Trump’s shooter remains an elusive enigma days after his assassination attempt

BETHEL PARK, Pa. (AP) — After three days, a puzzling portrait of the 20-year-old man who nearly killed former President Donald Trump with a high-velocity bullet has emerged: He was a smart loner with few friends, a seemingly thin social media footprint and no trace of strong political beliefs that would suggest a motive for an assassination attempt.

Even after the FBI hacked Thomas Matthew Crooks’ cellphone, searched his computer, home and car, and interviewed more than 100 people, the mystery of why he opened fire at Trump’s rally on Saturday, a bullet grazing the Republican candidate’s ear, has remained as elusive as when it happened.

“He was sitting by himself, not talking to anybody, not even trying to start a conversation,” said Liam Campbell, 17, echoing comments from classmates who remembered the shooter in this quiet community outside Pittsburgh. “He was a strange kid,” but nothing about him seemed dangerous, he added. “Just a normal person who seemed like he didn’t like talking to people.”

So far, there has been no information about whether the shooter left any writing, a suicide note, a social media post or anything else explaining why he targeted Trump. A law enforcement official briefed on the ongoing investigation told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity that Crooks’ phone did not immediately yield significant clues about motive, or whether he acted alone or with others.

Crooks’ political beliefs are also unclear. Crooks was registered as a Republican in Pennsylvania, but federal campaign finance reports also show that he donated $15 to a progressive political action committee on Jan. 20, 2021, the day Democratic President Joe Biden was sworn in.

The lack of a satisfactory explanation led Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to revisit the lengthy federal investigation into the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas, the deadliest attack in the nation’s history. That probe was closed after 17 months without finding a motive to explain what drove the 64-year-old gunman to fire more than 1,000 bullets into a crowd of onlookers, other than to “achieve some degree of infamy.”

Crooks, who is small in build, wears wire-rimmed glasses and has thin hair parted in the middle, went by the name “Tom.” Classmates at Bethel Park High School described him as a smart but aloof boy who was often seen wearing headphones and preferred to sit alone at lunch looking at his phone. Some said he was often teased by other students because of the clothes he wore, including hunting gear, and because he continued to wear a mask after the COVID pandemic ended.

“He was bullied almost every day,” said Jason Kohler, a classmate. “He was an outcast.”

After graduating from high school in 2022, Crooks continued his education at the Community College of Allegheny County, where he earned an associate degree with honors in engineering science in May. He also worked at a nursing home as a dietary assistant.

A 1997 study by the secret service of people who had attempted to assassinate a public figure since 1949 found no evidence of any individual attempting to kill a public figure. However, two-thirds of the attackers were described as “social isolates.”

Like Crooks, few of them had a history of violent crime or a criminal record. Most of the attackers also had a history of handling weapons, but did not have formal weapons or military training, the study found.

As a freshman, Crooks tried out for his high school’s shooting team but was rejected for poor marksmanship, the AP reported. Previously reportedThrough his family, he was a member of the Clairton Sportsmen’s Club, a shooting range located about 11 miles east of Bethel Park.

“We know very little about him,” club president Bill Sellitto told the AP. “It’s a terrible, terrible thing that happened Saturday. That’s not what we’re interested in at all.”

The club has an outdoor shooting range for high-powered rifles with targets set at distances up to 170 metres (187 yards).

Crooks was well within that range when he opened fire on Trump Saturday about 147 yards (135 meters) from where Trump was speaking, unleashing two rapid-fire volleys of bullets at the former president with an AR-15-style rifle.

His father, Matthew Crooks, purchased the gun in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, in 2013 from Gander Mountain, an outdoor retail chain.

The day before the shooting, Thomas Crooks went to the gym and practiced at the shooting range, according to a federal intelligence report obtained by the AP. The day of the attack, he bought 50 rounds of 5.56 mm ammunition for his rifle at a local gun store and drove alone to Butler, Pennsylvania, the site of Trump’s rally.

He pulled into a gas station parking lot about a half-mile from the scene. He was wearing a gray T-shirt with the logo of a popular gun YouTube channel, camouflage shorts and a black belt.

Witnesses and law enforcement officials say Crooks walked for at least a half-hour before climbing onto the roof of a building adjacent to the Butler Farm Show grounds, where Trump was speaking. As spectators yelled for police to intervene, Crooks opened fire, unleashing two rapid bursts. A Secret Service sniper returned fire within 15 seconds, killing Crooks with a bullet to the head.

Trump said this week that a bullet hit his right ear and that only a last-second head movement prevented him from being fatally wounded. One of the bullets aimed at Trump killed Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old firefighter who was in the stands. Two other people were seriously injured.

Without a clear view of Crooks’ motivations, many Americans on both sides of the political divide have tried to fill the void with their own partisan assumptions, evidence-free speculation and conspiracy theories in the days since the shooting.

Some Republicans have singled out Democrats for calling Trump a threat to democracy. Democrats, in turn, have pointed to Crooks’ GOP registration and Trump’s long history of provocation, including his continued praise for the Jan. 6 rioters.

Access to the Crooks’ home remained blocked by yellow police tape, with officers keeping watch and preventing journalists from approaching.

Melanie Maxwell, who lives in the neighborhood, was dropping off “Trump 2024” signs at another neighbor’s house.

Like the others, she did not know the Crooks family well. She said she was appalled by the attack and said any security breaches should be thoroughly investigated.

“The hand of God protected President Trump,” she said.

___

Biesecker reported from Washington, Bellisle from Seattle and Mustian from New York. Associated Press writers Eric Tucker and Colleen Long in Washington, Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pa., Julie Smyth, Lindsey Bahr, Mark Scolforo and Joshua Bickel in Bethel Park, Pa., Michael R. Sisak in Butler, Pa., Randy Herschaft in New York, Michael Balsamo in Chicago and Michael Kunzelman in Silver Spring, Md., contributed to this report.