrick Garland and members of the British Royal Family. Crooks also searched about major depression disorders.
The sources also said Crooks had two cellphones and did the searches on his phones. They said there was still no indication of a motive, ideology or political views.
Crooks was killed by a Secret Service sniper shortly after he fired on Trump, officials said.
—Pat Milton, Andy Triay
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