FBI Chief: Rally Shooter Made 'Significant' Search

On the same day that Thomas Crooks registered for the rally where he tried to kill Donald Trump, he conducted an online search "that's obviously significant in terms of his state of mind," FBI Director Christopher Wray told lawmakers on Wednesday. Wray said that on July 6, a week before the rally, the 20-year-old searched for details on the assassination of John F. Kennedy, asking, "How far away was Oswald from Kennedy," the New York Times reports.

• 'He became very focused': Crooks "was interested in public figures and—I think this is important—starting around July 6 or so, he became very focused on former President Trump and this rally," Wray told the House Judiciary Committee, per the Washington Post.

• Crooks owned the gun: Wray told lawmakers that the AR-15-style rifle Crooks used in the shooting was bought by his father more than a decade ago, but Crooks later bought the weapon from his father. Wray said the family had 14 guns in the house.
• No evidence of accomplices: "So far, we have not found any evidence of any accomplices or co-conspirators, foreign or domestic," Wray said. "A lot of people describe him as a loner," he said, per the New York Post, adding that Crooks' list of phone contacts, "for example, is very short."
• Details on drone, explosives: Wray told the committee that Crooks used a drone hours before the shooting to look at the area around the rally, but he didn't fly it over the stage, the Washington Post reports. He said two "relatively crude" explosive devices were found in Crooks' car. Wray said the devices had "the ability to be detonated remotely" but they were in the "off" position, meaning the gunman would have been unable to detonate them from the rooftop where he positioned himself at the rally.
• Motive still a mystery: Wray said that Crooks' motive for trying to kill the former president is still unclear, and his online search history didn't provide many answers. "There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of rhyme or reason so far," he said, per the New York Post. "They cover both parties, they cover both US people and even some foreign public officials."

(More Trump rally shooting stories.)