Director recounts FBI response, evidence collection and nationwide probe after attempted assassination

The Director said he and other officials secured a hold room for the attorney general and senior congressional leaders after an attempted assassination and confirmed the subject had been detained by the Secret Service. "We were in the room, as many others were, and we wanted to ensure the room was safe and secure," the Director said, describing how agents checked communications and organized evacuations.

He told the interviewer that FBI teams led civilians out of the facility and immediately called for activation of the National Crisis Coordination Center and mobilized command units. "We stood up our command center at WFO, our Washington Field Office, and immediately deploy[ed] assets," he said, adding that Evidence Response Technicians, SWAT teams and federal agents remained on scene.

The Director described on-scene forensics and logistics: teams photographed the area, removed shell casings and secured firearms, and sent evidence to FBI laboratories in Quantico. "Capturing photographs, removing the shell casings...making sure that evidence was immediately sent to our laboratories in Quantico," he said.

He said investigators also moved physical evidence and devices from the suspect's home by fixed-wing aircraft to Washington and Quantico for exploitation, and that agents lawfully obtained access to the perpetrator's phone using search warrants provided by the Department of Justice. "We also dispatched fixed wing aircraft across the country to transport any evidence and devices...to be immediately exploited by our technicians back here in Washington and down at Quantico," he said.

The Director said the FBI transported the charged individual by ambulance to a hospital for further questioning and launched teams to Los Angeles and New London, Conn., to interview family members and gather information. He emphasized preserving the integrity of an ongoing investigation when asked about early interviews and whether he had spoken to the suspect.

The investigation, he said, has involved multiple federal and local partners and reached "from California to New London, Connecticut," with evidence now being processed at federal laboratories. The Director closed by saying the work that evening was "just the beginning of a very long evening," and that agents would continue investigative and forensic work as the probe proceeds.