The FBI has released a more detailed timeline of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. As part of its ongoing investigation, the bureau plans to interview Trump to gain insight into what he observed during the incident. To date, the FBI has interviewed over 450 individuals, including those acquainted with the shooter, Thomas Crooks.
On July 13, 2024, Trump was rushed offstage during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, after Crooks, using aliases to purchase guns and explosives, climbed onto a building’s roof and aimed a weapon at a police officer. The officer was momentarily lifted to the roof but had to retreat when threatened by Crooks. Within 25-30 seconds, the Secret Service neutralized Crooks.
The FBI stated that Trump was the target of the July 13 assassination attempt at the rally. “We want to get his perspective on what he observed,” FBI Pittsburgh field office Special Agent Kevin Rojek explained. “It is a standard victim interview like we would do for any other victim of a crime under any other circumstance.”
Through more than 450 interviews, the FBI has pieced together a profile of the gunman, revealing him to be a “highly intelligent” but reclusive 20-year-old whose primary social circle was his family.
The FBI noted that his interactions with peers, even on online gaming platforms, appeared to have been minimal. The gunman’s parents have been “extremely cooperative” with the investigation, Rojek said, adding that they had no advance knowledge of the shooting. The FBI has yet to uncover a motive for targeting Trump but believes the shooting was the result of extensive planning, including the purchase of chemical precursors used to create explosive devices found in his car and home.
A drone was also deployed near the rally site hours before the event.
FBI timeline released on Trump attempt
A day before the shooting, the gunman practiced with the weapon at a local shooting range.
Following the shooting, authorities found two explosive devices in his car and a third in his room. The devices, which could have exploded, did not because their receivers were in the “off” position. Sen.
Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, released text messages from the Beaver County Emergency Services Unit that showed local officers had communicated about a suspicious man — later identified as the gunman — lurking around more than an hour before the shooting. These text messages highlighted missed opportunities for intervention. The gunman scaled the roof of a building complex near the rally and fired eight shots at the stage using an AR-style rifle purchased legally by his father years earlier.
The shots were fired at 6:12 p.m., according to a Beaver County after-action report. Trump was injured with a bullet piercing the upper part of his right ear, and a bandage was visible in the days following. One rallygoer was killed, and two others were injured.
The gunman was shot dead by a Secret Service counter-sniper. An officer who alerted others to the suspicious individual assumed there would be an intervention but said in an interview with ABC News that this never occurred. An email seeking comment from the Secret Service was not immediately returned.
