Twenty-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks was identified by the FBI on Sunday as the shooter behind the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., on Saturday evening that left one bystander dead and two others critically injured.
Crooks was killed at the scene by a Secret Service sniper, and investigations continue into his motives, which remain unclear.
Here’s what we know so far.
‘No indication of any mental health issues’
The FBI says that Crooks was not known to the agency prior to the incident.
In a call with reporters Sunday night, the FBI special agent in charge, Kevin Rojek, said there was “no indication of any mental health issues” regarding the shooter.
Limited social media presence
Rojek also said authorities “have not yet identified an ideology” associated with Crooks. The agency is interviewing his family and friends and investigating his phone and internet history for any evidence, as it seeks to understand his motivations.
Crooks reportedly had a limited social media presence, though a spokesperson for the platform Discord said in a statement shared with TIME that the company “identified” a “rarely utilized” account that appears to be linked to Crooks. The spokesperson said that the company is cooperating with law enforcement but that it “found no evidence” the account was used “to plan this incident, promote violence, or discuss his political views.”
President Joe Biden on Sunday urged people to refrain from making assumptions. “Let the FBI do their job, and their partner agencies do their job,” he said.
Registered Republican, donor to progressives
State public voting records show that Crooks was a registered Republican, while Federal Election Commision documents show that a donor with the same name and address gave $15 to ActBlue, the Democratic fundraising apparatus, on Jan. 20, 2021—the date of President Joe Biden’s inauguration. The donation was earmarked for the Progressive Turnout Project.
A spokesperson for the Progressive Turnout Project told CNN that “the email address associated with the contribution only made the one contribution and was unsubscribed from our lists 2 years ago.” They added: “We unequivocally condemn political violence in all of its forms, and we denounce anyone who chooses violence over peaceful political action.”
From an affluent Pittsburgh suburb
The FBI identified Crooks’ hometown as Bethel Park, a suburb of Pittsburgh about an hour south of where the Trump rally was held. Dan Gryzbek, a county council member representing the area, described the neighborhood where Crooks’ family lived as “pretty firmly middle class, maybe upper-middle class” to the New York Times. According to the Census Bureau, Bethel Park’s population is 93% white with a 1.3 times higher per capita income than the rest of Pennsylvania.
The address of Crooks’ family home was in a district that President Biden won in 2020 with 52% of the vote to Trump’s 46%. Crooks’ father is a registered Libertarian and his mother is a registered Democrat, according to voter records, CNN and the Times reported. Both parents are licensed professional counselors, according to state records.
Seems to have acted alone
“While the investigation to date indicates the shooter acted alone,” the FBI said Sunday, “the FBI continues to conduct logical investigative activity to determine if there were any co-conspirators associated with this attack. At this time, there are no current public safety concerns.”
Used an AR-15-style rifle purchased legally by his father
Multiple law enforcement officials have said that the firearm used by Crooks in the shooting was an AR-style rifle that was legally purchased by Crooks’ father. Crooks’ family is cooperating with investigators, Rojek has said.
A rifle enthusiast since he was a teen
According to photos and videos of the scene of the shooting, Crooks was wearing a shirt associated with Demolition Ranch, a popular gun channel on YouTube. (Matt Carriker, the host of the channel, said on X that he will make a public statement soon but remains in disbelief.)
Crooks had tried out for his high school’s junior varsity rifle team when he was a freshman, CBS reported, but classmate Jameson Myers said Crooks didn’t make the team and never tried out again.
Jameson Murphy, another former classmate, told the New York Post that Crooks “was such a comically bad shot he was unable to make the team and left after the first day.” Another classmate also told the Post that the rifle team coach had concerns about Crooks based on “some crass jokes” Crooks made and how he interacted with others. “Our old coach was a stickler, he trained Navy marksmen, so he knew people. He knew when someone’s not the greatest person,” the classmate said.
Crooks did, however, belong to a local gun club, the Clairton Sportsmen’s Club, which has a 200-yard rifle range among its facilities. The club confirmed Crooks’ membership in a statement provided to multiple media outlets that admonished the violence and offered condolences to the victims but said it couldn’t offer any more details as investigations remain ongoing.
Left behind explosive materials
The FBI said that, when it searched Crooks’ home and vehicle to collect additional evidence, suspicious devices were found and have been “rendered safe” by bomb technicians. According to the Washington Post, officials said a “rudimentary” explosive device was found in his vehicle and has since been rendered safe and is being analyzed. The car, the Wall Street Journal reported, was parked near the rally.
Sources told Fox News that law enforcement found bomb-making materials in Crooks’ home.
A nursing home aid with an engineering science degree
Crooks graduated from the Community College of Allegheny County with an associate degree in engineering science just over two months ago, a school official confirmed to the New York Times.
Crooks worked as a dietary aid at the Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. “We are shocked and saddened to learn of his involvement,” Marcie Grimm, the facility administrator, said in a statement to multiple media outlets, adding that Crooks “performed his job without concern and his background check was clean.”
A colleague at the nursing home described Crooks as caring and apolitical at work to CNN. “It’s hard seeing everything that’s going on online,” the colleague said, “because he was a really, really good person that did a really bad thing, and I just wish I knew why.”
A quiet, lonely nerd in high school
Bethel Park School District confirmed in a statement that Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High in 2022. It offered its condolences to victims of the shooting and said it is cooperating with law enforcement investigations.
Former peers, speaking to media outlets, painted a portrait of a social outcast who kept a low profile.
“He didn’t really fit in with everybody else,” classmate Sarah D’Angelo told the Wall Street Journal. “He was there but I can’t think of anyone who knew him well,” another classmate told BBC.
Crooks was “a loner” who “would sit alone at lunch,” classmate Jason Kohler told ABC News. He would regularly wear camouflage outfits and was “bullied” for the way he dressed, Kohler told NBC News.
“There was definitely chatter about him just looking a little different,” another classmate, who asked not to be named, told CNN. “Almost a retro nerd vibe.”
Summer Barkley, another classmate, told BBC that Crooks was “always getting good grades on tests” and was “very passionate about history.”
Zach Bradford, another classmate, described Crooks to the New York Times as “incredibly intelligent” and said his views in high school seemed “slightly right leaning.”
Most—but not all—peers expressed disbelief at Crooks’ involvement in the shooting at the Trump rally.
“He never outwardly spoke about his political views or how much he hated Trump or anything,” D’Angelo added to the Wall Street Journal.
“I was just, like, shocked—I just couldn’t believe he did something that bold, considering he was such a quiet and kept-to-himself kind of person,” the anonymous classmate told CNN.
“I will say he was definitely nerdy, for sure, but he never gave off that he was creepy,” classmate Mark Sigafoos told CBS. “He seemed like he wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
But Julianna Grooms, who graduated a year after Crooks, told the Wall Street Journal that Crooks stood out for his awkwardness. “If someone would say something to his face, he would just kind of stare at them,” she said. “People would say he was the student who would shoot up high school.”
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Source: TIME
