The gunman who shot Donald Trump last night is a 20-year-old registered Republican who had donated to Joe Biden. Thomas Matthew Crooks was shot dead by a U.S. Secret Service sniper after he opened fire on the former president during a rally in Pennsylvania.
His father, Matthew Crooks, 53, told CNN he was trying to understand "what the hell is going on" but would "wait until I talk to law enforcement" before making further comments. Crooks fired at least eight bullets from a rooftop just 130 yards from where the 78-year-old Trump was addressing thousands of fans in Butler at 6:15 p.m before he was neutralized by the Secret Service.
Father Still Clueless About Son's Motive
Law enforcement sources told CBS News that Crooks, from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, was armed with "an AR-style rifle." Crooks appeared to be wearing merchandise promoting one of YouTube's most popular firearms channels, Demolition Ranch, during the attack, according to NBC News.
FBI Special Agent Kevin Rojek said that Crooks was identified through DNA since he did not have any ID on him.
State voter records indicate that Crooks was a registered Republican. U.S. media reports that at the age of 17, he donated $15 to the liberal ActBlue political action committee on January 20, 2021, Biden's Inauguration Day.
Last night, a bomb squad and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives were present at an address linked to Crooks, while police officers stood guard behind yellow caution tape.
In the deadly shooting, one member of the crowd was killed, and two others were critically injured. All three victims are male, according to law enforcement officials.
Gunman Had No Criminal history
Trump was left bloodied and injured during the assassination attempt, suddenly grabbing his ear as loud bangs echoed and bullets flew by before he dropped to the floor. The Secret Service quickly surrounded him as piercing screams erupted from the MAGA crowd.
Trump then stood up with blood streaming down his cheek, raised his fist in the air, and defiantly shouted "fight" while the audience chanted "USA" as he was escorted off the stage and into a vehicle.
Rojek said that they had not determined a motive for what he described as "an assassination attempt on our former president."
According to Pennsylvania's public court records, Crooks had no criminal history, and officials are still working to identify a motive for the shooting.
Crooks appeared to have graduated in 2022 from Bethel Park High School and received a $500 "star award" that year from the National Math and Science Initiative, according to a report from The Tribune-Review in western Pennsylvania.
In an online recording of the 2022 graduation ceremony, he is seen crossing the stage to applause from the crowd, briefly posing with a school official, and accepting his diploma.
Amid the chaos that followed the shooting, Secret Service agents could be heard shouting, "the shooter is down," and the gunman was later confirmed dead.
Trump was rushed to the hospital for treatment and was subsequently released.
Spokesman Steven Cheung stated that Trump is "fine" and undergoing checks at a local medical facility, while the former president's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., said his father "is in great spirits."
Trump returned to New Jersey and spent the night at his golf resort in Bedminster.
