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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Sami Quadri and Lydia Chantler-Hicks

Thomas Matthew Crooks: What we know about the Donald Trump rally gunman

The man who shot Donald Trump in an apparent assassination attempt on Saturday has been named as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.

Former US president Mr Trump, 78, was pierced through his right ear by a bullet as he addressed a Republican rally in Pennsylvania, in a shooting that killed an audience memberand left two other people injured.

Crooks was spotted on a nearby roof and shot dead at the scene within seconds by a Secret Service sniper.

Further details about the would-be assassin have now come to light - including how he failed to make the rifle team at the school where he was badly bullied, how he worked in the kitchen of a local retirement home, and had membership to a rifle range.

Here’s everything we know about Crooks so far...

Suspect was ‘quiet’ maths whiz who was bullied ‘so much’ at school

Crooks grew up in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, with his sister, and his parents who are said to work as behavioural health counsellors.

Bethel Park is a well-to-do, predominantly white suburb of southern Pittsburgh around 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Butler, where the shooting happened.

An undated driver's license photograph of Thomas Matthew Crooks (AFP via Getty Images)

Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022, receiving a $500 (£385) “star award” from the National Maths and Science Initiative.

It is understood he was frequently bullied at school, where he sometimes wore “hunting outfits”, and failed to make the varsity rifle team because he was a bad shooter.

Jason Kohler, 21, said Crooks didn’t fit in at school and was “bullied almost every day”. “He'd sit alone at lunch, he was just an outcast,” said Mr Kohler.

“I’d say he was a loner, he was quiet. He was bullied so much. So much. They made fun of the way he dressed.”

Jameson Myers, a former member of the school’s varsity rifle team, told CBS News he did not make it onto the side.

Frederick Mach, a current captain of the rifle team, said Crooks was turned away because he was a bad shooter.

Another former classmate, Summer Barkley, told the BBC Crooks was "always getting good grades on tests".

She said he was "very passionate” about history and politics, adding: “But it was nothing out of the ordinary....he was always nice."

A still from a video taken on June 3, 2022, shows Thomas Crooks at Bethel Park High School’s commencement ceremony (AP)

At the time of the shooting, Crooks was employed as a dietary aide at a nursing home.

The Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Centre said Crooks "performed his job without concern and his background check was clean."

Images of Crooks’ body appear to show he was wearing camouflage, along with a T-shirt from Demolition Ranch, a popular YouTube channel that regularly posts videos of its creator firing off handguns and assault rifles at targets that include human mannequins.

There was early speculation Crooks may have had military experience, but all the branches of the US military searched their records Sunday and said they had no records of him serving.

Crooks’ motive and political leanings not yet clear

FBI officials believe Crooks acted alone, but have not yet established a motive for the attack. They have also not yet established how much planning and preparation went into the shooting.

Pennsylvania voter records show he was registered as a Republican voter, but federal campaign finance reports paint a more complex picture.

Documents show Crooks made a $15 donation to a progressive political action committee on 20 January 2021 – the day of President Joe Biden's inauguration – when Crooks was 17.

The FBI said it had yet to identify an ideology linked to Crooks, or any indications of mental health issues.

Investigators combed through his social media accounts but found no immediate threatening writing or posts, or communications indicating an ideological motive.

Crooks’ uncle, Mark Crooks, told the Independent he had “no idea” what could have motivated his nephew to carry out the attack.

“I don’t know what to say,” he told the news outlet.

“I haven’t seen the kid since he was little. He never wanted to bother [with maintaining a relationship], so we don’t see him.”

Speaking to the media shortly after the attack the gunman’s father, Matthew Crooks, 53, said he was trying to figure out “what the hell is going on”. He added that he would “wait until I talk to law enforcement” before speaking further.

Suspect was member of local shooting club

The BBC reports Crooks had had a membership at a local shooting club, the Clairton Sportsmen's Club, for at least a year.

The club is based in 180 acres of woodland in the southern hills of Pennsylvania, and describes itself as “one of the premier shooting facilities in the tri-state area”.

It has more than 2,000 members and a range of facilities including a rifle range, pistol ranges, and archery ranges.

Secret Service ‘found bomb-making equipment in suspect’s car and home’

Bomb-making materials were found inside both Crooks' vehicle and at his home, officials said. The FBI described the devices as "rudimentary."

The "suspicious device" found in his car was inspected by bomb technicians and rendered safe.

Photos showed a heavy law enforcement presence, which reportedly included a bomb squad, blocking roads outside Crooks’ home.

A view of the home of 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks (REUTERS)

The weapon used in the attack on Mr Trump was confirmed to be an AR-style-5.56 calibre rifle.

It was bought legally, FBI officials said, adding they believed it had been purchased by the suspect's father.

US president Joe Biden has urged Americans to “cool it down” in the aftermath of the shooting.

In a prime-time TV address on Sunday, he said: “In America we resolve our differences at the ballot box. Politics must never be a literal battlefield. God forbid a killing field.”

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