Trump shooter: Ex-classmates share details about shy, but ‘normal,’ gunman

The motives of nan 20-year-old man who tried to assassinate erstwhile president Donald Trump are still unclear 2 days aft nan shocking incident, but specifications astir nan gunman’s past are slow starting to trickle in.

Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pa., was changeable and killed by nan Secret Service aft he opened occurrence connected Trump from a rooftop conscionable extracurricular nan Pennsylvania venue wherever nan erstwhile president was holding a rally. The barrage of gunfire killed an attendee and injured 2 men.

The man who died was erstwhile occurrence main Corey Comperatore, of Butler County, Pa. He is being hailed arsenic a leader for diving in beforehand of his family and shielding them from harm pinch his body.

The 2 others who were injured person been identified arsenic David Dutch, 57, of New Kensington, Pa., and James Copenhaver, 74, of Moon Township, Pa. Both men were successful unchangeable information arsenic of Sunday.

Trump besides suffered insignificant injuries successful nan effort connected his life. He says he was changeable successful nan correct receptor and photos from nan rally show his look bloody arsenic Secret Service members rushed him disconnected stage.

The FBI is investigating nan assassination effort arsenic a imaginable enactment of home coercion and believes that Crooks, who had bomb-making materials successful nan car he drove to nan rally, acted alone.

The agency, however, has been struggling to find a motive for nan shooting and has yet to find immoderate threatening writings aliases societal media comments that could thief explicate Crooks’ convulsive actions. The FBI has obtained Crooks’ telephone and is moving to break into it, nan Verge reports.

Crooks’ governmental leanings are besides still a mystery. He was registered to ballot arsenic a Republican but successful 2021, made a US$15 aid to a Democratic run group.

Former classmates of Crooks opportunity he was a awkward but different normal student who did good successful class. In his first twelvemonth of precocious school, Crooks tried retired for nan varsity firearm squad but was rejected. Still, thing astir his behaviour successful schoolhouse indicated that Crooks was tin of bloodshed, his peers found.

Who is Thomas Matthew Crooks?

Crooks grew up successful Bethel Park, a middle-class neighbourhood successful nan suburbs of Pittsburgh. He is nan boy of Matthew and Mary Crooks, who are some licensed behavioural counsellors, local news outlet KDKA reports. Matthew is registered to ballot arsenic a Libertarian while Mary is simply a registered Democrat, according to authorities records.

Former classmate Jameson Myers told CBS News that, arsenic a freshman, Crooks tried retired for nan Bethel Park High School varsity firearm squad but failed to unafraid a spot connected nan inferior roster. He did not effort retired for nan squad again successful nan years that led up to graduation.

Frederick Mach, nan existent skipper of nan school’s firearm team, told AP News that Crooks was turned distant because he was a bad shot.

Myers told CBS that he and Crooks were adjacent successful simple schoolhouse but grew isolated successful precocious school. He called nan 20-year-old a “nice kid who ne'er talked poorly of anyone.”

“When I did speak pinch him, he conscionable seemed for illustration a normal boy who was not peculiarly celebrated but ne'er sewage picked connected aliases anything,” Myers said.

Another classmate, Summer Barkley, told KDKA that nan suspected gunman wasn’t celebrated but he still had a fewer friends and was well-liked by teachers.

“Everyone knew him arsenic nan kid who knew everything. We would ever joke that if we don’t cognize it, Thomas will cognize it. Thomas knows everything,” Barkley said.

When Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School successful 2022, he was among respective students who earned a US$500 danasiwa for achievements successful mathematics and science, according to nan Tribune-Review. But contempt his beardown world record, Crooks did not spell distant to college, Barkley said. Instead, he stayed surviving pinch his parents and enrolled successful nan Community College of Allegheny County.

Both Barkley and Myers said they could ne'er person anticipated that Crooks would go violent.

“Anyone who knew him, adjacent aliases not, it conscionable wasn’t thing we saw coming,” Barkley said.

Another classmate, Jason Kohler, has different opinions astir Crooks, however. Kohler described him arsenic a loner who often wore camo people and hunting attire to class.

“He did beryllium unsocial astatine lunch. He was each alone, and he was bullied each day,” Kohler told KDKA. “You could look astatine him and opportunity thing is off.”

