A 20-year-old white male, "loner" and "victim of relentless bullying in school" who used a semi-automatic weapon legally purchased by his father and had explosives prepared, both in his car and at home. That is the initial profile of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the man who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump and was shot dead on Saturday afternoon in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Less than six hours after the attack that left the former President of the United States with minor injuries, the FBI formally identified the shooter, a young man from Bethel Park, less than an hour away. Crooks was shot by Secret Service and Police snipers in a shootout immediately after the young man opened fire, resulting in one fatality and two seriously injured, in addition to the politician.
Federal agents, who have taken over the investigation, have not officially provided additional information about the attacker or his possible motivations, but neighbors, classmates, and official sources have helped outline a preliminary profile.
Throughout the day, dozens of agents searched his house, cordoning off an upper-middle-class suburb on the outskirts of Pittsburgh. In the area, in addition to the FBI, there were members of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and a bomb squad.
His family is being questioned, and investigators are searching for clues about the reasons and motivations among his belongings and computer equipment. "It is an active and ongoing investigation," the agency says, urging anyone with relevant information to report it urgently. The initial investigations did not yield concrete evidence of any ideology, political or religious extremism, or online radicalization.
As reported by The Wall Street Journal on Sunday, explosive substances and devices were found in the car Crooks drove to the political rally and at his residence. Several witnesses reportedly alerted the authorities, who dispatched bomb disposal experts to identify suspicious packages. There are currently no details on the type of materials involved.
In the United States, obtaining a gun permit and purchasing rifles or automatic weapons is straightforward, but the market for explosives, even if limited to grenades, is much more restricted. In recent years, attacks have typically involved the use of fertilizers or household chemicals, rather than sophisticated bombs.
ABC News has confirmed that the weapon, an AR-15, one of the most popular and deadly semi-automatic rifles, was legally purchased by Crooks' father at least six months ago. In April, a Michigan couple was sentenced to between 10 and 15 years in the first involuntary manslaughter convictions in the U.S. for allowing their mentally troubled minor son access to a weapon with which he killed four people at a school.
A CNN team managed to speak with the father of the sole suspect in the attack. Bewildered, he said he was trying to figure out "what the hell is going on" but would "wait to speak with the authorities" before making specific comments about his son. According to neighbors, the mother is a Democrat sympathizer, and the father is a libertarian.
Thomas Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He received a $500 "star award" from the National Math and Science Initiative, as reported by the newspaper. A video from the 2022 graduation ceremony cited by The New York Times allegedly shows Crooks receiving his high school diploma to applause.
Subsequently, he obtained a degree in engineering from a nearby community college. He enjoyed playing chess and video games, and was learning to code, but his online presence is minimal. According to the same newspaper, the attacker had worked as a nutrition assistant at a specialized rehabilitation and nursing center in Bethel Park. The facility's officials indicated that there was nothing unusual in his behavior.
High school classmates of Thomas Matthew Crooks, interviewed by local station KDKA, claim that the attacker against Trump was "a loner" who "suffered relentless bullying and intimidation" during his high school years and often wore "hunting" or camouflage outfits in class. Other students clarified that while he was not very popular, they never saw him as someone regularly martyred seeking revenge out of desperation. "He had friends, and the teachers adored him," said another witness from that time.
One student, Zach Bradford, told The New York Times that the shooter was "incredibly intelligent" and that his views in high school seemed "slightly right-wing," a sentiment echoed by several others. Bradford recalled a couple of instances where his classmates had made him uncomfortable, a mild way of referring to bullying, but they never thought he could be capable of something like this.
A local TV station gathered the testimony of another young man who claimed that Crooks tried out for the school's shooting team but did not make it because he was not a good shot, despite practicing at a local center.
State voter records indicate that Crooks was registered as a Republican, and the upcoming elections on November 5th would have been the first in which he was old enough to vote. In the United States, registration is necessary to vote, and each person can indicate whether they support Republicans, Democrats, or are independent. Not everyone selects a party or necessarily updates their information if they do not intend to participate in the primary process.
As documented in the Federal Election Commission records, three years ago, a Thomas Crooks made a modest $15 donation to ActBlue, a progressive political action committee that raises money for Democratic and left-wing politicians. The donation, as explained by American media, was intended for the Progressive Engagement Project, a group that mobilizes Democrats nationwide to participate in elections.
During the night and early morning, social media was filled with rumors and false attributions. A conservative influencer mistakenly identified an Italian sports journalist as the shooter, causing his photo to circulate rapidly, leading to confusion.
Some individuals seeking notoriety took advantage to generate noise and troll by using their photo as the shooter once the name was known. And various accounts, attempting to quickly politicize the situation, rushed to create fake accounts on platforms like Instagram to steer the conversation toward their interests, making it appear that the man shot by the police was clearly either a Republican or a Democrat, depending on the case.
According to witnesses, Crooks climbed to the top of a building about 120 meters away from the stage where Trump was speaking and opened fire quickly but inaccurately, after a local police officer approached, avoiding direct confrontation when aimed at.
The spokesperson for the Secret Service, responsible for presidential security and facing severe criticism, categorically denied on Sunday that there were specific alerts or that additional security requests from Trump's circle had been dismissed, as suggested by various alternative right-wing voices.
"There is a false claim that a member of the former president's team requested additional security resources and that they were denied. This is absolutely false. In fact, we added resources, technology, and protection capabilities as part of the increased pace of campaign travel," wrote the Secret Service Communication Director, Anthony Guglielmi, in a post on Sunday morning.