What is known so far about the shooter in the attack on Trump

The weapon Crooks used in the shooting was an AR-style rifle, according to a person familiar with the investigation. According to law enforcement officials, the gun was traced to the young man’s father, which helped determine the shooter’s identity because he was not carrying identification.

When contacted by CNN on 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 the police” before talking about his son. He could not be contacted again Sunday.

Federal Election Commission records show that a donor listed as Thomas Crooks, with the shooter’s address, gave $15 to the Progressive Turnout Project, a Democratic-aligned political action committee, on Inauguration Day in January 2021, when the U.S. I was 17 years old.

A spokesperson for the Progressive Turnout Project said in an email that the group received the donation “in response to an email about attending the grand opening” and that “the email address associated with the contribution made only one contribution and was removed from our lists 2 years ago.”

“We unequivocally condemn political violence in all its forms and denounce anyone who chooses violence over peaceful political action,” the spokesperson wrote.

Later that year, a week after turning 18, Crooks registered to vote as a Republican, according to a listing in the Pennsylvania voter database that matched his name, age and address.

The young man has only voted once, in the 2022 midterm general election, an Allegheny County spokesperson told CNN.

Crooks’ parents worked as social workers, according to state licensing records. Her father is registered to vote as a Libertarian and her mother is registered as a Democrat, state voter records show.

The young man shot Trump while he was on the roof of a nearby building, outside the rally’s security perimeter, before being killed by US Secret Service agents, according to law enforcement officials.

Police went to Crooks’ family home on a quiet street in Bethel Park on Saturday night. Explosive material was found at his home, as well as in his car, law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation told CNN.

A brief video posted to Facebook by the Crooks school district in 2022 showed the young man taking a computer coding course and explaining a concept to a classmate.

Crooks can also be seen sitting in front of an economics class in a TV advertisement for investment company BlackRock that was filmed at his school. The teachers featured in both videos declined to comment.

A spokesperson for the social media platform Discord said in a statement that it has identified an account that appears to be linked to Crooks. The account “was rarely used and we found no evidence that it was used to plan this incident or discuss his political views,” the spokesperson wrote.

Young man worked in a nursing home

Crooks worked as a nutrition aide at Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, a nursing home less than a mile from her family’s home, according to Marcie Grimm, the center’s administrator.

“We are shocked and saddened to learn of his involvement, as Thomas Matthew Crooks performed his job without concern and his background check was clean,” Grimm said in a statement.

A colleague who worked with Crooks at the nursing home and who asked not to be named described him in an interview as “the sweetest guy.”

This week, the colleague said, the two worked together to find an easier way for nursing home residents to open packets of ranch dressing, an act the colleague said was indicative of how thoughtful Crooks was.

“Those stupid packets of ranch in the kitchen — no one can open them,” said the classmate, who also went to high school with Crooks.

“Earlier this week, he was helping me with a bunch of sick old ladies (put ranch on their salads), he added.

Crooks, the colleague said, never expressed political views at work and was not “a radical,” stating, “It’s hard to see everything that’s going on online because he was a really, really good person who did a really bad thing, and I I just wanted to know why.”

Political scenario in the region

Bethel Park is a predominantly white suburb that is wealthier than the surrounding Pittsburgh metropolitan area.

Dan Grzybek, a county board representative whose district includes Bethel Park, described the region as politically mixed — according to county voter records, President Joe Biden won the district that includes the Crooks’ home with just 52% of the vote. .

Grzybek, who lives nearby, said he had a “very pleasant” conversation with the shooter’s parents while canvassing before being elected last year. He described the community as “incredibly safe” and “close-knit,” and said he hoped the shooting was not “what Bethel Park is remembered for.”

“All that happens is that things like this increase the already extreme political polarization we experience and increase the risk of future violence in retaliation,” Grzybek said.

Andrew Bianco, who lives two houses down from the Crooks family, agreed that the area was politically diverse, with some residents flying Trump flags and others flying Biden flags.

But he said he doesn’t remember seeing political signs outside the Crooks’ residence and only saw the shooter’s father when he went out to mow the lawn.

“If something happened, you’d say, ‘Does anyone live there?’” Bianco said.

This content was originally created in English.

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