As the gunman’s motive for trying to assassinate Donald Trump as he spoke to a crowd near Butler, Pennsylvania, remained a mystery, FBI agents went door-to-door searching the Bethel Park neighborhood where suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks and his family live.
The FBI said it was able to access Crooks’ cell phone, but a preliminary analysis of the information at the FBI’s Quantico, Virginia, lab reportedly did not advance the investigation into why Crooks shot and wounded President Trump, killed one rally attendee, and wounded two more.
Crooks was killed almost instantly by Secret Service retaliation, but the shocking incident plunged the US into political turmoil and further derailed an already brutal election campaign with fears of political violence and growing civil unrest.
The FBI is investigating whether Crooks was a politically motivated, home-grown, violent domestic predator. In an updated statement on Monday, Authorities said they have completed searches of the suspect’s residence and vehicle and have interviewed approximately 100 officers, event attendees and other witnesses who were at the Big Butler Fairgrounds on Saturday.
“The gun used in the shooting was purchased legally. The shooter was not known to the FBI prior to this incident,” the FBI said.
He added, “While the investigation to date indicates that the shooter acted alone, the FBI continues to conduct due diligence to determine whether there were any co-conspirators in this attack. There are no public safety concerns at this time.”
On Monday, it was revealed that the 20-year-old Crooks may have been receiving shooting training at the local Clairton Sportsman’s Club, where he was a registered member.
In a statement to The New York Times, the club’s lawyer said the club “unwaveringly condemns the senseless act of violence that took place yesterday” but declined to disclose what kind of training Crooks had received, citing the FBI investigation.
At the shooting club, a cluster of dilapidated shacks on a hillside 15 miles south of Pittsburgh, American flags and POW/MIA flags fly over the range, symbolizing America’s commitment to those captured or missing in action during the Vietnam War and subsequent conflicts.
Sharp gunfire could be heard as two club members fired rifles at targets, some of which were further away than the estimated 130 yards between Crooks’ rifle and Trump’s podium, and the gunman fired up to eight shots, hitting Trump in the ear, killing one audience member and wounding two others.
A manager at Clairton refused to discuss what instructions Crooks had received and ordered reporters off the premises.
A firearms instructor at a local gun shop, Legion Arms, who was not a customer of Crooks’, said he believed guns such as AR-15-style rifles had ranges that were too short to be fired accurately in the right hands.
“This bullet and gun are effective at ranges of 700 to 800 yards,” said the instructor, who declined to be identified, adding that Crooks’ lack of experience in aiming may have also contributed to his panic after being spotted firing above a glass research factory.
“He shot in the head, not the body. In long-range shooting, you aim for the body,” the instructor said. “Aiming for the head is what everyone does because they’ve seen it in the movies.”
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette report Crooks bought 50 rounds of ammunition at Allegheny Arms and Gun Works in Bethel Park hours before the Butler rally, and investigators said he also bought 50 rounds of ammunition the morning of the shooting.
The Allegheny County Explosive Ordnance Unit confirmed Monday that it had joined the investigation after an explosive device believed to be a grenade was found in Crooks’ vehicle.
Butler County Sheriff Michael Sloop told the news outlet: KDKA Television Armed Butler County city officials encountered Crooks, who then opened fire on the former president from outside the venue’s perimeter.
“All I know is that the officer put his hands on the roof to get on to the roof, but couldn’t because the shooter was facing the officer, and the officer naturally and wisely let go,” Throop said.
In Bethel Park, where Crooks lived with his mother, attended Bethel Park High School and later began working in a nursing home kitchen, residents still wonder why he would try to assassinate Trump.
Several friends at school have described Crooks as a loner who excelled at math but lacked social skills. Others say he is politically conservative, but so far his profile has been largely unclear. Unusually for many young people, Crooks had little online activity, which could reveal his political leanings and state of mind before the attack.
Alex Williams, 23, who graduated a year before Crooks, said the local community is still reeling.
“I think a lot of people are upset because nothing really crazy happens in Bethel, this is not normal,” Williams said. “They’re disappointed that this guy came from here and that this even happened in the first place.”
Williams said she didn’t remember whether Crooks was bullied, as some of her classmates said, and recalled that bullying at school was limited to “taunting” and social exclusion.
Jason Kohler, a former student at Crooks’ school, said Crooks was often bullied. “He was a quiet guy, but he was bullied. He was bullied really badly,” Kohler said.
Williams said he believes his generation has been heavily affected by the Covid-19 lockdowns “really going online” and that the extreme political environment will “make you more likely to lean far right or far left… whether you’re left or right, it’s going to go down like a pipeline”.
As investigations continue, Biden called on Americans to reject politically motivated violence, and Trump said his speech at the Republican National Convention would focus on “unity.”
“It’s 100 percent possible that someone will get so depressed that they think, ‘Yeah, I’m going to kill the president,'” Williams said.
Crooks’ neighbor, Steve Riviere, told KDKA that local residents are “shocked and surprised. Maybe not as surprised, but shocked that something like this happened,” he said. “We hope this ends here and that people can start talking about their problems civilly on a regular basis instead of pulling out guns and climbing on roofs.”
