The FBI and state law enforcement officials have one person “tentatively identified” as the shooter who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a rally outside Pittsburgh on Saturday.
“There were some complicators that slowed down some of the processing” and the identification of the shooter, according to Lt. Col George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police. He spoke during a press conference Saturday night, along with a spokesperson for the FBI.
The FBI confirmed it did not have any threat information prior to the event.
Minutes into Trump’s speech at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, loud popping noises were heard and people crouched down. Trump appeared to clutch his face or ear and fall to the ground. When he stood back up, surrounded by Secret Service officers, there was blood running down his face.
“It was a chaotic scene,” Bivens said. “Law enforcement, I believe, acted heroically.”
Trump was taken to the nearby Butler Memorial Hospital.
A video showed Trump’s motorcade leaving the hospital around 9:10 p.m. Trump departed Butler shortly thereafter, according to a statement from Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
Bivens said law enforcement was “responding to check on several” accounts of “suspicious” activity at the scene. Bivens said 30 to 40 officers from the Pennsylvania State Police were at the rally.
Officials said they have identified a single suspect but were not prepared to positively identify the person, only that he was a man.
“We are close to that identification,” FBI special agent Kevin Rojek said at the Saturday night press conference. There is no known motive, Rojek said.
Rojek said the group is “not taking for granted that this was a lone wolf attack,” but he did not mention any additional leads.
Bivens said there is “no other existing threat” to the public.
“It’s still an active crime scene,” Rojek said. “We’re looking at all investigative leads.”
In addition to the shooter, a male rally attendee was also killed. Two other adult men are critically injured, according to Bivens.
An ER physician told CBS News that he thought the sounds “were firecrackers to begin with” but then heard someone yelling “he’s been shot, he’s been shot.”
“The guy had spun around and was jammed between the benches,” the doctor said. “He had a head shot here. There was lots of blood, and he had brain matter.”
The shooting is officially being investigated as an attempted assassination. An investigation will continue in the “days, weeks and months” ahead, according to Rojek. Trump is expected in Milwaukee next week for the Republican National Convention, where he will be formally nominated for president.
Anyone with information that can assist the FBI is asked to call the tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324). Information can also be sent to fbi.gov/butler.
Rojek said videos and photos are helpful as well as information on the shooter once his identity is released.
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