Gunman Might Have Scoped Out Site Six Days Before Trump Rally

The would-be assassin also had a bulletproof jacket in his car that he did not wear when he opened fire on the former president, along with several magazines for a rifle.

Federal investigators are examining the possibility that a would-be assassin scoped out the area where former President Donald J. Trump was to speak six days before the campaign rally in Pennsylvania where Mr. Trump was wounded.

A cellphone linked to the gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pa., included geolocation data that indicated that he could have been in the area of the site, the Butler Farm Show grounds, on July 7, according to federal officials and information provided by the F.B.I. on Wednesday during a congressional briefing. Mr. Crooks opened fire from a warehouse roof at the site on Saturday, grazing the former president’s right ear, killing a rally attendee and seriously injuring two others.

The new details about Mr. Crooks’s possible whereabouts on July 7 mean that he might have checked out the site even before law enforcement officials did a security assessment. The Secret Service met with local law enforcement officers for a first walk-through on July 8, and finalized plans a few days later.

The Secret Service ultimately decided to exclude from the security zone a complex of warehouses to the north of Mr. Trump’s stage, despite the closest one being within a rifle’s range. That decision is now under intense scrutiny by Congress. The F.B.I. is responsible for investigating the attempted assassination, but officials have not said whether the bureau intends to write a report.

Federal officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss details about the ongoing inquiry, said the F.B.I. had learned more about Mr. Crooks’s movements after he might have surveilled the show grounds.

He told his employer at the nursing home where he worked that he needed to take Saturday off because he had to do something important.