New information revealed about Thomas Matthew Crooks, Donald Trump’s alleged attacker

In the early hours of this morning, the FBI identified a 20-year-old man from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as a suspect in the attempted assassination of former U.S. President Donald Trump at a campaign rally.

It is Thomas Matthew Crooks suspect shot dead by Secret Service seconds after allegedly shooting toward stage where Trump was speaking in the town of Butler, Pennsylvania.

The FBI said it was investigating the motive for the attack, in which one rallygoer died and two other spectators were seriously injured. Trump, meanwhile, was shot in the ear.

State voter records show Crooks was registered as a Republican. The Nov. 5 election would have been the first time the 20-year-old could have voted in a presidential election.

Crooks lived about an hour from the shooting scene in Butler.

At the age of 17, Crooks donated $15 to ActBlue a political action committee that raises money for left-wing and Democratic politicians, according to a 2021 filing with the Federal Election Commission.

The donation was intended for the Progressive Turnout Project, a national group that encourages Democrats to vote. The groups did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Crooks’ father, Matthew Crooks, 53, told CNN he was trying to figure out what happened and would wait to speak to authorities before talking about his son.

Thomas Crooks is a 2022 graduate of Bethel Park High School, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He received a $500 “star award” from the National Mathematics and Science Initiative, the outlet said.

A video of the 2022 graduation ceremony cited by The New York Times shows Crooks receiving his high school diploma to applause.

Footage of the ceremony posted online showed the scammers wearing optical glasses, dressed in black graduation suits and posing with a school official. Reuters was not immediately able to verify the authenticity of the video.

Authorities said Saturday that Crooks did not bring any identification to the scene of the shooting and had to be identified through other methods.

“Right now we’re looking at photographs and trying to analyze his DNA and get biometric confirmation,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek said at a news conference.

USA Today reported that dozens of law enforcement vehicles were parked outside a residence listed at Crooks’ voter registration address. Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were on scene and a bomb squad was at the residence, he added.

The perimeter of the suspect’s residence was guarded and an Allegheny County police vehicle remained parked outside.

“It’s crazy that someone would do this,” Dan Maloney, a neighbor of the 30-year-old suspect, said, according to USA Today.

Reuters could not immediately identify Crooks’ social media accounts or other online posts. Aim Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, did not immediately respond to questions about whether the platforms had removed accounts linked to the suspect.

The person responsible for the failed attack on former President Trump, Thomas Matthew Crooks, shot the Republican White House candidate with a gun legally acquired by his father, ABC News sources tell ABC News.

Crooks’ father’s name appears as the purchaser of the firearm, an AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifle, according to security sources detailed to NBC, and according to a trace conducted by the country’s federal gun control agency, the ATF.

Additionally, the Wall Street Journal and CNN reported that Crooks, 20, was in possession of explosive materials both at his home and in his private vehicle.