BETHEL PARK, Pa. — Authorities said Monday they have accessed the phone of the person who tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump and completed searches of his car and his family’s home in suburban Pittsburgh, as continued efforts to understanding the shooter’s motives were made. So far I’m empty.
The FBI said its investigation remains in the “early stages,” but the immediate lack of a clear motive for Saturday’s shooting at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, has only deepened the mystery surrounding the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, for more than 24 hours. after his name was released by authorities. The presumptive Republican nominee was removed from the stage during the shooting, which claimed the life of a former fire chief and injured two others.
Gregg McCrary, a former FBI profiler who spent more than 25 years at the FBI, first as a field agent and then in the behavioral sciences unit, said the lack of information about 20-year-old Crooks presents a challenge to law enforcement.
“This guy is one of those almost invisible people out there,” he said. “They are not on social media. They’re not yelling or screaming about this or that. They’re ruminating about it internally – whatever it is. And they just decide to do it, which scares all of us in law enforcement.”
“Some people say it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack,” he added. “It’s not that. The best way to think about it is to try to predict which piece of hay will become a needle.”
Senior law enforcement officials on Monday offered new details arising from the investigation:
- More than a dozen guns were found during a search of the family’s Bethel Park home, four senior officials said.
- Following reports of a shooting at the Trump rally, the shooter’s father, Matthew Crooks, called police to say he was worried about his son and his AR rifle missing, and police went to his home after the call, they said three senior officials.
- Authorities are investigating whether some of the ammunition from the shooting was purchased in previous days and whether some of the bullets were collected from a store and taken home or were delivered, a senior official said. One of the stores the FBI is investigating is Allegheny Arms and Gun Works in Bethel Park, a six-minute drive from the shooter’s home.
- FBI technical experts were unable to determine a motive for the shooting after a preliminary analysis of the shooter’s phone, according to a senior official. Authorities said they are looking at other electronic devices.
Few details have been uncovered about the shooter’s past. Public records show he was a registered Republican who once donated to a progressive election effort, but even people who knew him have offered little information. Almost nothing was found to prevent an online footprint, and people who spoke to authorities told NBC News they had little to say about him.
Mark Crooks, the shooter’s uncle, said Monday that he had not spoken to his nephew or brother Matthew since 2019, when their father died. He told NBC News from his home in suburban Pittsburgh that he tried to contact his brother after his nephew was identified as the shooter but received no response.
He described his brother as reserved and added that he had not seen his nephew in several years. He said he did not know about his political leanings or what motivated him to carry out an assassination attempt on the former president.
Crooks said his nephew’s actions were inexcusable and he feels terrible for the victims.
“You know what, you can’t forgive what he did,” he said. “Look what he did. He shot everyone. He killed one guy and injured a few more.
Forrest Works, who lives across the street from the shooter’s home, said he was trying to come to terms with the attempted murder.
“I saw him walking around, but I never saw anything suspicious,” Works, 30, said. “I haven’t processed the footage yet. It’s wild.
Authorities said Crooks used a semiautomatic rifle, firing at least seven shots, one of which killed Corey Comperatore, 50, a former Butler County fire chief who died protecting his family.
Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022, earned an associate’s degree in engineering science from Community College of Allegheny County in May and worked as a dietary aide at Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.
Former colleagues who spoke about the shooter did not appear to know him very well. He did not appear in any clubs or sporting activities in his high school yearbooks and was not photographed his junior and senior years.
Jason Kohler, who attended high school with Crooks, said he remembered him sitting alone at lunch and being lonely. He said some students made fun of Crooks, but others disputed that he was targeted by bullies.
“Everyone was in complete shock,” Kohler said Monday after learning the identity of the shooter.
Sarah D’Angelo, who lived on the same street as Crooks and graduated from high school with him, repeated that it was “totally unexpected” that a former classmate could have orchestrated the shooting. She said Crooks was known as “Tom” or “Tommy.”
“All I can say is the community is very close, given the great school district we have; very family oriented and true Americans,” D’Angelo said in a text message.
A former classmate who grew up with Crooks and attended school with him from fourth through ninth grade remembered playing basketball with him when he was young and thought of him as a quiet, reserved boy.
“What he did is terrible, however, I never expected this from the person I knew,” said the former colleague. “I’m sure he changed drastically in high school, like most of us.”
On Monday afternoon, some residents living near the shooter’s residence had just returned home after being abruptly evacuated by federal agents over the weekend.
Some sat on porches, front lawns and even looked in windows as federal agents questioned residents.
“The State Police knocked on my door and told me I was being evacuated,” said neighbor Kelly Little, 38, who usually noticed Thomas walking around the neighborhood every couple of days.
The two exchanged small greetings, but nothing more.
The Crooks family home was quiet Monday, with a blue truck and a red car parked in the driveway.
Little said FBI agents asked her if she knew or had any conversations with Thomas. She told them no.
The FBI believes the shooter acted alone. But without a clear social media presence or known threats, understanding why becomes even more difficult, said McCrary, the FBI profiler.
“We may never know. The problem is that we are looking for some rational explanation for irrational behavior,” she added. “And sometimes there is no rational explanation.”
Deon Hampton reported from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, and Jonathan Dienst, Tom Winter and Erik Ortiz from New York City.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
