The small Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania suburb of Bethel Park is reeling after the FBI named a young local man, Thomas Matthew Crooks, as the person who shot at Donald Trump during a campaign rally and shocked the nation.
Investigators believe Crooks, armed with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, opened fire on the former president as he addressed a crowd in Butler, Pennsylvania, leaving one audience member dead and two others injured.
The 20-year-old kitchen worker was shot to death at the scene by a Secret Service sniper, authorities said.
In his prosperous hometown, however, neighbors are in shock, seemingly unable to understand how a silent young man is now accused of the shooting.
The FBI, for its part, said only that Crooks was the “subject involved in the attempted assassination of the former president and that an active investigation was ongoing.”
Who was Thomas Matthew Crooks?
Thomas Crooks did not carry identification, so investigators used DNA and facial recognition technology to identify him, the FBI said.
He was from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, about 70 km (43 miles) from the scene of the attempted murder, and graduated in 2022 from Bethel Park High School with a $500 honors in math and science, according to a local newspaper.
Crooks worked in the kitchen of a local nursing home, a short distance from his home, the BBC has learned.
State voter records show he was a registered Republican, according to US media.
He also reportedly donated $15 to the liberal campaign group ActBlue in 2021.
He was a member of a local shooting club, the Clairton Sportsmen’s Club, for at least a year.
Authorities believe the gun used to shoot Donald Trump was purchased by Crooks’ father, the Associated Press news agency reported.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, two law enforcement officials told the AP that Crooks’ father purchased a gun at least six months ago.
According to US media reports, Crooks was wearing a t-shirt from Demolition Ranch, a YouTube channel known for its weapons and demolition content. The channel has millions of subscribers presenting videos about various weapons and explosive devices.
The day after the shooting, police sources also told BBC’s US partner CBS that suspicious devices were found in Crooks’ vehicle.
According to CBS, the suspect had commercially available equipment that appeared capable of starting the devices.
Bomb technicians were called to the scene to secure and investigate the devices.
What was your motivation?
Having established Crooks’ identity, police and agencies are investigating his motive.
“We currently do not have an identified motive,” Kevin Rojek, special agent in charge of the FBI in Pittsburgh, said at a press conference Saturday night.
The investigation into what happened could last months and investigators will work “tirelessly” to identify what Crooks’ motive was, Rojek said.
Speaking to CNN, Crooks’ father, Matthew Crooks, said he was trying to figure out “what the hell is going on” but would “wait until I talk to authorities” before talking about his son.
Crooks’ family is cooperating with investigators, according to the FBI.
Police cordoned off the road to the house where Crooks lived with his parents.
A neighbor told CBS that officers evacuated it in the middle of the night without warning.
Bethel Park police said there was a bomb investigation surrounding Crooks’ home.
Access to the area remains tightly controlled with police vehicles blocking roads. Only residents were allowed in or out.
Law enforcement sources told CBS they believe there was some degree of planning before the shooting.
How much time was spent on this planning, however, remains the subject of an ongoing investigation.
Police believe he acted alone, but are continuing to investigate whether he was accompanied at the rally.
What kind of person was he?
Until now, a confusing — and sometimes conflicting — picture of who Crooks was as a person has emerged.
Speaking to local media outlet KDKA, some local youth who studied with him described him as a loner, who was often bullied and sometimes wore “hunting clothes to school.”
Another former colleague of his, Summer Barkley, cast him differently, telling the BBC that he “always got good grades in tests” and was “very passionate about history”.
“Anything about government and history he seemed to know,” she said. “But it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary… he was always nice.”
She described him as well-liked by his teachers.
Others simply remembered him as quiet.
“He was there, but I can’t think of anyone who knew him well,” a former classmate, who asked to remain anonymous, told the BBC. “He’s just not a guy I really think about. But he seemed fine.”
Jameson Myers, a former member of the Bethel Park High School varsity rifle team who graduated alongside Crooks in 2022, told CBS he did not make the team.
“He didn’t even make the junior varsity team after trying out,” Myers added. “He never went back to testing until the end of high school.”
Myers remembers Crooks as a “normal kid” who “wasn’t particularly popular, but he was never picked on or anything.”
“He was a nice kid who never said anything bad about anyone and I never thought he was capable of anything I saw him do in the last few days.”
Other community members simply said they were shocked that the alleged gunman came from the quiet, tree-lined streets of Bethel Park.
Among them was Jason Mackey, a 27-year-old local resident who lives near the Crooks’ residence and worked at their school while he was a student.
Although Mackey said he didn’t know Crooks personally, he still suffers from a feeling of disbelief.
“It’s just shocking. You wouldn’t think an event of this magnitude would come right out of your backyard,” he said. “It’s just a crazy situation.”
Did he hit someone?
One person died and two others were injured in the shooting.
All three victims are adult men and audience members, CBS News reports.
At a press conference Sunday, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro identified the deceased victim as Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old volunteer fire chief who was killed when he “plunged onto his family” to protect them.
He said the Comperatore “died a hero”.
A GoFundMe page, organized by Trump campaign national finance director Meredith O’Rourke, was created hours after the attack with donations going to the families of those injured.
So far it has raised more than $340,000 (£267,000).
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he was “shot by a bullet that pierced the top of my right ear” and said he felt the bullet “tear the skin.”
Blood was visible on Trump’s ear and face as protective officers pulled him away.
Trump is “doing well” and is grateful to law enforcement, according to a statement posted on the Republican National Committee (RNC) website.
How far was he from Donald Trump?
A witness told the BBC he saw a man – believed to be bandits – with a shotgun on the roof of a building before Trump was shot.
Video footage obtained by TMZ shows the moment the shooting started.
The attacker opened fire with “an AR-style rifle,” reports CBS News.
Law enforcement sources also told CBS that he was reported by a bystander and identified as a suspicious person by police, but that officers lost sight of him before the shooting began.
However, the FBI says it did not immediately know what type of firearm was used or how many shots were fired.
A Secret Service sniper returned fire and killed the shooter, authorities said.
Later images show armed police approaching a body on the roof of the building.
