Gunman Searched ‘How Far Away Was Oswald From Kennedy?’ Before Trump Shooting

The F.B.I. director, Christopher A. Wray, disclosed to lawmakers that the Google search was perhaps an early indication that the gunman began to contemplate an assassination.

The gunman who tried to kill former President Donald J. Trump searched online for details of John F. Kennedy’s assassination a week before the shooting, apparently typing, “How far away was Oswald from Kennedy?” the director of the F.B.I. told lawmakers on Wednesday.

The disclosure by the F.B.I. director, Christopher A. Wray, to the House Judiciary Committee, appeared to be a possible first indication that the shooter began to contemplate an assassination. That same day, July 6, he appears to have registered to attend the rally in Butler, Pa., where Mr. Trump was set to speak, Mr. Wray added.

“That’s a search that obviously is significant in terms of his state of mind,” Mr. Wray said, noting that the gunman’s interest in public figures around that time “became very focused on former President Trump and this rally.”

Even as Mr. Wray cautioned that the investigation was still continuing, he disclosed several new details about the shooting during a hearing that stretched over four hours.

Mr. Wray spoke more specifically about the injury to Mr. Trump’s ear, although he was unclear about what caused it. He at first said “there’s some question about whether or not it’s a bullet or shrapnel that hit his ear.”

But Mr. Wray then appeared to suggest that it was in fact a bullet when he added, “I don’t know whether that bullet, in addition to causing the grazing, could have also landed somewhere else.”