Man who tried to kill Trump was researching the Crumbleys

The 20-year-old Pennsylvania shooter who tried to kill former President Donald Trump did just what anti-gun violence crusaders have long fought to prevent: he looked up a like-minded person who gained notoriety for a massacre: Oxford High School shooter Ethan Crumbley.

In a meeting with lawmakers Friday, the FBI and U.S. Secret Service disclosed that they found a picture of Crumbley's mug shot on the cellphone of Trump's would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, who also had been researching the Oxford shooter and his parents on the Internet, according to CNN .

This information came as no surprise to Steve St. Juliana, whose 14-year-old daughter, Hana, was among four students murdered in the 2021 Oxford High School shooting.

"It's pretty established that all of these shooters research what's gone on before, so it's not really a surprise," said Steve St. Juliana, who attended an end-gun-violence march in Oxford last month. He and his older daughter also are part of a no-notoriety movement, which encourages the media not to over-publicize a mass shooter's name and image to avoid giving them the notoriety they crave, potentially inspiring other would-be shooters.

St. Juliana said when he learned about Trump's would-be assassin researching the Oxford shooter and his parents, the notoriety aspect was "the first thing that came to mind."

"It just supports what myself and my daughter have been pushing for — no notoriety," St. Juliana said. "This is just a perfect example of why … It feeds on itself."

Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald, who made the historic decision to charge the Crumbleys, also cautioned against giving mass shooters the notoriety they seek.

"While I am not aware of the specific facts regarding the Pennsylvania shooting, the research is very clear that mass shooters often research previous mass shooters. That was true of the Oxford shooter and it appears to also be true of the Pennsylvania shooter," McDonald said in a statement to the Free Press. "It's one of the reasons it's so important not to repeatedly use the shooter's name or their photo."

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Forensic psychologist Colin King, who interviewed the Oxford shooter and testified at various hearings involving the juvenile's life without parole sentence, said he suspects the Trump shooter was looking for tips from the Oxford case.

Expert: Trump would-be-assassin used Crumbley 'as a mentor'

"It appears he researched the Oxford shooter and in some way used him as a mentor to perpetuate violence against former President Trump," King said. "It appears, however, that he was looking for a high-profile target that will somehow gain high notoriety, either in life or in death."

Andy Arena, Detroit's former FBI chief, said he also was not surprised to learn that Crooks was researching the Crumbleys.

"(There are) a lot of similarities between the two shooters: Two young men, both appear to have struggled to fit in," Arena said.

The two shooters also both reportedly battled mental health issues, as the FBI and Secret Service said they have learned that Crooks also searched for information on major depressive disorder — which Ethan Crumbley was diagnosed with — and depressive crisis treatment.

"It sounds as though he's someone who was also struggling with mental illness, which was either unnoticed or untreated," said King, pointing out another similarity between Crooks and Crumbley, who wrote in his journal that his parents ignored his pleas for mental health issues.

Perhaps more notable is the weapons that were used in both the Oxford High School and Trump rally shootings.

Oxford and Trump rally shooter both used their dads' guns

Investigators have said Crooks used a gun owned by his father to try to kill the former president; Crumbley also used a gun bought by his father to shoot up his school.

James and Jennifer Crumbley, the Oxford shooter's mom and dad, made history this year when they became the first parents in America to be convicted in a mass school shooting carried out by their son. Two separate juries concluded the Crumbleys failed to secure a gun in their home and ignored their son's mental health issues, and therefore were responsible for the lives their child took.

Their son is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. The parents got 10 years in prison. All three Crumbleys are appealing.

According to the FBI and the Secret Service, as reported by CNN, Crooks made numerous online searches for major political figures from both parties, including Trump and Biden, and their political events. Three days after the Trump campaign announced its rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Crooks searched for the date and location of the Democratic National Convention, which takes place in August in Chicago, and for the location of the Butler Trump rally, where a sniper shot and killed Crooks within seconds of him opening fire on Trump from the top of a roof about 150 yards away.

One of his bullets struck Trump's right ear. A firefighter, Corey Comperatore, attending the rally with his family, was killed. Two other rally attendees were critically injured.

Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Man who tried to kill Trump was researching the Crumbleys