Meet Thomas Crooks, 20, Who Shot Trump at Pennsylvania Rally

Following an assassination attempt on former United States President Donald Trump at a political rally on Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Pennsylvania, authorities have identified the shooter as Thomas Crooks, 20.

“Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, is the subject involved in the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on July 13, in Butler, Pennsylvania,” the FBI said in a statement released Sunday, according to USA Today.

The office added: “This is an active and ongoing investigation, and anyone with information that may assist in the investigation is encouraged to submit photos or videos online.”

At his campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Trump, the Republican nominee for the November 5, 2024, presidential election, was shot at and Secret Service agents quickly whisked him off the stage in an SUV.

The shooter and a passerby were killed during the rally, while two spectators were seriously injured.

The service said the shooter “fired several shots toward the scene from an elevated position outside the gathering” before being “neutralized” by officers, AFP reports.

“I got shot through the top of my right ear. I knew right away that something was wrong, I heard a whistling sound, gunshots, and I immediately felt the bullet tear through the skin. There was a lot of bleeding, so I knew what was going on,” Trump recounted after the incident.

After he was killed at the scene, FBI Pittsburgh Field Office Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek said Crooks had no identification on him, so agents had to “run his DNA and get biometric confirmation,” CNN reports.

Here are five things you know about Crooks:

1. Crooks graduated in 2022 from Bethel Park High School, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
2. State voter records showed Crooks was a registered Republican, Reuters said.
3. Crooks lived about an hour from where the shooting happened in Butler.
4. At age 17, Crooks donated $15 to ActBlue, a political action committee that raises money for left-wing and Democratic politicians, according to a 2021 Federal Election Commission filing.
5. Crooks received a $500 “star award” from the National Math and Science Initiative, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported.

Contacted by CNN on Saturday evening, the shooter’s father, Matthew Crooks, said he was trying to understand “what’s going on” but would “wait to talk to law enforcement” before talking about his son.

John Wolf, a resident who lives next door to Crooks, said he has been in contact with other concerned neighbors: “People are scared.”