The gunman who shot former President Donald Trump in the ear at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday took off with a drone. rally site A source familiar with the matter told NBC News a few hours before Trump took the stage.
A drone camera developed by DJI allowed a 20-year-old gunman, Thomas Crooks, Possibly to get aerial footage that helped him plan his attack, the source said.
Trump was shot in the ear in an assassination attempt, and Crooks was killed by the Secret Service after an attack on a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
This was first reported by the Wall Street Journal Crooks used a drone.
Air surveillance appears to be one of a series of security failures that allowed a gunman to nearly kill the former president.
It’s common for the Secret Service to ban drones in areas they protect, though it’s unclear if that happened at Butler’s rally.
It’s unclear how investigators learned about the drone flight, but drones often leave electronic traces of their flight paths, and DJI may have a recording of the flight.
A senior law enforcement source said a drone and drone equipment were found in Crook’s car.
The motive for the assassination attempt on Trump remains unknown and is under investigation.
There is a General Inspectorate Office of the Internal Security Directorate launched three probes The Secret Service has been tapped since the shooting, including one investigating how the Secret Service secured a political campaign event in Butler.
So is House Speaker Mike Johnson He promised a congressional investigationand Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle were asked to appear before the House Oversight Committee at a hearing on Monday.
Phil Helsel, Tom Winter, Andrew Blankstein and Jonathan Dienst contributed.