Trump shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks was acting strangely ahead of rally as motive elusive

By BEN FINLEY

The FBI is still trying to determine a motive behind Saturday’s attempt to assassinate former President Donald Trump, while the tone of this week’s Republican convention in Milwaukee likely will be dominated by the violence.

A former fire chief who was killed at Trump’s Pennsylvania rally is being remembered as a “man of conviction.”

The shooting wounded two other men and pierced the upper part of Trump’s ear with a bullet. The 20-year-old who authorities say carried out the attack is believed to have acted alone with his father’s gun.

Here’s a look at what we know so far about the attempt on Trump’s life and its aftermath:

Acting strangely outside the event

Officials say Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania — about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the shooting — came to law enforcement attention when spectators at the Trump rally noticed him acting strangely outside the event.

Police had a report of a suspicious man pacing near the magnetometers and were apparently exchanging photos of the suspect. Witnesses pointed and shouted at an armed man on a nearby roof.

When a police officer climbed up to the roof to investigate, the gunman turned and pointed his rifle at him. But the officer did not — or could not — fire a single shot. A sniper cut down Crooks within seconds of him firing an AR-style rifle toward the former president, but it was too late.

Trump was showing off a chart of border crossing numbers when the gunfire began.

As the first pop went off Trump said, “Oh,” then raised his hand to his right ear and looked at it before quickly crouching to the ground behind his lectern.

Someone could be heard near the microphone saying, “Get down, get down, get down, get down!” as agents rushed to the stage. They piled atop the former president to shield him with their bodies as other agents took up positions on stage to search for the threat.

Trump later said the upper part of his right ear was pierced by a bullet. His aides said he was in “great spirits” and doing well. He arrived in Milwaukee on Sunday evening for the convention, which began Monday.

Meanwhile, investigators are trying to painstakingly piece together how an armed man with no military background managed to reach high ground and get the jump on teams of Secret Service agents.

President Joe Biden has ordered an independent investigation of the attempted assassination. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said he has “full confidence” in the Secret Service’s leadership, but he conceded that the gunman never should have reached that deadly position.

“We are speaking of a failure,” Mayorkas told CNN. “We are going to analyze through an independent review how that occurred, why it occurred, and make recommendations and findings to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

A loner whose motive remains unknown

The FBI said it believes Crooks acted alone. Investigators have found no threatening comments on social media accounts or ideological positions that could help explain what led him to target Trump.

The agency is investigating the shooting as a potential act of domestic terrorism. It said in a statement Monday that it gained access to Crooks’ cellphone and was analyzing all his electronic devices for a possible motive. Agents also have conducted nearly 100 interviews of law enforcement officials, rally attendees and other witnesses.

Authorities said they believe the gunman’s AR-style rifle was purchased by his father. Kevin Rojek, FBI special agent in charge in Pittsburgh, said investigators do not yet know if Crooks took the gun without his father’s permission.

Crooks’ political leanings were not immediately clear. Records show Crooks was registered as a Republican voter in Pennsylvania, but federal campaign finance reports also show he gave $15 to a progressive political action committee on Jan. 20, 2021, the day Biden was sworn into office.

Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022. Jason Kohler, who said he attended the same high school but did not share any classes with Crooks, said Crooks was bullied at school and sat alone at lunchtime. Other students mocked him for the clothes he wore, which included hunting outfits, Kohler said.

“He was just a outcast, and you know how kids are nowadays,” Kohler told reporters.

Crooks worked at a nursing home as a dietary aide, a job that generally involves food preparation. Marcie Grimm, the administrator of Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation, said in a statement that Crooks had a clean background check when he was hired.

Ex-fire chief who was killed was a “man of conviction”

Gov. Josh Shapiro on Sunday said the man killed at the Trump rally, Corey Comperatore, “dove on his family to protect them.”

“Corey died a hero,” the governor said. Comperatore, 50, was a former fire chief.

Pennsylvania State Police identified two other men who were shot as David Dutch, 57, of New Kensington, and James Copenhaver, 74, of Moon Township. Both men remained hospitalized and were listed in stable condition, state police said.

Comperatore’s quick decision to use his body as a shield against the bullets flying toward his wife and daughter rang true to the close friends and neighbors who loved and respected the proud 50-year-old Trump supporter, noting that the Butler County resident was a “man of conviction.”

“He’s a literal hero. He shoved his family out of the way, and he got killed for them,” said Mike Morehouse, who lived next to Comperatore for the last eight years. “He’s a hero that I was happy to have as a neighbor.”

Randy Reamer, president of the Buffalo Township volunteer fire company, called Comperatore “a stand-up guy” and “a true brother of the fire service.” He said Comperatore served as chief of the company for about three years but was also a life member, meaning he had served for more than 20 years.

“Just a great all-around guy, always willing to help someone out,” Reamer said of Comperatore. “He definitely stood up for what he believed in, never backed down to anyone. … He was a really good guy.”

Trump names running mate as convention begins

The Republican National Convention started Monday, with Trump naming U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio as his running mate.

The former president and his advisers are pledging resilience in the face of the attack. The four-day event will showcase Trump and his platform as his party formally chooses him to be its nominee.

Republican officials have said they want to defy the threat Trump has faced and stick to their plans and their schedule. But at the very least, the event is expected to include a heightened focus on security and a grim recognition of how stunningly close Trump came to losing his life.

The presumptive Republican nominee and his allies will face the nation unquestionably united and ready to “fight,” as the bloodied Trump cried out Saturday while Secret Service agents at his Pennsylvania rally rushed him to safety.

Anger and anxiety are coursing through the party, even as many top Republicans call for calm and a lowering of tensions. As elected officials, politicians and a few regular Americans address the conference, the question is which tone will prevail in the aftermath of the attack: Will it make speeches even more fiery or will calls for calm prevail?