The FBI continues to search for a motive after identifying the man who authorities said tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally.
Authorities identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. He was killed by at least one Secret Service sharpshooter after firing multiple shots at Trump at a campaign rally on July 13 in Butler, authorities said.
Trump said he was grazed on the ear by one of the shots and rushed offstage by Secret Service members. One member of the crowd, identified as Corey Comperatore, 50, a former chief of the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company, was fatally shot. Two other people were injured and are stable.
What do we know about the suspect?
Scant details have emerged about Crooks, who had little social media presence.
No motive has emerged thus far, NBC News correspondent Tom Winter reported on TODAY on July 15.
Crooks was a member of a local gun club, Clairton Sportsmen’s Club in Pittsburgh. The shooter at the Trump rally used a semiautomatic rifle, three senior U.S. law enforcement officials told NBC News.
Investigators were looking into whether the gun belonged to Crooks’ father and whether it had been purchased legally, two senior law enforcement officials told NBC News.
Crooks worked as a dietary aide at the Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. Officials at the nursing home told NBC News in a statement that a background check on Crooks was clean and there was no “concern” about him on the job.
Crooks was a registered Republican, but it’s not clear the last time he voted.
Jason Kohler, 21, who went to Bethel Park High School with Crooks, told NBC News he was a “loner” who wore hunting outfits to school and was an “outcast” who was regularly bullied.
How are authorities trying to determine a motive?
The shooter’s cell phone has been taken to the FBI laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, where agents will work to try to break through the phone’s security, FBI officials told reporters on July 14.
“These cell phone forensic programs, even if you try to delete something, it can typically find a record of what you tried to delete if not the actual thing itself,” Winter said on TODAY. “It’s what might be deleted that can be as helpful to them as what’s on the phone.”
Investigators are hoping to gain access to text messages, photos, apps, and web search history to see if it provides a motive.
Multiple canisters and containers were also found in Crooks’ vehicle found at his house. They have been described as rudimentary explosives and are also being tested at the FBI laboratory, according to Winter.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
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