1. Why did the shooter target Trump?

A sniper killed the suspected gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, shortly after he fired his shots. Crooks lived in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, an upper middle-class suburb about an hour’s drive from where the Trump rally was held. He worked as a dietary aide at Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, The New York Times reported, and didn’t have a criminal history.

The FBI is still investigating Crooks’ profile and what motivated him to carry out the attack. To do that, they’ll be interviewing friends and family and looking at his online history as well as any writing left behind.

One law enforcement official said investigators were looking at Crooks’ posts on Discord, a popular application for sharing messages and interacting with others.

Crooks was registered as a Republican, but he once donated $15 to the Progressive Turnout Project, a Democratic-aligned voter turnout organization, according to publicly available records.

President Joe Biden on Sunday urged Americans not to speculate about the motives of the attack. “Let the FBI do its job,” he said, while also calling for an “independent review.”

2. How did this happen while Trump was under Secret Service protection?

Trump has around-the-clock protection from the Secret Service because he’s a former president. Though his rallies often draw tens of thousands of attendees, each person is subject to intensive security screenings and required to open up bags and pass through metal detectors to enter.

The gunman shot at Trump from about 150 yards away, on top of a roof that was near the outdoor rally but outside the venue. It’s unclear why the Secret Service didn’t secure that area and why it took officers so long to respond. A bullet grazed Trump’s ear — coming just shy of what many said would have been a fatal blow to the head.

Trump dropped to the ground after it happened and bodyguards flew on top of him to shield him. As they got up, Trump pumped his fist in the air and urged his followers to “fight” before he and his bodyguards made their way offstage.

Senate Homeland Security Chair Gary Peters was set to speak with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Sunday, Axios reported, adding that the panel would conduct an investigation that would include hearings.

The chair of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), said on CNN Sunday that the panel hadn’t been briefed yet but that he wanted to know whether the breach happened because of protocol problems or inadequate funding.

3. What else did the shooter have planned?

Officers recovered an AR-style rifle by Crooks’ body but haven’t yet said how he acquired his weapon. The Associated Press cited two unnamed sources saying the firearm belonged to his father.

Authorities reported finding explosives — including an IED, or improvised explosive device — inside a car driven by Crooks that was located near the Trump rally. Additionally, materials for making bombs were found inside Crooks’ home, The Associated Press reported.

4. Will Republicans trust the FBI to carry out the investigation?

Republicans and conservative media figures are already raising questions about whether to trust the FBI to look into the attempted assassination. They point out that FBI agents carried out the search on Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago club in Florida after he allegedly refused to turn over classified documents.

n primary rival Ron DeSantis pointed to the FBI’s investigation of the 2017 congressional baseball practice shooting as a sign Washington “bureaucracy” may not be up to the task. The bureau concluded the gunman in that case had carried out the mass shooting to provoke “suicide by cop,” even though other agencies determined it was an act of violent political extremism. A top official admitted during a House committee hearing in 2021 that the shooting would have been characterized as “domestic terrorism” today.

5. How will the attempted assassination affect the Republican National Convention?

Officials said Sunday that they weren’t making any operational changes to security at the Republican National Convention given that they’d already engaged in extensive planning during the last year and a half.

There are “no known articulated threats” against the RNC or anyone visiting the RNC, FBI Special Agent in Charge Michael Hensle said.