Washington — Multiple U.S. law enforcement agencies ramped up their search for answers Sunday, less than a day after a would-be assassin got close enough to shoot and injure former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in rural Pennsylvania.

The FBI early Sunday named the alleged shooter as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, a resident of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, located about 80 kilometers north of the rally site in Butler.

Crooks was shot and killed by U.S. Secret Service agents shortly after firing multiple rounds at Trump.

But already new evidence suggests the incident could have been worse.

Law enforcement officials said Sunday that bomb-making materials were discovered during searches of Crooks’ car and home.

The discovery was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Officials also said the gun Crooks used in the attempted assassination, an AR-style rifle, had been bought by his father, although they had yet to determine how Crooks obtained the weapon.

The reason Crooks sought to kill Trump also remained a mystery.

“We do not currently have an identified motive, although our investigators are working tirelessly to attempt to identify what that motive was,” said FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Kevin Rojek, calling it “the single greatest priority.”

Rojek, speaking at a news conference late Saturday, also said the FBI was working to determine whether the shooter had been acting alone.

Public records show Crooks was a registered Republican, but he also made a $15 political donation to a liberal group in 2021, on the day President Joe Biden was sworn into office.

The White House said Biden, along with Vice President Kamala Harris, were given an updated briefing into the investigation, Sunday.

The briefers included FBI Director Christopher Wray, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, U.S. Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle and national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

Key lawmakers Sunday labeled the attempted assassination as a security failure and said they are seeking answers.

“How is it that someone could get on a roof with a superior position, with a weapon, and attempt to assassinate former President Donald Trump? It’s just unthinkable, unfathomable” said Representative Mike Turner, the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee,

“We need to know, is this a protocol failure? Is this a resources issue? Or is this just a failure of those who were on site that day?” Turner told CNN, adding his committee had yet to be briefed on the developments.

Turner also raised concerns about the threat landscape going forward.

“I am with Director Wray of the FBI, where he said we’re at the highest level, threat level, that we have had since 9/11,” said Turner. “I believe that the threat is continuing. It’s not just this one individual’s assassin’s attempt.”

Other lawmakers expected to receive updates as the day went on,

The House Homeland Security Committee chairman, Republican Representative Mark Green, was scheduled to speak to the director of the Secret Service later Sunday, a committee spokesperson told VOA.

Green “continues to seek answers to the many questions the American people deserve to know,” the spokesperson said.

Green also sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security, asking for documents related to the security plan and screening procedures for the rally and what sort of additional protective measures had been asked for, or given to, the Trump campaign.

According to witness accounts and videos posted online, the shooter was seen holding a rifle and crawling up the roof of a nearby building moments before the shots rang out. Several bystanders could be heard yelling in an attempt to get the attention of nearby police.

In addition to the injury to Trump, who left the scene of the assassination attempt with a bloody ear, officials said one spectator was killed, and two others were critically injured.

The FBI’s Rojek said it was “surprising” that the gunman had been able to fire four or five shots before he himself was killed.

Information from the Associated Press and Reuters was used in this report. Patsy Widakuswara also contributed.
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