Updated July 18, 2024 at 14:19 PM ET
Less than a week out from the shocking assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, authorities are still working to unravel who the gunman was and what may have driven him to act.
The FBI say Thomas Matthew Crooks, the man who shot at Trump at a Butler, Pa., political rally on Saturday, is believed to have acted alone. There is yet to be an established motive for Crooks’ actions, officials told media over the weekend.
Trump says that a bullet pierced the upper part of his right ear. One person, identified Sunday as Corey Comperatore, 50, was killed in the attack. Two other people were also injured before Secret Service agents killed Crooks.
Investigators have said his father purchased the weapon used in the attack—an AR-style 556 rifle—and now officials are trying to determine how Crooks gained access to it.
A person familiar with the investigation who was not allowed to speak publicly said the gun was purchased about six months ago. The source also confirmed that at least one possibly workable, explosive device was found in the dead suspect's vehicle.
Robert Wells, assistant director of the FBI’s counterterrorism division, said Sunday that the bureau was investigating the incident as “an act of domestic terrorism.”
A picture is still emerging about the 20-year-old. Here’s what we know so far.
Crooks is from a small community outside of Pittsburgh
The Crooks family home is in Bethel Park, Pa., according to the FBI, a working-to-middle class community south of Pittsburgh.
Investigators said the Crooks’ family is cooperating with the investigation. Attempts by NPR to contact family members have not been successful.
The community, which neighbors describe as a “quiet” one, sits about 53 miles from the shooting site and is home to about 33,000 people.
“People kind of keep to themselves. I mean, you say hi to your neighbors,” said Jim Zawojski, 70, a retiree living in Bethel Park. But, he added, people aren’t especially close-knit.
Zawojski said he once mistakenly received mail from the Crooks house, but never engaged with the family members directly, even as he returned the mail to their porch.
“I couldn’t even tell you what they look like,” he said.
“I’m sure they’re devastated," Zawojski continued. "I am just wondering if there were any signs of how [Crooks] was acting. Was he mentally disturbed?"
In school, he was considered a good student
The shooting has confounded those who crossed paths with Crooks.
The Bethel Park School District confirmed Sunday that Crooks was a 2022 graduate of Bethel Park High School. The district said it was cooperating with investigators and was limited in what other information it could release.
Crooks' name was included on a list of awardees as part of Bethel Park High School's Awards and Recognition Program in 2022, according to a local news report. He was listed as receiving a $500 National Math & Science Initiative Star Award.
"From background I've gotten from people that I know that have gone to school with him, he was your typical average kid — more on the quiet side, relatively intelligent," Allegheny County Councilor Dan Grzybek told WESA, Pittsburgh's NPR news station. Gryzbek represents the district that includes Bethel Park.
Grzybek noted that Crooks was known as "a pretty decent student."
After high school, Crooks attended the Community College of Allegheny County, where he graduated two months ago with an associate's degree in engineering science, the school confirmed to NPR.
"Like all Americans, we are shocked and saddened by the horrific turn of events that took place in Butler, Pa., on Saturday. We are grateful that former President Trump is safe and recovering, and we extend our condolences to the family of Corey Comperatore on their loss, and offer our thoughts and prayers to all others who have been impacted by this tragedy," CCAC said in a statement. "As the investigation into this weekend’s events continues, CCAC will fully cooperate with members of law enforcement."
A spokesman for Robert Morris University confirmed that Crooks had planned to enroll at the small private institution outside of Pittsburgh beginning this fall, but had not yet attended classes at the university.
A person who encountered Crooks at CCAC but who wasn't authorized to speak publicly told NPR that Crooks was known as a brilliant student with a solid future ahead of him. This individual said Crooks was seen on campus and always dressed nicely. There were plans for Crooks to attend a four-year institution in the state after graduating CCAC, this person said.
Earlier this year, it was announced that CCAC was no longer offering new students to enroll in its engineering department, forcing current students to finish their programs and classes there by 2025, according to a local news report. This caused a lot of students stress, but as far as this person knew there were no behavioral issues with Crooks during his time at CCAC.
