WASHINGTON (AP) — The man who officials say tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump was a 20-year-old from a Pittsburgh suburb not far from the campaign rally where one attendee was killed.
Investigators were working Sunday to gather more information about Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, who they say opened fire from a rooftop outside the rally venue in Butler before he was killed by Secret Service.
An FBI official said late Saturday that a motive had not yet been determined. Public court records in Pennsylvania show no past criminal cases against Crooks.
Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, said on social media the upper part of his right ear was pierced in the shooting. Two spectators were critically injured, authorities said.
Relatives of Crooks didn’t immediately respond to messages from The Associated Press. His father, Matthew Crooks, told CNN late Saturday that he was trying to figure out “what the hell is going on” but wouldn’t speak about his son until after he talked to law enforcement.
Bomb-making materials were found inside Crooks’ vehicle near the Trump rally and at his home, according to two officials who were not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
A blockade had been set up Sunday preventing traffic near Crooks’ house, which is in an enclave of modest brick houses in the hills outside blue-collar Pittsburgh. Police cars were stationed at an intersection near the house and officers were seen walking through the neighborhood.
Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022, the school district said in a statement to KDKA-TV. The school district said it will cooperate fully with investigators. In 2022, Crooks was among several students given an award for math and science, according to a Tribune-Review story at the time.
Crooks’ political leanings were not immediately clear. Records show Crooks was registered as a Republican voter in…
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