Live updates: Investigations into shooting at Trump rally continue after assassination attempt

Thomas Matthew Crooks visited the site of Donald Trump’s rally twice, his cellphone contained pictures of both Trump and President Joe Biden, and the potential assassin’s search history included data from the Democratic Party convention and future Trump events, three US officials told CNN.

The new details reveal more about what Crooks did in the days and hours before his assassination attempt on the former president. But investigators combing through Crooks’ physical and digital trail still lack the crucial detail that would explain why the 20-year-old climbed to the roof in Butler, Pennsylvania, with an AR-style weapon: a motive.

A source told CNN that police tried to locate the shooter about 19 minutes before the shooting, but did not find him until he was on the roof.

According to Butler Township Supervisor Tom Knights, police responded to a call about a “suspicious man” around the same time Trump arrived for his rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.

Knights said Wednesday that the report placed him near the AGR building, from where Trump’s would-be assassin ultimately carried out his attack.

Knights said an officer tried to get to the roof with the help of a colleague who tried to pull him up. The officer, who scaled the side of the building, saw someone on the roof pointing a rifle at him, Knights said.

Butler Township police “immediately” reported the shooter’s location, but “moments later the suspect began shooting,” the statement said.

From the roof of the building, which was about 450 feet north of the rally stage, Crooks fired several shots at Trump, grazing his ear and hitting several rally attendees, including one who was killed.

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