FBI identifies Thomas Matthew Crooks as suspect in shooting at Trump rally

Relatively little is known about Crooks, but in the coming hours and days, media and law enforcement will be digging deep into his background and possible motives. Here’s what we do know.

Crooks was 20 years old and from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, about 40 miles south of Butler, the site of the Trump rally on Saturday night, the FBI said.

A certain Thomas Crooks is named in a local media outlet’s list of Bethel Park High School graduates of 2022 and is one of 20 students who received a $500 math and science award from the school this year. Bethel Park High School did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Sunday.

According to Pennsylvania voter records, Crooks was registered as a Republican.

The suspected gunman used an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle in the attack, said a U.S. official and another person familiar with the investigation, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the early stages of the investigation.

After identifying the suspect, the FBI said the investigation “remains active and ongoing” and urged anyone with relevant information to come forward to the agency.

In an early evening press conference, Kevin Rojek, the FBI’s special agent in charge in Pittsburgh, said the agency did not yet know the shooter’s motive. “Our investigators are working tirelessly to determine what the motive was,” he said before Crooks’ identity was announced.

When asked whether the shooter acted alone, Lt. Col. George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police said it was “too early to say.”

“It will take some time before we can definitively answer this question,” he added.

Bivens described a “chaotic” scene at the rally after shots were fired in Trump’s direction as he spoke on the rally stage. He said federal and local authorities were working together to interview witnesses and investigate the scene.