What We Know About the Trump Rally Shooter

Peter Wade
·3 min read
46

The FBI has identified the man who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks. After he opened fire at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, a Secret Service sniper shot and killed him. The FBI has identified the incident as an “assassination attempt.”

The shooter used an AR-style rifle to fire into the crowd from hundreds of feet away, grazing Trump’s ear, killing one spectator and critically injuring two others. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) identified the person killed at the rally as firefighter Corey Comperatore. Shapiro said he spoke to Contempore’s wife who asked him to share that Comperatore “died a hero.” The governor said that “Corey dove on his family to protect them last night at this rally.”

Crooks reportedly purchased 50 rounds of ammunition at a local gun store hours before the attack at the Trump rally, according to CNN.

Officials told The Associated Press that they found bomb-making materials in Crooks’ car near the scene and in his home. Investigators told the AP that they believe the weapon Crooks used belonged to his father, Matthew Crooks, and was purchased at least six months ago. Matthew Crooks told the AP on Saturday night that he was trying to find out “what the hell is going on” and declined to speak about his son until he spoke with law enforcement.

Thomas Crooks lived in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, approximately an hour’s drive from the rally location. Law enforcement raided Crooks’ house late Saturday night and evacuated neighbors from their homes.

“They asked us to leave our house. They told us it was a state of emergency, no warning, just a knock on the door in the middle of the night,” neighbor Kelly Little told CBS News. “They told us we could come back in a couple of hours, likely.”

Crooks was a registered Republican and made a $15 donation to a progressive, anti-Trump PAC on the day President Joe Biden was inaugurated, according to campaign finance records. He did not have identification on him, so the FBI used DNA analysis and other means to confirm his identity. According to the Pentagon, Crooks had no affiliation with the military. He graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022, the school district said in a statement to KDKA.

One of Crooks’ classmates told KDKA that Crooks was a loner who was often bullied. The local CBS station further reported that Crooks was rejected from his high school’s rifle team in his freshman year, according to a former member of the team.

One team member told ABC that Crooks was “asked not to come back because how bad of a shot he was.”

Crooks’ employer, Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation, where he worked as a dietary aide, issued a statement. “We are shocked and saddened to learn of his involvement as Thomas Matthew Crooks performed his job without concern and his background check was clean,” the statement read in part. “We are fully cooperating with law enforcement officials at this time.”

“We do not currently have an identified motive,” Kevin Rojek, FBI Pittsburgh special agent in charge, told reporters at a briefing Saturday night.

Another classmate of Crooks told The Philadelphia Inquirer that the shooter was “definitely was conservative,” adding: “It makes me wonder why he would carry out an assassination attempt on the conservative candidate.”

Crooks and his classmates at Bethel Park High School were previously featured in the background of a TV ad featuring a teacher from the school. The investment company BlackRock announced Sunday it has “removed the video from circulation out of respect for the victims.”

This is a breaking story and will be updated as more information is released.

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