Gunman Thomas Crooks was pacing next to a barn outside the Butler Farm Showgrounds, where crowds had gathered at a rally for former President Donald Trump, when he was flagged as a suspect by police.
When two officers went to investigate, Crooks was crawling on the roof. One of the officers spotted him and climbed onto the edge of the roof to approach him, but the long-haired, bespectacled man turned around, holding an AR-15-style rifle. The Butler County Sheriff said the officer fell to the ground.
Then, as it turns out, Crooks opened fire around 6:10 p.m. Trump winced and grabbed his right ear. Secret Service agents rushed to cover him while some spectators ducked for cover. Screams erupted from the left wing where a spectator had been shot dead.
This account of the attempted assassination is based on interviews with more than 20 people, including law enforcement officials, Crooks' classmates, and witnesses to the protest, along with public records and news reports.
The area near the home of Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, named by the FBI as a "person of interest" in the failed assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump. Photo: Reuters
Unknown political leanings
The New York Times reported on July 17, citing information from US lawmakers, that after the Federal Bureau of Investigation examined Crooks' phone, they discovered that he had searched for images of both President Joe Biden and Mr. Trump, as well as many other famous figures, in the days before the shooting.
Crooks searched for dates of Mr Trump’s public appearances and the date of the Democratic National Convention, the report said. He also searched for “major depressive disorder” on his phone, the New York Times reported.
Crooks was expected to have a bright future at Allegheny County Community College (CCAC). A college instructor said she reviewed Crooks’s assignments this week and was baffled that a dedicated student who portrayed himself as “the better person” could have become a killer.
The instructor said Crooks’ homework was meticulously completed and his emails were polite. Crooks had done an excellent job redesigning toys for people with disabilities. “Crooks made a chess set for the blind and 3D printed it, added braille, talked to experts in the field,” she recalled.
Crooks was spotted by police crawling onto the roof before shooting Mr Trump. Photo: GI
Crooks, however, made little impression on his classmates. Samuel Strotman, also in CCAC’s engineering program, took two online classes with Crooks. Strotman said Crooks never spoke in lectures.
A university employee described Crooks as quiet but pleasant. “It was really, really, really unexpected,” the employee said. Former high school classmate Max Rich said Crooks was shy and “never seemed like the type of person” to commit such a violent crime.
The school closed its engineering program on June 30. Crooks plans to continue his engineering studies at nearby Robert Morris University, the school confirmed.
At Bethel Park High School, where Crooks graduated in 2022, he kept a low profile, according to classmates. One former classmate said Crooks expressed conservative views in history class, where other students tended to be liberal. Others said his views were never clear.
Crooks' photo was missing from the class's senior yearbook, with his name listed as "not in photo." Crooks enjoyed playing video games and building computers, according to a classmate.
Political divisions also ran through Crooks’ family. While the gunman was a registered Republican, his father was a Libertarian and his mother a Democrat, according to voter registration records. When Crooks was 17, he donated $15 to a political action committee that served a group of Democratic voters.
Crooks was a member of a local shooting club. He left virtually no trace on his electronic devices. Crooks spent time on Discord, a social platform for gamers, but the company said it found “no evidence that the platform was used to plan this incident, promote violence, or discuss political views.”
Homemade bombs and bullets
Crooks appears to have spent at least some time planning his assassination attempt on Mr Trump. He stopped at a gun store in Bethel Park to buy 50 rounds of ammunition.
Crooks had made three homemade bombs, two of which were found in the gunman's car and another in his home. In the months before, Crooks had received "numerous packages, including some marked as possibly containing hazardous materials."
At the Trump rally, Crooks drew the attention of local law enforcement as he paced around the grounds before Trump took the stage. An officer reported the suspect and took a photo to other officers at the scene.
The crowd also noticed a suspicious person on the roof. Some shouted that he had a gun. The police officer who climbed onto the roof did not have time to draw his gun before Crooks returned with a rifle, so he was forced to fall to the ground.
Secret Service officials have said they were responsible for securing the area within the event’s security perimeter, and the building Crooks used was outside it. Some former agency officials and other security experts have disputed that argument, arguing that buildings with a direct view of the former president should be under constant surveillance by agency sniper teams.
Local officials bristled at any suggestion that town or county law enforcement was responsible for protecting the building.
Hoai Phuong (according to Reuters)
Source: https://www.congluan.vn/ke-ban-ong-trump-tung-bi-phat-hien-va-nhung-bi-an-ve-vu-am-sat-hut-post304109.html
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