BETHEL PARK: The FBI identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Penn­sylvania as the suspect in the attempted assassination of former US president Donald Trump at a campaign rally.

The suspect was shot and killed by the Secret Service seconds after he allegedly fired shots toward a stage where Trump was speaking on Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The FBI told reporters that they are investigating the incident as an assassination attempt and also potential domestic terrorism act.

The shooter was believed to be working alone, according to the FBI, and officials said they have not identified an ideology associated with him.

Crooks was a registered Republican; gun used to attack Trump belonged to his father

State voter records show that Crooks was a registered Republican and the upcoming Nov 5 election would have been the first presidential race he was eligible to vote in.

Thomas Crooks graduated in 2022 from Bethel Park High School, according to a statement from the Bethel Park School District received by local ABC affiliate WJET-TV.

Crooks’ former schoolmates described him as a “quiet” student who often came across as “lonely,” ABC News reported.

But although he seemed “socially reserved,” a former schoolmate did not recall hearing him discuss politics or Trump, according to ABC.

Following the shooting, investigators found a “suspicious device” in Crooks’ car, which was inspected by bomb technicians and is being analysed.

They noted that explosive devices have been collected as evidence. Authorities are now in the process of searching his phone.

Kevin Rojek, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, told reporters Sunday that the gun used in the shooting was an AR-style semiautomatic rifle which was purchased legally.

Investigators believe the weapon used was purchased by Crooks’ father, but it was unclear how he accessed the weapon.

Rojek added that there were no indications so far of any mental health issues.

Crooks also did not have military affiliations, according to Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder.

When Crooks was 17, he made a $15 donation to ActBlue, a political action committee that raises money for left-leaning and Democratic politicians, according to a 2021 Federal Election Com­mission filing. The donation was earmarked for the Progressive Turnout Project, a national group that rallies Democrats to vote.

In Bethel Park, about an hour away from where the shooting occurred, the streets surrounding the Crooks’s home were blocked off by law enforcement authorities.

Law enforcement officials said on Saturday that Crooks carried no identification to the site of the shooting and had to be identified using other methods.

Crooks’ father, Matthew Crooks, 53, told CNN that he was trying to figure out what happened and would wait until he spoke to law enforcement before speaking about his son.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2024