Since news of the shooting rippled through the community, the general feeling at CCAC is shock at the "senseless" tragedy, this individual said.
Samuel Strotman, a classmate of Crooks at CCAC, shared classes with him. But Strotman said he never saw Crooks in person at the school's campus. In the classes they did share over Zoom, Crooks was just a "dark screen" and said just a few words when the professor took roll call.
"I never thought I'd be in class with someone who tried to assassinate our former president," Strotman said.
Small details are beginning to take shape
Bit by bit, more minor details about his life beyond school have started to come into focus.
Crooks had been working at Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center as a dietary aide, Marcie Grimm, the center's administrator, said in a statement shared with NPR. It's unclear how long Crooks worked at the center.
Grimm expressed shock and sadness that the 20-year-old was named as the alleged shooter.
Crooks "performed his job without concern and his background check was clean," Grimm said in her statement. "We are fully cooperating with law enforcement officials at this time. Due to the ongoing investigation, we cannot comment further on any specifics. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Former President Trump and the victims impacted by this terrible tragedy. We condemn all acts of violence."
He appeared to also have an interest in guns, having joined a shooting club just a short drive away from Bethel Park. Robert S. Bootay III, legal counsel for Clairton Sportsmen's Club, said in a statement that Crooks was a member of the gun club.
“Obviously, the Club fully admonishes the senseless act of violence that occurred yesterday,” Bootay said in a statement while also offering condolences to the family of Corey Comperatore, who died in the attack, and prayers to those injured.
After Crooks was killed, multiple news outlets have reported, a photo emerged of a law enforcement officer standing above his body. In the image, which NPR has not independently verified, Crooks is seen wearing a gray T-shirt from Demolition Ranch, a YouTube channel that features videos about firearms, demolition and experiments with guns.
After the image emerged, Matt Carriker, the channel’s creator, posted a video in which he said he was “shocked and confused to find this out.”
“We don’t vet the people who buy our shirts, obviously, it would be impossible to. Just like Nike doesn’t vet who buys their shoes,” Carriker said in the video. “This channel is not about violence, this channel will never be and we never would condone that at all,” he continued. “I hate that.”
A possible motive remains unclear
Investigators are working to put together what may have motivated Crooks to target Trump. They are looking into his actions in the days and weeks before the shooting.
The FBI has not yet identified an ideology associated with the shooter, according to Kevin Rojek, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office who is leading the investigation into the assassination attempt.
“We don’t have any kind of fidelity right now about the shooter’s action immediately prior to him engaging the former president,” he said.
Senior officials from the FBI and Secret Service have briefed U.S. lawmakers on the investigation, according to a person on the call.
The FBI has been reviewing the contents of Crooks’ electronic devices, including a laptop and two cell phones — his primary phone and a second that was found at his home.
Crooks had saved images of President Biden, Trump, Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher Wray and Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales. He had also searched for dates of Trump speaking events as well as the Democratic National Convention. He also searched “major depressive order.”
When investigators searched Crooks’ home, they found no artifacts that indicated a political ideology, which officials told lawmakers was unusual in a case like this. People who knew Crooks have told investigators that he didn’t often discuss politics.
Pennsylvania voter registration and Federal Election Commission data show Crooks was a registered Republican, but donated $15 through ActBlue, the Democratic-allied organization, in 2021.
A search on Pennsylvania's public court records database indicated Crooks had no criminal history.
Investigators have found no threatening language on his social media accounts, according to Wells of the FBI's counterterrorism division.
To the extent he used social media, it appears he left no major footprint.
At least one social media account associated with Crooks has been confirmed on the group-chatting app Discord.
Loading...
"We have identified an account that appears to be linked to the suspect; it was rarely utilized and we have found no evidence that it was used to plan this incident, promote violence, or discuss his political views," a Discord spokesperson said in a statement to NPR. "Discord strongly condemns violence of any kind, including political violence, and we will continue to coordinate closely with law enforcement."
Copyright 2024 NPR
