Trump shooting: Timeline of assassination attempt raises questions about how gunman evaded security

BUTLER, Pa. – On Saturday, July 13, an assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, rocked the nation.

Authorities neutralized the assailant after shots rang out, and a federal investigation into the shooting targeting the former president ensued. 

Here’s a timeline of the events that have unfolded since Friday:

July 13, 6 p.m.

Trump walks up to his podium at the Butler Farm Show just after 6 p.m. and speaks to a crowd standing on all sides of him.

Minutes later, some rally attendees start pointing toward someone on a nearby rooftop with a rifle, according to witness accounts and video footage from the event.

A local law enforcement officer climbs onto the roof and sees Thomas Crooks with a rifle, sources told Fox News. Crooks points the gun at the officer, who falls back, a source said.

July 13, 6:11 p.m.

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Less than 10 minutes after Trump begins speaking, gunfire rings out from the direction of the person on the rooftop.

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The former president holds a hand up to his ear and then ducks for cover. Secret Service agents surround him on stage.

Some attendees think the shots are fireworks or firecrackers; it takes a minute for everyone to register that they need to get down. One woman screams.

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July 13, 6:12 p.m.

Secret Service agents can be overheard working to target the shooter, using code names and firing off specific directions. The shooter is lying on a nearby rooftop, about 160 yards from where Trump is speaking, with an AR-15. 

Agents quickly shoot the assailant, Crooks, killing him on the spot.

Police snipers return fire after shots were fired while Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump was speaking at a campaign event in Butler, Pa., on Saturday, July 13, 2024.  (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

“Shooter’s down,” one agent says.

Unbeknownst to some in the crowd, one man — 50-year-old Corey Comperatore — is fatally shot while protecting his wife and daughters from gunfire. Two others, 57-yer-old David Dutch of New Kensington, Pennsylvania, and 74-year-old James Copenhaver of Moon Township, Pennsylvania, are critically wounded.

Former Buffalo Township Fire Chief Corey Comperatore pictured with his daughters in an undated family photo. Authorities say Thomas Matthew Crooks, who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania, Saturday, struck and killed Comperatore in the crossfire. Secret Service agents returned fire, killing Crooks. (Helen Comperatore/Facebook)

July 13, 6:13 p.m. to 6:20 p.m.

Secret Service agents move Trump off stage and into a security vehicle. His motorcade prepares to drive out of the venue and to a nearby hospital.

Rally attendees begin to register what has happened and prepare to move out of the venue, some still unsure if the shooter is down or if others will be targeted. A sense of calm washes over the crowd, which remains relatively quiet and poised even as people are trying to exit the area.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Locals living around the event area who heard the gunfire begin to shelter in place or evacuate their homes, unaware if the gunfire was a mass-shooting incident or if the shooter or shooters are still in the area.

July 13, 6:40 p.m. to 6:50 p.m.

Secret Service Chief of Communications Anthony Guglielmi releases an official statement saying an “incident occurred the evening of July 13 at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania.”

“The Secret Service has implemented protective measures and the former President is safe. This is now an active Secret Service investigation and further information will be released when available,” the statement reads.

A Secret Service member and members of the crowd are seen at Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump’s rally on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania.   (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The Trump campaign releases a statement saying the former president “thanks law enforcement and first responders for their quick action during this heinous act”

“He is fine and is being checked out at a local medical facility. More details will follow,” the statement reads.

July 13, 7:40 p.m. to 8:50 p.m.

Trump is hospitalized, and Donald Trump Jr. informs the media that his father is doing well.

Former President Obama releases a statement on X saying “[t]here is absolutely no place for political violence in our democracy.”

“Although we don’t yet know exactly what happened, we should all be relieved that former President Trump wasn’t seriously hurt, and use this moment to recommit ourselves to civility and respect in our politics. Michelle and I are wishing him a quick recovery,” Obama says.

President Biden issues a statement saying he has been briefed “on the shooting at Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania.”

“I’m grateful to hear that he’s safe and doing well. I’m praying for him and his family and for all those who were at the rally, as we await further information,” Biden says. “Jill and I are grateful to the Secret Service for getting him to safety. There’s no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it.”

Donald Trump was hit in the ear in an apparent assassination attempt by a gunman at a campaign rally on Saturday, in a chaotic and shocking incident that will fuel fears of instability ahead of the 2024 US presidential election.  (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images)

The Secret Service issues an updated statement saying a shooter “fired multiple shots toward the stage from an elevated position outside of the rally venue” around 6:15 p.m.

“U.S. Secret Service personnel neutralized the shooter, who is now deceased,” the statement says. “U.S. Secret Service quickly responded with protective measures and Former President Trump is safe. One spectator was killed, and two spectators were critically injured. This incident is currently under investigation, and the Secret Service has notified the FBI.”

A Secret Service member and the crowd is seen at Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump’s rally on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania.   (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Biden’s campaign announces it will remove TV ads as quickly as possible after the assassination attempt against Trump.

