A 20-year-old man from Pennsylvania fired multiple shots at former President Donald Trump at a rally on Saturday night.
The bullet grazed the Republican presidential candidate’s upper right ear, leaving him bleeding but not seriously injured. Authorities later said one rally attendee was killed in the shooting and two others were “seriously wounded.”
Here’s what we know:
Who was the shooter at the rally?
The FBI identified Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the man responsible for the assassination attempt. FBI officials said the investigation was still ongoing and released few additional details. They did not say what Crooks’ motive might have been.
Crooks worked at a nearby nursing home, where an administrator told USA Today the company was shocked to learn of the shooting and that Crooks had passed a background check for the job.
What did Thomas Crookes do at the crime scene?
Trump was shot in the right ear and escorted off the stage by Secret Service agents seconds after Saturday’s shooting, which left one man dead and two injured at the rally, before a Secret Service agent shot and killed Crooks, authorities said.
FBI Special Agent Kevin Rojek said in a media conference call Sunday afternoon that authorities found a “suspicious device” when they searched the shooter’s vehicle. Bomb disposal technicians inspected the device and found it safe.
“I’m not in a position to offer expertise on the specific composition of the bomb or suspicious package,” Rojek added.
Rojek said law enforcement plans to send the rifle and Crooks’ cellphone, along with other evidence, to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, “for processing and utilization.”
“We are searching his cell phone,” Rojek said.
Maps and Graphics:What happened in the assassination attempt on President Trump
What is Crooks’ background?
Crooks is registered to vote as a Republican in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, according to county voter records. His voter registration status is valid for 2021.
According to Federal Election Commission records, Crooks donated $15 in January 2021 to the Progressive Turnout Project, a group that works to increase Democratic voter turnout.
Crooks, born Sept. 20, 2003, has no criminal history in Pennsylvania and has never been charged there, according to Pennsylvania court records, and there is no record of him in the federal court database.
Where did Thomas Crookes work?
Crooks worked as a dietitian, primarily involved in preparing meals, at Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Facility, less than a mile from her home. Marcy Grimm, the facility’s administrator, said in a statement provided to USA Today on Sunday that she was “shocked and saddened to learn of Ms. Crooks’ involvement.”
“Thomas Matthew Crooks performed his duties without incident and his background check was clear,” Grimm said. “We are fully cooperating with law enforcement at this time. Due to the ongoing investigation, we cannot comment further on the details. Our thoughts and prayers go out to former President Trump and the victims affected by this horrific tragedy. We condemn any acts of violence.”
The facility is owned by Kennett Square, Pennsylvania-based Genesis Healthcare, which advertises for Pittsburgh-area dietary assistant positions with pay of $16 an hour.
Thomas Crooks, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania
Voter records show Crooks’ home address is listed in Bethel Park, a suburb of metropolitan Pittsburgh. The three-bedroom brick home has been owned since 1998 by Matthew and Mary Crooks, who are believed to be Crooks’ parents. Calls to the couple went unanswered throughout the night.
Dean Sierka, 52, who lives near the Crooks family, said he knew Crooks and his parents for many years as neighbors just a few houses down. His daughter, Lily Sierka, was in the same class as Crooks from grade school through Bethel Park High School and remembers him as a quiet, shy person.
Dean and his daughter, Lily, said they saw Crooks at least once a week, often while walking to work.
“We never would have expected anything like this,” Dean Sierka said, “The parents and the family are all really good people.”
At Bethel Park High School
Thomas Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School two years ago, the Bethel Park School District confirmed, after his name appeared in a 2022 local news article about National Math and Science Initiative Star Award recipients at the public high school, which has an enrollment of about 1,300 students.
Jason Kohler, who attended the same Bethel Park High School as Crooks, remembers the 20-year-old sitting alone at lunch and “getting picked on every day.” Students picked on Crooks because he wore camouflage to class and because of his quiet demeanor, Kohler, 21, said.
Since hearing that Crooks had been named as the shooter, Kohler has spoken with classmates who knew Crooks, and most of them are shocked by the news. “It’s just hard to comprehend,” Kohler said.
Shawn Eckert said he was in Crooks’ class from fifth grade through 12th grade and that Crooks always went by the name “Tom.”
The two were in the same class in elementary and middle school, and Eckert said Crooks was “quite intelligent” but quiet and rarely spoke up.
Eckert said Crooks didn’t seem to have many friends. He didn’t recall him playing sports, joining any clubs or societies, or attending any popular campus events. Crooks was often seen wearing hunting gear, so Eckert speculated he might have been a hunter.
None of the people in Eckert’s high school group emails seemed to know Crooks very well, he said, and they were shocked that someone from their town would do something like this, and even more shocked that it was Tom Crooks.
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Discord, an online gaming site, said Sunday it had found an account it believes is linked to the suspected shooter. In a statement, a Discord spokesman said the site removed the account because it was “rarely used, had not been active for several months, and we have found no evidence it was used to plan this incident, incite violence, or discuss the suspect’s political views.” The company added that it would work closely with police.
Where is Bethel Park, Pennsylvania?
Bethel Park is a suburb of Pittsburgh with a population of more than 32,000, according to the most recent census estimates, about 1,000 fewer than four years ago.
The median household income in this mostly white, mostly college-educated community is $102,177.
Known as a charming retreat away from the hustle and bustle of the bigger cities to the north, Bethel Park boasts tree-lined streets, friendly neighborhoods and a low crime rate.
Bethel Park is about 42 miles south of Butler, where the Trump rally was held. The streets of this leafy suburb were swarming with police throughout the night in a multi-agency response to the shooting. A member of the Allegheny County bomb squad told reporters that a team was on its way to the home around midnight, but did not say why.
For the next few hours the scene was quiet, with deer passing under the police cordon and neighbours occasionally coming out of their homes to see what was going on.
John Wolf, a local construction foreman who lives nearby, said he’s spoken to several concerned neighbors.
“People are scared,” Wolf said.
How did Crooks shoot Trump?
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the gunmen were stationed on a rooftop more than 100 yards from the rally, and police recovered an AR-style rifle from the scene.
Joseph Price, a special agent in charge of the ATF in Pittsburgh, said the weapon used by the shooter was a rifle. “There was nothing out of the ordinary about it,” he said in an interview in the parking lot of Butler Township City Hall.
Pennsylvania State Police Lt. George Bivens said authorities were tracking “numerous suspicious events,” including reports from witnesses who tried to call police to report someone acting out outside the rally just before the shooting.
The FBI said in a news release that the situation “remains an ongoing investigation, and anyone with information that could assist the investigation is asked to submit photos or videos online at FBI.gov/butler or call 1-800-CALL-FBI.”
Contributors: Stephanie Warsmith and Tim Evans, Aisha Bagchi, Jessica Gain