Trump shooting motive still yet to be determined by investigators

More than 24 hours after the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, a motive for the 20-year-old shooter’s actions has not been identified, the FBI said Sunday.

Little is known about the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, although investigators stressed the investigation is in its early stages, and they are still seeking to gain access to his cellphone.

The shooter acted alone, but investigators are still working to determine “if there were any co-conspirators associated with this attack,” the bureau said in a statement. “At this time, there are no current public safety concerns,” it added. There were no current indications that Crooks had mental health issues, officials said.

Crooks fired several shots from a nearby rooftop during a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, narrowly missing the former president, killing one rally attendee and injuring two more before he was killed by at least one Secret Service sharpshooter.

Corey Comperatore, 50, a former chief of the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company, was identified as the person killed. The two other victims were stable.

Trump, who ducked and surfaced with a bloodied face, said he was shot in the ear and described feeling a “bullet ripping through the skin.” He arrived in Milwaukee Sunday night for the Republican National Convention.

The shooting is being investigated “as an assassination attempt and potential domestic terrorism,” the FBI statement said. There is no sign at the moment that the shooting at the Trump rally had any link to a foreign actor, according to a U.S. official.

The FBI also said it had obtained Crooks’ phone and searched his home and vehicle. In a press call on Sunday, an official said the FBI had shipped the phone off to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, to try to gain access to it.

The semiautomatic rifle used in the shooting had been purchased legally without specifying who it was registered to, the FBI said. Earlier the bureau had said it was believed the weapon had been purchased by the 20-year-old’s father, but investigators did not know how the shooter got the weapon.

The FBI’s Pittsburgh Field Office is leading the probe in coordination with its local, state, and federal partners and is appealing to the public for tips. Investigators had already received more than 2,600 tips, the bureau said Sunday afternoon, adding that Crooks’ family is cooperating with investigators.

Little is known about Crooks, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, and neither investigators nor journalists have found an online presence that would point to why the young man, two years out of high school, would have targeted the former president and presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

Crooks was a member of the Clairton Sportsmen’s Club in Pittsburgh, which has a number of shooting ranges. He was a registered Republican who also appeared to have donated $15 to the Progressive Turnout Project in 2021.

He graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022 and former classmates described him as a loner. Jason Kohler, 21, said he was “bullied” in high school, sometimes for wearing hunting outfits, which he donned regularly. Michael Dudjak, 20, who also went to school with Crooks, said he was quiet and couldn’t remember him being vocal about politics or active on social media.

Crooks graduated from the Community College of Allegheny County in May 2024 with an associates degree in Engineering Science, according to the college.

A statement from the school said: “Like all Americans, we are shocked and saddened by the horrific turn of events that took place in Butler, Pa., on Saturday. We are grateful that former President Trump is safe and recovering, and we extend our condolences to the family of Corey Comperatore on their loss, and offer our thoughts and prayers to all others who have been impacted by this tragedy.”

The statement said the school was cooperating with investigators and would “provide information in keeping with college policies and law enforcement protocols and practices.”

Recently, Crooks worked at the Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. The facility said in a statement that “his background check was clean” and that he “performed his job without any concern.”