Official: Gunman in attack on Trump rally flew drone over rally site ahead of event

WASHINGTON – The gunman in the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump is said to have flown a drone over the Pennsylvania venue beforehand, apparently to scout the site before the event, a police official said Saturday.

The drone was seized by the FBI, which is leading the investigation into the shooting of 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks at last Saturday’s rally.

Crooks fired several shots from the roof of a building adjacent to the Butler Farm Show grounds, where Trump was speaking, before being fatally shot by a Secret Service sniper. The existence of the device and its use sometime before the shooting may explain why Crooks knew to fire from that point.

The official who described the drone was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Details about the drone were first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Trump said this week that a bullet struck his right ear. A memo released by Trump’s campaign on Saturday, written by Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson, who served as the Republican nominee’s White House physician, said Trump suffered a gunshot wound to the right ear from a high-powered rifle that “came less than a quarter of an inch from his head and struck the tip of his right ear.”

One of the bullets aimed at Trump killed 50-year-old firefighter Corey Comperatore, a spectator in the stands. Two others were seriously injured.

The FBI continues to investigate what might have motivated Crooks to carry out the attack. So far, officials have not been able to find any ideological motives that could explain his actions.

Investigators who searched his phone found photos of Trump, President Joe Biden and other senior administration officials and also found that he had looked up dates for the Democratic National Convention and Trump’s appearances. He also searched for information about Major Depressive Order.

More details about the investigation are expected to be released next week when FBI Director Chris Wray appears before the House Judiciary Committee.

____

Associated Press writer Jill Colvin contributed to this report.