July 13, 9 p.m. to midnight

The FBI announces that a team is traveling to Butler to conduct an assassination investigation. 

Trump issues a statement for the first time since he was struck earlier in the evening, thanking the “United States Secret Service, and all of Law Enforcement, for their rapid response on the shooting that just took place in Butler, Pennsylvania.”

“Most importantly, I want to extend my condolences to the family of the person at the Rally who was killed, and also to the family of another person that was badly injured,” Trump says. “It is incredible that such an act can take place in our Country. Nothing is known at this time about the shooter, who is now dead. I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear. I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening. GOD BLESS AMERICA!”

A drone view during the police investigation into gunfire at a campaign rally of Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, U.S. July 14, 2024. (Carlos Osorio/Reuters)

The Secret Service confirms one fatality and two others injured during the rally.

A White House official confirms to Fox News Senior White House Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich that Biden has spoken to Trump, as well as Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Butler Mayor Bob Dandoy. 

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“The President will depart Rehoboth Beach, Delaware en route to Dover Air Force Base,” the White House says in a statement. “Then, the President will depart Dover Air Force Base en route to Joint Base Andrews…Later, the President will depart Joint Base Andrews en route to the White House.”

A bomb squad investigates a suspicious vehicle near the scene of the assassination attempt in Butler.

An Allegheny County Police Bomb Squad car drives towards the home of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the suspected shooter of former U.S. President Donald Trump, as the FBI carries out an investigation, in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, on July 14, 2024. Donald Trump said that it was divine intervention that helped him survive an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, and called on Americans to unite. (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images)

July 14

Trump is seen for the first time since the shooting departing a plane early Sunday morning.

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The FBI officially identifies the shooter as Crooks, a 20-year-old from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, about an hour from Butler, south of Pittsburgh.

An undated image of Thomas Matthew Crooks.  (Handout via AFP)

Crooks is a registered Republican in Allegheny County and donated $15 to a Chicago-based Democratic PAC in 2021.

Biden delivers remarks following the assassination attempt.

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Trump tells The New York Post: “I’m not supposed to be here, I’m supposed to be dead.”

“The doctor at the hospital said he never saw anything like this, he called it a miracle,” Trump also told the newspaper onboard his private plane while heading to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for this week’s Republican National Convention. “By luck or by God, many people are saying it’s by God I’m still here.”

Biden speaks to the American public on Sunday evening from the Oval Office.

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“My fellow Americans, I want to speak to you tonight about the need for us to lower the temperature in our politics,” Biden says. “Do remember, while we may disagree, we are not enemies. We’re neighbors, we’re friends, coworkers, citizens, and most importantly, we are fellow Americans. We must stand together.”

Biden adds that he is “grateful” that Trump is “doing well” and says he is keeping the former president “and his family in our prayers.” He also extends his “deepest condolences” to Comperatore’s family.

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U.S. President Joe Biden delivers a statement a day after Republican challenger Donald Trump was shot at a campaign rally, during brief remarks at the White House in Washington, U.S., July 14, 2024. (REUTERS/Nathan Howard)

Sources confirm to Fox News that authorities found explosives, including an IED, inside a car driven by Crooks found parked near the scene of the rally on Saturday.

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Secret Service holds a press briefing at Centennial Hall in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, ahead of the Republican National Convention.

July 15

A federal source familiar with security plans for Saturday’s Trump rally in Butler tells Fox News that local law enforcement was tasked with overseeing the building where Crooks fired several shots at the former president.

The building Crooks fired from was a “rally point” for one of the local counter sniper teams, according to the source, who also pointed out that team was actually stationed in, or near, the building. There were four counter sniper teams at the rally — two from the Secret Service and two from local law enforcement.

A campaign rally site for Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is empty and littered with debris Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle releases a statement extending her “deepest condolences to the family and friends of Corey Comperatore, who was killed during the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump’s life in Butler, Pennsylvania, Saturday, as well as those who were injured during this senseless act of violence.”

“Secret Service personnel on the ground moved quickly during the incident, with our counter sniper team neutralizing the shooter and our agents implementing protective measures to ensure the safety of former president Donald Trump,” Cheatle says.

An unidentified man answers the door at the home of 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, named by the FBI as the “subject involved” in the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, U.S. July 15, 2024.  (REUTERS/Aaron Josefczyk)

The FBI on Monday afternoon told Fox News’ David Spunt that it has interviewed more than 100 law enforcement personnel, event attendees, and other witnesses.

“The FBI continues to investigate the shooting incident at the July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, as an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump and as potential domestic terrorism,” the agency said. “The investigation is still in the early stages and the FBI is providing the following updates: FBI technical specialists successfully gained access to Thomas Matthew Crooks’ phone, and they continue to analyze his electronic devices. The search of the subject’s residence and vehicle are complete.”

The FBI is asking anyone with information about the assassination attempt against Trump to send tips to FBI.gov/butler or call 1-800-CALL-FBI. Their investigation remains active and ongoing.

Fox News’ Jake Gibson, David Spunt, Greg Norman, Anders Hagstrom and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.