WASHINGTON, July  29, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Former US president Donald Trump has
agreed to meet with the FBI for a "victim interview" about this month's
assassination attempt, bureau officials said Monday.

      Providing an update on the status of the probe into the July 13 shooting,
Federal Bureau of Investigation officials said they have still not determined a
motive for the attack by the 20-year-old gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks.

    They said Crooks, who was shot dead by a Secret Service sniper after firing
eight shots during Trump's campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, appeared to
be a "loner" and they have not identified any co-conspirators.

       FBI special agent Kevin Rojek said the interview with Trump will be "a
standard victim interview like we would do for any other victim of crime under
any other circumstances.

       "We want to get his perspective on what he observed," Rojek said.

       FBI officials said they have interviewed dozens of people who knew or
interacted with Crooks, including family members, co-workers, former teachers,
classmates and others.

      "We have learned the subject was highly intelligent, attended college and
maintained steady employment," Rojek said. "His primary social circle appears
to be limited to his immediate family as we believe he had few friends and
acquaintances."

       The FBI officials said Crooks's parents have said they had no advance
knowledge of their son's plot. "We do find that to be credible at this stage,"
Rojek said.

     FBI Director Christopher Wray, testifying before a congressional committee
last week, said Crooks had searched online for details about the November 1963
shooting of US president John F. Kennedy by Lee Harvey Oswald.

       "On July 6, he did a Google search for, quote, 'How far away was Oswald
from Kennedy?'" Wray said.

      Rojek said the investigation has revealed that Crooks "also made searches
related to power plants, mass shooting events, information on improvised
explosive devices and the attempted assassination of the Slovakian prime
minister earlier this year."
       
       - 'Suspicious person' -
       
       Crooks was perched on the roof of a nearby building and opened fire on
Trump with an AR-style assault rifle shortly after 6:00 pm, as the Republican
White House candidate was addressing the rally in Butler.

       Trump was wounded in the ear, two rally attendees were seriously injured
and a 50-year-old Pennsylvania firefighter was shot dead.

       Rojek said Crooks was identified as a "suspicious person" by law
enforcement about an hour before the shooting.

       "A local officer took a photo of the subject and sent it to other SWAT
operators on scene, as well as local command personnel," he said.

      SWAT operators observed Crooks about 30 minutes later, shortly after 5:30
pm, using a range finder and browsing news websites on his phone, he said.

       At approximately 6:08 pm police dashcam video observed Crooks traversing
the roof of the building from where he ultimately fired his shots, Rojek said.

     "At approximately 6:11 pm a local police officer was boosted onto the roof
by another officer where he encountered the subject," he said.

       Crooks pointed his rifle at the officer, who "immediately dropped to the
ground," he said. "Approximately 25 to 30 seconds after this encounter, the
subject fired eight rounds before being successfully neutralized."

       US Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned last week after
acknowledging the agency had failed in its mission to prevent the assassination
attempt.