Meet Thomas Crooks, a 20-year-old who shot Trump during a rally in Pennsylvania

Authorities have identified the gunman as 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, who attempted to kill former US President Donald Trump on Saturday, July 13, 2024, during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

“Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, is the subject involved in the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump on July 13, in Butler, Pennsylvania,” USA Today quoted the Federal Bureau of Investigation as saying in a statement on Sunday.

The bureau added, “This remains an active and ongoing investigation, and anyone with information that may assist with the investigation is encouraged to submit photos or videos online.”

Trump, the Republican nominee for president on November 5, 2024, was shot during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Secret Service personnel promptly hurried him off the stage and into an SUV.

At the demonstration, a bystanders and the gunman were slain, while two other attendees suffered serious injuries.

The Service said the shooter “fired multiple shots toward the stage from an elevated position outside the rally” before being “neutralised” by agents, AFP reports.

“I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear. I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realised then what was happening,” Trump narrated after the incident.

According to CNN, Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, stated that Crooks had no means of identification on him when he was slain at the scene, so authorities had to “run his DNA and get biometric confirmation.”

Here are five things known about Crooks:

Crooks graduated in 2022 from Bethel Park High School, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
State voter records revealed that Crooks was a registered Republican, Reuters said.
Crooks lived about an hour away from where the shooting took place in Butler.
When he was 17, Crooks made a $15 donation to ActBlue, a political action committee that raises money for left-leaning and Democratic politicians, according to a 2021 Federal Election Commission filing.
Crooks received a $500 “star award” from the National Math and Science Initiative, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review stated.

Matthew Crooks, the father of the gunman, told CNN on Saturday night that he was trying to understand “what the hell is going on” and that he would “wait until I talk to law enforcement” before discussing his son.

John Wolf, a neighbor who lives across the street from Crooks’, said he has spoken with other concerned neighbors and that “people are scared.”