The would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, studied school shooter Ethan Crumbly and other mass shooters and took screenshots of a livestream of former President Trump speaking just before the shooting, it was revealed on Friday.
The troubling history of the manhunt has led investigators to suggest that the lone suspect, 20-year-old Crooks, was primarily focused on mass casualty events, and that Trump’s rally near his Pennsylvania home was more a matter of convenience than ideological targeting. A US official briefed on the matter told CNN:.
His research included researching how to make explosives, which were found in his home and a detonator placed next to his body after he was shot and killed by a sniper, the report said.
Law enforcement sources told The Post that Crooks also had been investigating mass shooters, including Crumbley, who was 15 when he shot and killed four classmates at Oxford High School in December 2021.
Crooks’ phone contained photos of the shooter shortly after his arrest, as well as information about Crumbly’s parents, who were convicted of manslaughter for failing to stop their son from committing the massacre, CNN reported.
In addition to studying Trump’s activism, Crooks also looked at Biden and the Democratic National Convention schedule, suggesting that Trump was motivated not by any particular ideology but by headline-grabbing massacres.
The gunman then scouted out a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and, despite long-standing suspicions, somehow climbed onto the roof and nearly assassinated the former president, according to CNN, and also monitored the livestream and took screenshots just before opening fire.
Sources told The Washington Post that one of Crooks’ two cell phones contained more than a dozen contact details as well as numerous photos of prominent public officials.
On the day of the rally, Crooks searched online for photos of the rally venue and a local gun shop where he later purchased ammunition.
Investigators believe Crooks visited the farm property for more than an hour that Saturday morning, then returned to the home, where he stole an AR-15 rifle belonging to his father.
According to CNN, Crooks’ father, Matthew Crooks, later told authorities he saw his son walking away with the rifle but thought he was going to a shooting range the couple frequented.
Investigators have not so far released a specific motive for the shooting, but a sudden head movement caused a bullet to strike President Trump in the ear, killing one innocent attendee and severely wounding two others.
Mr. Crooks’ family and people who worked with him described him as a quiet man with no overt political affiliations, and two of his high school classmates remember him being cut from the school’s rifle team because he was a poor shooter.
In April, Crooks searched the internet for information about depression and treatment for depressive crises.
Authorities later found explosives in Crooks’ vehicle, as well as a bulletproof vest, additional ammunition magazines and a drone, according to a lawmaker who briefed lawmakers on Wednesday.
Investigators found 14 firearms and several explosives at the Crooks family home in Bethel Park, as well as a second cell phone, a laptop and a hard drive.
