The 20-year-old man who tried to assassinate Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday was described by former classmates as a bullied loner who had a liking for hunting attire and video games. Thomas Matthew Crooks was also once rejected from his high school rifle club and regarded as a potential threat, his classmates said.
According to former classmate Jason Kohler speaking to KDKA, Crooks, who graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022, was a loner, who was "relentlessly." Crooks was fatally shot by the Secret Service on Saturday evening after he fired shots at the Butler Farm Show grounds, injuring Trump and fatally shooting another attendee.
A Loner Who Was Continuously Bullied
Kohler said that Crooks often wore "hunting" attire to school. He also shared two high school photos of Crooks with the outlet: one showed him seated at a desk wearing a Bethel Park sweatshirt, and the other showed him giving a thumbs-up while another classmate took a selfie on a school bus (the classmate's face was blurred in the photo).
"He didn't seem like really weird or anything. I would have pegged him as a Republican," one former classmate told The Post in the aftermath of the shooting on Saturday.
"He never outwardly spoke about his political views or how much he hated Trump or anything," another Bethel Park High graduate, Sarah D'Angelo, told The Wall Street Journal on Sunday morning.
According to the Intercept, Crooks donated $15 to the liberal ActBlue political action committee on President Joe Biden's Inauguration Day in 2021. However, state records online indicated that when he turned 18 the following September, Crooks registered with the Republican Party.
D'Angelo recalled that Crooks had "a small circle of friends" but did not belong to a larger social group. She remembered seeing him playing video games on his laptop during homeroom at school.
Although Crooks was absent from the 2022 Bethel Park High School yearbook, footage captured him walking across the stage to receive his diploma that spring.
During his senior year, Crooks received a $500 National Math and Science Initiative Star Award, as reported by TribLive.
Was Rejected from School Shooting Team
Disturbing anecdotes have now surfaced from people who knew Crooks during his time at Bethel Park High School.
According to Frederick Mach, who currently captains the school's rifle team and was a few years junior to Crooks at Bethel Park High School, Crooks tried to join the team but was rejected due to poor shooting skills.
Jonathan Myers, who was on the team when Crooks tried out, recalled feeling a sense of foreboding about him during that period. "He didn't just not make the team, he was asked not to come back because how bad of a shot he was, it was considered like, dangerous," Myers told ABC News.
"He didn't just not make the team, he was asked not to come back because how bad of a shot he was, it was considered like, dangerous," Myers told ABC News.
Fellow classmate Jameson Murphy said: "He tried out...and was such a comically bad shot he was unable to make the team and left after the first day."
According to Murphy, Crooks once fired a shot that missed his target by nearly 20 feet. It happened from the seventh lane, the closest one to the right wall, where he hit the left wall instead, completely missing all the targets on the back wall. Murphy remembered this incident vividly.
Other team members recalled that Crooks often made inappropriate jokes and generally seemed off.
On Sunday morning, photos surfaced showing Crooks in yearbook headshots wearing glasses, braces, and an American flag t-shirt. This was shortly after his attempt to harm the presumed Republican nominee and the fatal shooting at the rally.
Crooks worked as a dietary aide at Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, where he assisted in providing food and care for elderly and convalescent patients after hospitalization.
His employer confirmed on Sunday that he had passed a background check and had no issues while performing his duties prior to the assassination attempt on Trump.
On Saturday evening, Crooks wore all gray as he climbed onto the roof of a manufacturing plant about 130 yards from the rally site in Butler. From there, he fired shots using an AK-style rifle.
Corey Comperatore, a former volunteer fire chief aged 50, lost his life in the incident, while Trump narrowly escaped with a grazing injury to his ear.
Two other attendees at the rally were critically injured before Crooks was fatally shot by the Secret Service.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Crooks used a rifle purchased by his father in the attempted assassination.
