More than 24 hours after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, the motive for the 20-year-old shooter’s actions has not been identified, the FBI said Sunday.
Little is known about the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, although investigators have stressed that the investigation is in its early stages and they are still seeking to gain access to his cell phone.
The shooter acted alone, but investigators are still working to determine “whether there were any co-conspirators associated with this attack,” the agency said in a statement. “At this time, there are no current public safety concerns,” he added. There were no current indications that Crooks had mental health issues, authorities said.
Crooks fired several shots from a nearby rooftop during a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, narrowly missing the former president, killing one rally attendee and wounding two others before being killed by at least one Secret Service sniper.
Corey Comperatore, 50, former chief of the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company, was identified as the person killed. The other two victims were stable.
Trump, who ducked and emerged with a bloody face, said he was shot in the ear and described the feeling of a “bullet ripping through the skin.” He arrived in Milwaukee on Sunday night for the Republican National Convention.
The shooting is being investigated “as an attempted murder and potential domestic terrorism,” the FBI statement said. There is currently no sign that the Trump rally shooting had any connection to a foreign actor, according to a US official.
The FBI also said it obtained Crooks’ phone and searched his home and vehicle. In a conference call on Sunday, an official said the FBI had sent the phone to the FBI laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, to try to gain access to it.
The semiautomatic rifle used in the shooting was purchased legally, without specifying who it was registered to, the FBI said. The agency previously said it believed the gun had been purchased by the 20-year-old’s father, but investigators did not know how the shooter got the gun.
The FBI Pittsburgh Field Office is leading the investigation in coordination with its local, state and federal partners and is appealing to the public for tips. Investigators have received more than 2,600 tips, the agency said Sunday afternoon, adding that Crooks’ family is cooperating with investigators.
Little is known about Crooks, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, and neither investigators nor journalists have found an online presence that could point to why the young man, two years after graduating from high school, would target the former president and presumed Republican presidential candidate.
Crooks was a member of the Clairton Sportsmen’s Club in Pittsburgh, which has several shooting ranges. He was a registered Republican who also appeared to have donated $15 to the Progressive Turnout Project in 2021.
He graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022 and former classmates described him as a loner. Jason Kohler, 21, said he was “bullied” in high school, sometimes for wearing hunting clothes, which he wore regularly. Michael Dudjak, 20, who also went to school with Crooks, said he was quiet and didn’t remember him talking about politics or being active on social media.
Crooks graduated from the Community College of Allegheny County in May 2024 with an associate’s degree in Engineering Science, according to the college.
A statement from the school said: “Like all Americans, we are shocked and saddened by the terrible turn of events that occurred in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. We are grateful that former President Trump is safe and recovering, and we extend our condolences to Corey Comperatore’s family for their loss and offer our thoughts and prayers to everyone else who has been affected by this tragedy.”
The statement said the school was cooperating with investigators and would “provide information in accordance with college policies and law enforcement protocols and practices.”
Most recently, Crooks worked at the Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. The facility said in a statement that “his background check was clear” and that he “performed his job without any concerns.”
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
