‘Incredibly reckless;’ Political science expert details possible impacts of assassination attempt

He died protecting his family as the gunshots rang out, according to a previous News Center 7 report.

Two men were injured in the shooting. They are both in an area hospital in stable condition.

Secret Service shot and killed the alleged gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park. The motive for the shooting remains unknown.

University of Dayton Associate Professor of Political Science Chris Devine has been studying politics for nearly a decade.

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“As a political scientist, what I’m often trying to do is draw on the data that we have,” Devine said.

He said it’s hard to know how people will react to the attempted assassination because it’s been almost 50 years since something like this happened.

“Last time there were really shots taken at a president, current or former, I believe would have been May of 1981 when Ronald Reagan came basically within an inch of his life,” he said.

To better understand what happened, people will ask questions and seek information.

“The motives for someone who would do something so horrible are not always what you would expect. Often, we’re talking about people who have serious mental illness or some complex motives,” he said.

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Even though the motive is unknown at this time, the assassination attempt will likely affect anyone who saw it.

“Even just putting aside the politics, that’s just a horrific action to take. But also, in the midst of a crowd. As we’re apparently seeing, the intended target may not be the only one who suffers from that. And so, it’s just an incredibly reckless thing to do from all kinds of standpoints,” Devine said.

As more information comes out about the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, Devine said people should not jump to conclusions.

“A lot of us just have to be careful and not jump to conclusions about what happened and why. There’s no good reason.”

We will continue to follow this story.