The gunman who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump at a campaign rally searched online for details about the November 1963 shooting of US president John F. Kennedy in the days before the attack, the FBI director said Wednesday.
FBI chief Christopher Wray, testifying before a congressional committee, said the gunman flew a drone over the venue where the former president was scheduled to speak about two hours before he took the stage in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. Wray told members of the House Judiciary Committee that investigators have not established a motive for the shooting but “we are digging hard because this is one of the central questions for us.” Trump survived the assassination bid, suffering a wound to his right ear, and a Secret Service sniper shot dead the suspected gunman — named as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks — less than 30 seconds after he had fired eight shots.
“With respect to former president Trump, there’s some question about whether or not it’s a bullet or shrapnel that, you know, that hit his ear,” FBI chief Wray said.