Clairton, Pennsylvania – The Pennsylvania gun club where attempted Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks practiced his shooting skills reopened Monday after a visit by the FBI amid an investigation into a deadly security breach that brought an armed lunatic to within 130 yards of the former president.
It was not immediately clear whether investigators found anything of evidentiary value at the shooting range, and members condemned the suspect and his actions as something their community “should not be involved in.”
An attorney for the Clairton Sportsman’s Club had previously distanced club members from Crooks.
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A view of the Clairton Sportsman’s Club in Clairton, Pennsylvania, USA, on July 15, 2024. The club was home to Thomas Matthew Crooks, who the FBI named as a “person of interest” in the assassination attempt on former U.S. president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. (Carlos Osorio/Reuters)
“Obviously the club totally condemns the senseless act of violence that took place. [Saturday]”The club also expresses its deepest condolences to Mr. Comperatore’s family and sends its prayers to all those injured, including our former president,” lawyer Rob Bootey said in a statement.
The club is one of only a few in the area whose members participate in sport shooting events and promote firearms safety.
The FBI visit comes as investigators are sifting through newly obtained data from the suspect’s cellphone in an effort to determine a motive.
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A view of the Clairton Sportsman’s Club in Clairton, Pennsylvania, USA, on July 15, 2024. The club was the home of Thomas Matthew Crooks, who the FBI named as a “person of interest” in the assassination attempt on former U.S. president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. (Carlos Osorio/Reuters)
A law enforcement source with knowledge of the situation told Fox News that Crooks fired a DPMS AR-15 5.56 gun at Trump and bystanders, which his father purchased in 2013.
It’s at the FBI’s forensic science lab in Quantico, Virginia, along with his cell phone, a laptop and at least one improvised explosive device that was in his car, sources said.
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Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Saturday, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The development comes as investigators are widening their investigation into the suspect’s motives and possible collaborators.
“FBI technical experts were able to gain access to Thomas Matthew Crooks’ cell phone and continue to analyze his electronic devices,” the FBI said in a statement Monday afternoon.
A search of the suspect’s home and vehicle concluded Sunday night.
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The illustration shows a bird’s-eye view of a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and the perspective of an alleged assassination plotter. (Fox News)
The FBI also said it had interviewed about 100 witnesses, including law enforcement officials.
If you have any information about this incident, http://tips.fbi.gov or call 1-800-CALL-FBI.
FBI investigating Trump assassination attempt as possible domestic terrorism
The Bethel Park School District has confirmed that the suspect in the July 13, 2024 assassination attempt on former President Donald J. Trump is a Bethel Park High School graduate. Thomas Matthew Crooks is a graduate of Bethel Park High School in the class of 2022. (Bethel Park School District)
Authorities said Crooks has no criminal record and no documented history of mental illness.
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Dave Katz, a former federal firearms instructor and CEO of Global Security Group, said if anyone would have noticed warning signs before the attack, it would have been the people who spent the most time with him: friends, family, coworkers and classmates.
“If a shooter can walk in and out of the range with a normal attitude, where are the red flags?” he told Fox News Digital. “If you look at the Northern Lights, [Colorado] The theater shooter. He went to the shooting range three days ago, but the owner kicked him out because he was misbehaving.”
Fox News’ CB Cotton, David Spunt and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.
