20-year-old who almost killed Trump was a bright student, had a job and belonged to a gun club
The 20-year-old shooter who attempted to assassinate former President Trump was a dietary aide at a nursing home, a bright student, and a member of a gun club.
Thomas Matthew Crooks belonged to a shooting club based in Clairton, Pa., nearly nine miles from his family home in Bethel Park. Attorney Robert S. Bootay III confirmed to The Times that Crooks, who was shot and killed by Secret Service agents Saturday, was a member of the Clairton Sportsmen’s Club.
“Obviously, the club fully admonishes the senseless act of violence that occurred yesterday,” said Bootay, who represents the organization, in a statement. “The club also offers its sincerest condolences to the Comperatore family and extends prayers to all of those injured including the former president.”
Bootay declined further comment, citing the pending FBI investigation.
The Clairton Sportsmen’s Club, on 180 acres south of Pittsburgh, bills itself as offering “one of the premier shooting facilities in the tri-state area” and has more than 2,000 members. It offers youth events, archery facilities, safety courses and multiple rifle ranges, including a highpowered-rifle range with targets up to 187 yards away.
BBC News first reported Crooks’ affiliation with the club.
Kevin Rojek, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh division, said in a news briefing Sunday that Crooks used an AR-style 556 rifle in the shooting that was legally purchased by his father, Matthew Crooks. The elder Crooks is a licensed counselor in Pennsylvania, according to state and federal records.
A local gun shop owner, Bruce Piendl, told Reuters that there are “a ton of gun clubs” in the area around Bethel Park. “We have a rich tradition of hunting and fishing and outdoor stuff,” he said.
Rojek said authorities found a suspicious device in Thomas Matthew Crooks’ car, which was inspected by bomb technicians and rendered safe. He said the FBI was in the process of analyzing it further.
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Rojek said there were no indications, at this time, that the shooter had mental health issues. His social media presence has not yet rendered clues about his ideology or motive.
“We continue to look at all his social media accounts and look for any potential threatening language,” Rojek said, “but as of right now, we have not seen any.”
A law enforcement source told the New York Times that Crooks’ social media activity showed he liked to play chess and video games and was learning how to code.
Discord, a messaging platform, told The Times that it identified and removed an account that might have belonged to Crooks, citing its “off-platform behavior policy.”
“It was rarely utilized, has not been used in months, and we have found no evidence that it was used to plan this incident, promote violence, or discuss his political views,” a Discord spokesperson said in a statement. “Discord strongly condemns violence of any kind, including political violence, and we will continue to coordinate closely with law enforcement.”
Crooks graduated in 2022 from Bethel Park High School, the Bethel Park School District said in a statement. In a video of the school’s graduation ceremony posted online, Crooks can be seen crossing the stage to receive his diploma, appearing slight of build and wearing glasses.
His senior year, Crooks was among several students given an award for math and science, according to a Tribune-Review story at the time.
The district said it would “cooperate fully with the active law enforcement investigation surrounding this case.”
Jason Kohler, who said he attended the same high school but did not share any classes with Crooks, said Crooks was bullied at school and sat alone at lunch. Other students mocked him for the way he dressed, for example in hunting outfits, Kohler said.
“He was bullied almost every day,” Kohler told reporters. “He was just a outcast, and you know how kids are nowadays.”
Jameson Myers, who was part of Crooks’ graduating class, told CBS News that Crooks tried out for his high school’s rifle team during his freshman year but did not make the cut.
FBI officials said they believe the shooter — who wounded two others and left one dead — acted alone. They said they are investigating the shooting as an assassination attempt, and they are also looking at it as a “potential domestic terrorism act.”
Myers told the outlet that Crooks was a “nice kid who never talked poorly of anyone.”
Crooks worked at a nursing home as a dietary aide, a job that generally involves food preparation. Marcie Grimm, the administrator of Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation, said in a statement she was “shocked and saddened to learn of his involvement.” Grimm added that Crooks had a clean background check when he was hired.
Crooks’ political leanings were not immediately clear. Records show Crooks was registered as a Republican voter in Pennsylvania, but federal campaign finance reports also show he gave $15 to a progressive political action committee on Jan. 20, 2021, the day President Biden was sworn into office.
Images of Crooks’ body reviewed by the Associated Press shows he appears to have been wearing a T-shirt from Demolition Ranch, a popular YouTube channel with more than 11.6 million subscribers that regularly posts videos that show creator Matt Carriker firing off handguns and assault rifles at targets that include human mannequins and vehicles.
Carriker did not immediately respond to outreach on social media and by phone from The Times. However, he had posted a photo of Crooks’ bloody corpse wearing his brand’s T-shirt on social media with the comment “What the hell.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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