Trump attacker flew drone 200 yards from scene hours before shooting

The 20-year-old man who shot and killed former US President Donald Trump at a Butler rally flew a drone over the shooting scene hours before it began, according to the FBI. Thomas Matthew Crooks used the drone before the rally to potentially observe the surrounding area before the shooting.

FBI agents found a drone in the car Crooks drove to the Trump rally, but have not yet been able to recover any photos or videos taken by the drone.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said they reverse-engineered the flight path and found that Crooks flew the drone for about 10 minutes, from about 3:50 to 4:00 p.m., with the first shot fired at 6:11 p.m., according to his testimony to lawmakers after the Trump assassination attempt.

No drone was used during filming

Trump said he was saved “by luck or God” when a bullet fired by Crooks pierced his right ear during a July 13 campaign speech.

Wray said the drone was not used during the actual filming and could have been used “like a rearview mirror.”

“It’s almost like giving him a rearview mirror of the scene behind him, except he doesn’t have it flying overhead when he comes back later to make his swing,” Wray said.

“We’re still trying to determine exactly what he saw because there’s no footage of what he saw in those 11 minutes. Our hypothesis at this point is that experts believe he was live streaming it,” Wray added, according to Gizmodo.

According to Wray, Crooks flew the drone about 200 yards (180 meters) from the rally site.

FBI cracks security of some devices used by scammers

The FBI successfully compromised some of the devices used by Crooks and discovered that he had been seeking information on the Kennedy assassination before targeting Trump.

Details recovered from a laptop linked to Crooks included a disturbing Google search. On July 6, Crooks searched “How far was Oswald from Kennedy?”

That same day, Crooks registered for the Trump rally online, under his own name, according to Wray.

Using what Wray said was mechanical equipment on the ground and vertical pipes, Crooks was able to pull himself onto the roof of a squat production building that was 135 meters (157 yards) from the scene. Crooks fired eight shots from an AR-style rifle before he was killed, NBC Washington reported.

The FBI believes Crooks could have easily avoided detection even though he was armed because his gun had a folding stock.

“We are applying all of the resources of the FBI, both criminal security and national security. There is a lot of work in progress and a lot more to do,” Wray said.

“And as our understanding of what happened — and why — continues to evolve, we will leave no stone unturned. The shooter may be dead, but the FBI investigation is ongoing.”

Wray added that he has been saying for some time that we live in a heightened threat environment.

“This reinforces our need at the FBI — and our ongoing commitment — to focus on the threats, on the mission, and on the people we work with and for.”