The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has identified a 20-year-old man named Thomas Matthew Crooks as the suspected shooter at Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The suspect, who was shot dead by security forces, was a resident of Bethel Park, which is located in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, about 70 kilometers from Butler.
Thomas Matthew Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022, BBC News partner CBS has confirmed.
The shift manager at a Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehab nursing home told the BBC that Crooks worked in the kitchen there.
Authorities say they are still investigating what the motive of the attacker who shot Trump from the roof of a building near the former president’s event may have been.
Crooks was shot dead by Secret Service personnel protecting the former president after firing several rounds.
The shooter’s father bought the gun
The attacker used a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle and fired from the top of a building at a distance of about 200 metres, BBC Verify was able to confirm after analysing the images.
According to information from the Associated Press (AP) news agency, investigators believe that the gun used to shoot Donald Trump was purchased by Thomas Crook’s father.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, two officials told AP that Crooks’ father purchased a gun at least six months ago.
Crooks had no criminal record
A witness who gave his name as Greg told BBC correspondent Gary O’Donoghue that he saw a man with a rifle on a rooftop minutes before the incident occurred.
The attacker had no prior criminal record, according to Pennsylvania public court records.
The man was not carrying identification at the time of the attack, so investigators used DNA to identify him, the FBI said.
Crooks was apparently registered as a Republican in Pennsylvania, according to the AP, which had access to voter registration records.
However, he also donated $15 to a progressive political action committee on Jan. 20, 2021, the same day President Joe Biden was inaugurated, according to campaign finance records cited by the agency.
Police had surrounded Crooks’ family home in Bethel Park on Sunday morning, the newspaper reported. The New York Times.
Speaking to CNN, Crooks’ father, Matthew Crooks, said he was trying to figure out “what the hell is going on” but would “wait until I talk to the police” before commenting on his son.
The FBI is investigating the incident as attempted murder and has designated the location of Trump’s rally as a crime scene.
“This remains an active and ongoing investigation, and anyone with information that could assist with the investigation is asked to submit photos or videos online,” the FBI said in a statement.
The building from which Crooks fired was outside the security perimeter where the former president was holding a rally attended by thousands of supporters.
One bystander was killed by gunfire and two other people were seriously injured. All of them are men, according to the FBI, which has not yet provided further information about the victims.
Trump, who had just begun a speech at the time of the shooting, was grazed by a bullet above his right ear.
The images, which were broadcast live, showed how the former president put his hand to his ear and crouched behind the lectern when the shots began to be heard.
He was quickly surrounded by secret service agents who evacuated him in a vehicle.
George Bivens of the Pennsylvania police said officers at the scene acted “heroically” and there was no reason to believe a threat remained.
Trump was examined at a local hospital and has since been released.
Trump’s messages
The former Republican president is “doing well” and is grateful to law enforcement, according to a statement posted on the Republican National Committee (RNC) website.
“I was shot with a bullet that pierced the top of my right ear,” Trump himself said on the social network Truth after the attack.
He added: “I knew immediately something was wrong when I heard a whistling sound, gunshots, and immediately felt the bullet tearing through my skin.”
“There was a lot of blood and then I realized what was happening,” he concluded.