ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PA. (THECOUNT) — According to reports, Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old man from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, fired multiple shots at former President Donald Trump during a rally on Saturday evening. One bullet grazed Trump’s upper right ear, leaving him bloodied but not seriously injured. Secret Service agents quickly swarmed Trump and ushered him off stage as he raised his fist in the air.
The agents shot and killed Crooks moments after he opened fire. One rally attendee was killed in the gunfire, and two others were critically injured, according to the Secret Service.
According to social media reports, Crooks was strangely was featured in a BlackRock promo ad in 2023:
Who is the Shooter at the Rally?
The FBI identified Thomas Matthew Crooks as the person behind the assassination attempt. Agency officials released little additional information, stating that the investigation remains active and ongoing. They did not indicate what Crooks’ motive might have been.
What is Crooks’ Background?
Crooks is registered to vote as a Republican in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, according to county voter records. His voter registration status has been active since 2021. Born on September 20, 2003, Crooks does not have a criminal record in Pennsylvania, nor has he been sued there, according to state court records. There is no record of him in federal court databases either.
Crooks’ home address is listed in Bethel Park, a suburb in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, voter records show. The three-bedroom brick house has been owned since 1998 by Matthew and Mary Crooks, who appear to be his parents. Telephone calls to the couple were not returned overnight.
A Thomas Crooks graduated two years ago from Bethel Park High School, according to an online video of the ceremony. He was also included in a 2022 local news article about recipients of a National Math & Science Initiative Star Award at the public high school, which enrolls about 1,300 students.
Incident Details
Bethel Park is about 42 miles south of Butler, where the Trump rally was held. The leafy suburban street was alive with law enforcement overnight amid a multi-agency response to the shooting. A member of the Allegheny County bomb squad told reporters that his team was headed into the house around midnight but did not specify why.
For hours afterward, the scene remained quiet, with deer passing under the police tape and an occasional neighbor stepping out of their house to see what was happening. John Wolf, a local construction superintendent who lives down the road, said he’d talked with several worried neighbors.
“People are scared,” Wolf said.
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