Investigations into shooting at Trump rally will take weeks, if not months

“This is not going to be something they can do in a matter of hours or days. This investigation is going to take weeks or months to get all the details sorted out. The perpetrator is dead, so we won’t see how this plays out in court. Instead, we’ll see how this plays out in the form of a release or a report on the results of the investigation,” Gray says.

The investigation is being led by the FBI and is being assisted by Pennsylvania State Police, local police and other federal agencies.

Gray says it is more difficult to ensure comprehensive security at outdoor events such as Saturday’s rally.

“There’s the inner area where you can put people through metal detectors, pat them down and make sure there are no weapons in the group that’s at the rally. But then there’s the area outside the security zone, outside the perimeter, and that’s where the shooter was in this particular case,” he says.

Gray is convinced that there will be efforts in the future to hold political events indoors, at least for the remainder of the election season.

The likely Republican presidential nominee said the top of his right ear was pierced in the shooting. His aides said he was in “good spirits” and doing well.

Secret Service agents shot and killed Thomas Matthew Crooks, the suspected gunman who attacked from an elevated position outside the rally site, the agency said.

One visitor was killed and two spectators were seriously injured, authorities said. All of them were men.

AP Wire Services contributed to this report.