20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire at Trump, US to probe incident as attempted assassination

WASHINGTON: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the US investigative agency, said that 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks is the suspected shooter behind the attempted assassination of former American President Donald Trump. The New York Times reported that an AR 15 semi-automatic rifle suspected to be that of Crooks has been recovered.

The US will investigate the shooting of Trump as an attempted assassination. The investigation is being conducted by the US Department of Homeland Security and the US Secret Service, a federal agency. The Secret Service is the agency responsible for protecting US political leaders and their families and investigating crimes against them.

Trump was attacked during a rally in Pennsylvania Saturday evening at 6.15 (local time). The assailant opened fire while he was addressing the public. He was reportedly shot on his right ear.

Trump said that he was shot in the right ear and knew something was wrong when he heard a whizzing sound. International media reported that Trump said that he felt the bullet hit his body.

International media reported that Trump was injured in the shooting and left the hospital. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro announced that Trump had left Pittsburgh. Trump will attend next week's Republican National Convention, his campaign team said.