Thomas Crooks was shot by Secret Service snipers after firing several shots.
Hours after a bullet grazed former US President Donald Trump’s ear at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Sunday, sending shockwaves across the country, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) identified the killer as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.
“The FBI has identified Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the subject involved in the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania,” the FBI said in a statement.
The investigating agency has now released a photo of the young attacker. The image shows the 20-year-old wearing glasses and smiling at the camera.
Crooks was shot by Secret Service snipers after firing multiple shots at the former US president from a nearby rooftop during the meeting. Witnesses said they were trying to alert security officials to a man moving from rooftop to rooftop in the area, lying on his stomach with a gun pointed at the rally.
An AR-15 assault rifle was found near his body.
Crooks, described as a “quiet, solitary” student, was a 2022 graduate of Bethel Park High School and received a $500 “star award” from the National Math and Science Initiative.
As a registered Republican, the upcoming Nov. 5 election would have been the first time he would have voted in a presidential election.
His classmates labeled him “socially reserved” and could not remember him ever talking about politics or Trump, but said he was often bullied at school. “He was quiet, but he was just being bullied. He was bullied so much,” one student told local US media.
After graduating, he worked in a nursing home.
After the attack, a “suspicious device” was found in his car, which is now being inspected by bomb technicians. Officials are now searching through his phone.
Sunday’s attack was a close call for Trump, who is currently in the midst of a bid to be re-elected as president of the United States. Videos show that a last-minute tilt of his head saved the leader’s life as the bullet hit his ear.
A video showed the 78-year-old Republican leader, his face covered in blood, raising his fist and muttering, “Fight! Fight!” as Secret Service agents escorted him off stage after the attack.