More information has emerged about Thomas Matthew Crooks, the individual believed to be the gunman who shot former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday.
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Authorities reportedly found explosives in the alleged shooter’s vehicle, which was parked close to the event on the day of the attack.
The car, driven by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was found not far from the Trump rally in Butler, Pa., sources close to the investigation into the shooting told The Wall Street Journal.
Police received multiple reports of suspicious packages around the area where the shooter was, prompting them to dispatch bomb technicians, authorities told the Journal.
Officials were working to ensure the scene was clear well into the night before searching Crooks’ family home, the sources added.
Early Sunday, Crooks’ neighbor told The Post at a bomb squad told them they had a report of explosives at the home.
Crooks lived in Bethel Park, a suburb of Pittsburgh. He did not have a criminal record and lived with his parents. It was also reported that the rifle he used to carry out the shooting was registered to his father.
Pictures taken during the incident showed Crooks appearing to wear a T-shirt emblazoned with the name of a popular YouTube channel that creates content related to firearms and demolition.
The possible motive for the shooting has not yet been revealed as authorities continue to investigate the incident. Crooks’ political leanings have not yet been established.
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Incongruous actions that Crooks took late in his time as a student at Bethel Park high school offered virtually no hint at his political leanings. He was a junior at the school, and it was the first day of Joe Biden’s presidency, when Crooks donated $15 to the Progressive Turnout Project, a political action committee aligned with the president’s Democratic party.
Yet eight months later, early in his senior year, Crooks registered to vote as a Republican. And he had left his affiliation unchanged when he voted in the November 2022 midterm elections, which took place months after he graduated from Bethel Park high, where he was among a group of students to receive a $500 National Math and Science Initiative “star award”.
The shooting occurred as Trump gave remarks during the rally, according to video footage circulating on social media. Gunshots can be heard as the former president puts his hand to his ear before ducking for cover. Secret Service agents swarmed Trump to protect him from other potential gunfire.
Secret Service snipers quickly neutralized the gunman after he fired. Unfortunately, he killed one rallygoer and wounded two others before being fatally shot.
The attempted assassination has prompted speculation about the motivation behind the shooting. It has also brought up discussions about division in America and even gun control.
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Crooks’ father, Matthew Crooks, said he was trying to figure out “what the hell is going on” when reached for comment after the shooting.
When reached by CNN late Saturday night, Crooks’ father, Matthew Crooks, said he was trying to figure out “what the hell is going on” but would “wait until I talk to law enforcement” before speaking about his son.
After being killed at the scene, Crooks didn’t have any identification on his body, so agents had to “run his DNA and get biometric confirmation,” Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, said at a press conference Saturday night before the gunman was named.
Mark Crooks, the alleged shooter’s uncle, told The Independent that he had “no idea” what could have motivated his nephew to try to assassinate Trump.
“I don’t know what to say,” he said, also noting that he had not had any contact with his nephew “in years.”