But erstwhile classmate Mark Sigafoos says this explanation of Crooks isn’t accurate. Sigafoos had 2 classes pinch Crooks successful their last twelvemonth of precocious schoolhouse and he said he ne'er saw Crooks bullied.

“This is 1 of nan things that is being misconstrued — he was not immoderate type of loner trenchcoat wearer. And I will opportunity he was decidedly nerdy, for sure, but he ne'er gave disconnected that he was creepy aliases for illustration a schoolhouse shooter,” Sigafoos said. “He seemed for illustration he wouldn’t wounded a fly.”

Crooks’ life aft precocious school

Crooks worked astatine a nursing location arsenic a dietary aide, according to Marcie Grimm, nan administrator of Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation.

Grimm said successful a connection to CNN that nan location is “shocked and saddened” to study of Crooks’ engagement successful nan attempted assassination, adding that nan 20-year-old “performed his occupation without interest and his inheritance cheque was clean.”

One of Crooks’ colleagues, who besides went to precocious schoolhouse pinch him and asked not to beryllium named, described Crooks arsenic “the sweetest guy,” to CNN. The co-worker added that Crooks ne'er expressed governmental views astatine activity and was adjuvant and caring pinch nan home’s older residents.

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“Earlier this week he was helping maine pinch a bunch of sick aged ladies (to) put ranch connected their salads,” nan workfellow said. “It’s difficult seeing everything that’s going connected online because he was a really, really bully personification that did a really bad thing, and I conscionable wish I knew why.”

The shooting and attempted assassination

Crooks utilized an AR-style firearm to sprout astatine Trump and rally attendees from an elevated position connected Saturday, authorities say. It’s believed nan firearm was purchased by his begetter Matthew, astatine slightest six months ago, but investigators do not yet cognize if he took nan weapon without his father’s permission.

The location of Trump’s rally is astir an hour’s thrust from wherever Crooks lived pinch his parents. A blockade was group up Sunday to forestall postulation adjacent nan Crooks’ house.

An Associated Press analysis of much than a twelve videos and photos from nan segment of nan Trump rally, arsenic good arsenic outer imagery of nan site, shows that Crooks was capable to get astonishingly adjacent to nan shape wherever nan erstwhile president was speaking.

A video posted to societal media and geolocated by nan AP shows nan assemblage of a personification wearing grey camouflage lying motionless connected nan tile of a building astatine AGR International Inc., a manufacturing works conscionable northbound of nan Butler Farm Show grounds wherever Trump’s rally was held.

The tile wherever nan personification laic was little than 150 metres from wherever Trump was speaking, a region from which a decent marksman could reasonably deed a human-sized target. For reference, 150 metres is simply a region astatine which U.S. Army recruits must deed a scaled human-sized silhouette to suffice pinch nan M-16 rifle. The AR-15, for illustration nan shooter astatine nan Trump rally had, is nan semi-automatic civilian type of nan subject M-16.

Kevin Rojek, typical supplier successful complaint of nan FBI’s Pittsburgh section office, said it was “surprising” that nan gunman was capable to unfastened occurrence connected nan shape earlier nan Secret Service killed him.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, whose section oversees nan Secret Service, said officials were engaged pinch President Joe Biden and Trump and “taking each imaginable measurement to guarantee their information and security.”

Images of Crooks’ assemblage reviewed by nan AP show he appears to person been wearing a T-shirt from Demolition Ranch, a celebrated YouTube channel that regularly posts videos of its creator firing disconnected handguns and battle rifles astatine targets that see quality mannequins.

Matt Carriker, nan Texas-based creator of Demolition Ranch, did not respond to a telephone connection aliases email connected Sunday, but posted a photograph of Crooks’ bloody corpse wearing his brand’s T-shirt connected societal media pinch nan remark “What nan hell.”

Relatives of Crooks person not commented publically connected nan incident. His begetter told CNN that he was trying to fig retired “what nan hellhole is going on” but wouldn’t speak astir his boy until aft he talked to rule enforcement. An FBI charismatic told reporters that Crooks’ family is co-operating pinch investigators.

— pinch files from The Associated Press