The FBI had identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park as the suspect in the assassination attempt on former United States President Donald Trump on Saturday during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
The suspect was shot dead by the Secret Service after several rounds of shots were fired at the Trump rally venue. However, the motive behind the act is still unknown.
One person was killed and two others were injured in the shooting at the rally. The bullet pierced through the upper part of Trump’s ear. Was it just an act of hatred? Or was he hired by someone to assassinate the former US president? The FBI is questioning his family members to connect the dots behind the shooting. The perimeter of the suspect’s residence was guarded on Sunday by yellow police caution tape.
Crooks' parents were licensed behavioural care counsellors. His public records show no mention of any criminal acts or traffic violations. It seemed he belonged to an affluent family with no major financial issues.
Crook's early school life shows him with no political leanings. Crooks was a junior at the school when he donated $15 to the Progressive Turnout Project, a political action committee aligned with the president’s Democratic party. Later in his senior year, he registered to vote as a Republican. He had voted in the November 2022 midterm elections. It was in the same year Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School. Reportedly, he received a $500 "star award" from the National Math and Science Initiative as well.
Several Trump supporters had gathered to hear the former US president's speech in Butler, Pennsylvania when Crooks attempted to assassinate him using an AR-style rifle.
According to officials, Crooks did not carry any identification to the site of the shooting.
Several shots were fired towards the stage, where Trump was speaking before he was shot by the Secret Service. According to a spokesperson for the Secret Service, agents returned fire at Crooks and killed him.
