The shooter who came within inches of killing former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally Saturday was not affiliated with any military branch, the Pentagon said Monday.
"We've confirmed with each of the military service branches that there is no military service affiliation for the suspect with that name or date of birth in any branch active or reserve component in their respective databases," Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters.
Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, opened fire from a roof about 164 yards away from where Trump was giving a speech to a crowd of supporters in Butler. Crooks' shots injured, but did not kill, the former president. He was shot and killed shortly after opening fire by a Secret Service sniper.
Firefighter Corey Comperatore, who was attending the rally with his daughter and wife, was killed by one of Crooks' bullets.
The FBI did not "currently have an identified motive, although our investigators are working tirelessly to attempt to identify what that motive was," Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek said.
The bureau is also looking at the shooting as a "potential domestic terrorism act," said Robert Wells, the FBI's assistant director of the Counterterrorism Division.
In a later call, Rojek indicated officials believed that Crooks "acted alone and that there are currently no public safety concerns."
"At present, we have not identified an ideology associated with the subject, but I want to remind everyone that we're still very early in this investigation," he added.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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