The head of the FBI revealed to a congressional hearing on Wednesday a "significant" online search that the gunman conducted in the days before the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.
FBI Director Christopher Wray faced questions from the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday as they sought fresh details about the gunman's motive and background.
Wray said that a review of Thomas Matthew Crooks' laptop showed he did a Google search on July 6 for "How far away was Oswald from Kennedy?"
Wray called it a significant clue to Crooks' state of mind ahead of the assassination attempt.
Earlier, Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan asked a series of questions about the shooter, the drone he used and the explosives he had in his car at the rally site.
When asked if Crooks fired eight shots, Wray said he believed so since investigators recovered eight spend cartridges from the scene.
He also confirmed that they had recovered a drone Crooks had used from his vehicle and is still being analyzed.
Wray confirmed that Crooks is believed to have flown the drone about 200 yards from the stage around 4 p.m. the day of the shooting.
He told the committee that they recovered three explosive devices. Two were in Crooks car and another at his home.
Wray said they are still investigating whether the shooter had help or co-conspirators who were involved in the assassination attempt. Wray said they were "relatively crude" devices but had the ability to be remotely detonated.
Crooks did have a transmitter on him when he was killed but Wray said it appeared the transmitters were not turned on and he would not have been able to set them off from the roof.
Investigators are still investigating a motive for the shooting but Wray confirmed that Crooks had been communicating on an encrypted messaging app.
And Wray said said the FBI has been unusually forthcoming with information about the shooting considering it is an ongoing investigation.
The hearing was a lot less contentious than a Monday hearing involving Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle. She faced a series of bipartisan criticisms and answered very few questions.
Cheatle resigned a day after the hearing.
