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POLITICO
The FBI identified the suspected gunman. Here’s what we know.
By Miles J. Herszenhorn and Erin Banco,
1 day ago
Updated: 07/14/2024 03:08 PM EDT
The FBI identified Thomas Matthew Crooks as the “subject involved” in the shooting of former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally on Saturday in Pennsylvania.
Crooks killed one person who attended the rally and critically wounded two others in addition to Trump, according to law enforcement agencies.
The 20-year-old suspect was a resident of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, according to a statement released by the FBI early Sunday morning. The venue that hosted Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania was roughly a one-hour drive from Crook’s residence in Bethel Park.
Crooks graduated in 2022 from Bethel Park High School, the Bethel Park School District confirmed in a statement on Sunday. Crooks received a $500 prize from the school for academic achievement in math and science, according to a list of students published in the Tribune-Review , a local media outlet.
Marcie Grimm, an administrator at Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, said that Crooks worked a dietary aide at the center.
Grimm said the center was “shocked and saddened” to learn that Crooks was the suspected gunman at the Trump rally shooting.
She added that Crooks “performed his job without concern and his background check was clean.”
Dan Grzybek, who represents Bethel Park on the Allegheny County Council, told POLITICO that the neighborhood was “middle class to maybe upper middle class, socioeconomically” and very evenly split politically.
Grzybek said he lived on the same street, but a quarter mile away from Crooks’ family. Grzybek said that while he didn’t know the family personally, he would frequently see the suspect’s father around the neighborhood.
Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said Secret Service agents shot and killed Crooks after he allegedly fired at Trump from an elevated position outside the rally, where the former president was speaking onstage.
The area around Crooks’ home was still closed off by law enforcement authorities as of Sunday afternoon, according to Gryzbek. The FBI is leading the investigation into the shooting.
Federal law enforcement agencies are still trying to collect information about Crooks and the extent to which he planned his attack prior to Saturday. One law enforcement official said it was still not clear what motivated Crooks to try to assassinate Trump and whether he was working with others. The official also said they were researching his social media history, including his posts on Discord.
Crooks was registered as a Republican but he once donated $15 to the Progressive Turnout Project, a Democratic-aligned voter turnout organization, according to publicly available records.
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