A photo of would-be hitman Thomas Crooks, given to police before the deranged gunman attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump, has been made public.
Crooks, 20, attracted the attention of the Secret Service and local police charged with security at the July 14 event in Butler, Pennsylvania, 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of Pittsburgh.
The shooter acted strangely around the metal detectors that visitors had to walk through before entering the event grounds. Witnesses said Crooks was furiously checking his phone and operating a hunting rangefinder.
He tried to enter at that point but the detector went off and he was denied entry, sources said.
Later, at approximately 5:30 p.m., a photo of Crooks was circulated among several members of the Secret Service after reports were made about his suspicious behavior while in security. The photo shows Crooks wearing a t-shirt with the logo of the popular YouTube channel Demolition Ranch.
At one point, officers lost track of Crooks. He was then seen climbing onto the roof of the American Glass Research building. About seven minutes later, he opened fire on Donald Trump.
In the initial investigation, a remote detonator was found in Crooks’ dead body, along with his cell phone. It was subsequently revealed that the detonator was connected to explosives found in his car.
The last photo shows potential Trump assassin Thomas Crooks, 20, wearing a T-shirt with the logo of YouTube channel Demolition Ranch
Police officers stand over Crooks’ body on the roof of America Glass Research, just a few hundred yards from where Trump spoke on Saturday.
The backpack attached to this bike is believed to be linked to Crooks’ attempted murder
The remote detonator can be seen next to Thomas Crooks’ cell phone
Crooks took up position on the sloping roof and fired at Trump from a distance of about 150 yards, wounding him in the ear and killing retired Fire Chief Corey Comperatore.
Trump took the stage at 6:03 p.m., an hour late. The gunfire rang out around 6:11 p.m.
A bicycle belonging to Crooks was also found near the scene of the accident, despite several reports that he had arrived at the incident by car.
After the shooting that left a bystander dead, detectives searched for clues about what motivated Crooks, a resident of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, to carry out the shocking attack.
The FBI said it was investigating it as a possible act of domestic terrorism, but the lack of a clear ideological motive in the man shot dead by the Secret Service has led to many conspiracy theories.
Investigators are confident he acted alone and have confirmed there is no social media presence to suggest Crooks’ attack was politically motivated.
Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe told the AP that a local deputy climbed onto the roof and encountered Crooks. Crooks saw the deputy and turned to face him just before the deputy jumped to safety.
According to Slupe, the officer could not possibly have used his own weapon under the circumstances.
Two anti-sniper teams have been set up to monitor any potential threats against Trump
This 2021 photo provided by Bethel Park School District shows Thomas Matthew Crooks
The agent walked down the ladder and Crooks quickly fired at Trump. That’s when Secret Service snipers shot him, according to two officials who spoke to the AP anonymously to discuss an ongoing investigation.
WPXI said Multiple sources confirmed Tuesday that Crooks was on the roof with a gun for less than seven minutes before he was confronted by a Butler Township police officer.
Crooks used an AR-style rifle, which authorities believe was purchased by his father.
The roof where Crooks lay was less than 164 yards (150 meters) from where Trump was speaking. A reasonable shooter could have hit a human-sized target at that distance.
That’s the distance at which U.S. Army recruits must hit a human-sized silhouette to qualify for the M-16 rifle.
In addition to the explosives in his car, investigators also found a bulletproof vest and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, which along with a ladder, had been purchased on the same day of the shooting.
A bulletproof vest and a third remote-controlled bomb were later found in the house where he lived with his parents.
The latest revelation that he also had a tracker on him has raised fears that Crooks planned to continue his killing spree if he had escaped from the roof alive. He may have had an accomplice who helped him do it.
Hours earlier, Crooks had asked his boss for the day off, saying he had “something to do” before traveling to Saturday’s meeting.
The would-be killer told his colleagues at the Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center that he would see them on Sunday.
But a Secret Service agent who attended the meeting in Butler made sure he would be the last person to see Crooks when he came face to face with the killer before he shot him dead, according to shocking video footage.
The video shows Crooks peering intently through the scope of his father’s AR-style weapon and firing into the crowd as bystanders shout from the base of the building.
Immediately a second volley of shots rings out and Crooks lies dead on the roof as the people on the ground gasp in horror.
“The Secret Service shouldn’t mess with people,” someone shouts. “Holy shit.”
He had climbed up the building’s air conditioning system and pulled himself onto the roof, where MAGA fans saw him crawling across the sloping surface with his rifle. He alerted police to the danger.
“I thought to myself, ‘Why is Trump still speaking, why haven’t they taken him off the stage?'” one witness told the BBC. “The next thing you know, five shots are fired.”
Crooks was a nutritional assistant at Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, where he provided food and care to the elderly and sick who had just been discharged from the hospital.
“We are shocked and saddened to learn of his involvement as Thomas Matthew Crooks performed his duties without concern and his background checks were positive,” administrator Marcie Grimm said in a statement.
A colleague at the institution said Crooks never expressed political views at work and was not a “radical.”
“It’s hard to see everything that’s happening online because he was a very, very good person who did something very bad. I wish I knew why,” he added.
The would-be assassin was a registered Republican and a high school senior set to graduate in 2022. Documents show that on Inauguration Day in 2020, he made a donation to a progressive group supporting President Joe Biden.
He graduated from the Community College of Allegheny County in May with an associate degree in engineering, according to school officials who said they were “shocked and saddened by the terrible turn of events.”
Crooks’ father Matthew was seen for the first time since the shooting Tuesday morning when he opened the door of the family’s home to FBI agents.
A neighbor of Crooks’ sister Katie said her brother helped her move into her apartment nearby three years ago. He described her as a “hardworking” woman who worked as a janitor at a local high school and as a waitress in a restaurant.
Both of Crooks’ parents are behavioral therapists, and Crooks’ father said he was dismayed by his son’s actions.
The Justice Department, the Secret Service and the FBI will brief senators on the investigation on Wednesday, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Tuesday night, while the Secret Service is under intense scrutiny over its handling of security at the meeting.