Thomas Matthew Crooks, who shot at former US President Donald Trump, studied the site with a drone before the event, FBI Director Christopher Wray said on Wednesday, UNN reports .
Details
“We think he was recording from a drone, studying the footage,” CBS News quoted Ray as saying at a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee.
According to him, FBI officers found the UAV and the control panel in Crooks' car. On the day of the shooting, the drone flew over the site around 15:50-16:00 local time.
The head of the FBI admitted that the bureau “does not yet know what the shooter's motive was.” At the same time, the agency had no information about Crooks before the incident, and was not interested in him.
Ray also revealed a few more details about the case. He said that three explosive devices were found in Crooks' possession - two in his car and one at his residence - as well as a detonator, but he was unable to detonate from the roof from which he was shooting because he was too far away.
The FBI chief said that experts managed to access the contents of the shooter's cell phone, which was a “serious technical challenge.” According to Wray, Crooks used encrypted messengers.
On July 13, an attempt was made on Trump's life at a campaign rally. He was lightly wounded, and one of the participants of the event was killed. The Secret Service reported that the shooter had been eliminated.