Authorities identified the gunman as a 20-year-old man from Bethel Park, a town about an hour’s drive from the site of the shooting.
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Law enforcement officers looked over the scene of a shooting at a rally for former President Donald Trump.
The gunman who attempted to assassinate former President Donald J. Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday was identified by the F.B.I. as Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old from Bethel Park, Penn., but officials released no additional information about him.
“This remains an active and ongoing investigation,” the F.B.I. said in a statement early Sunday.
The gunman did not have a criminal history reflected in Pennsylvania’s public court records, and officials said they had not identified a motive. A voter-registration record showed that Mr. Crooks was registered as a Republican, though federal campaign-finance records show he donated $15 to the Progressive Turnout Project, a liberal voter turnout group, through the Democratic donation platform ActBlue in January 2021.
Early on Sunday morning, law-enforcement officers had closed down all roads leading toward the home of the suspect’s family in Bethel Park, south of Pittsburgh and about an hour’s drive from the site of the rally in Butler. Numerous relatives did not respond to messages seeking comment.
Mr. Crooks was killed after he fired from “an elevated position” outside the outdoor rally venue where Mr. Trump was speaking, according to the Secret Service. Law enforcement officials recovered an AR-15-type semiautomatic rifle near the body of a white man they believe was the gunman, according to two law enforcement officials.
Mr. Crooks appears to have graduated in 2022 from Bethel Park High School, which has about 1,400 students, and received a $500 “star award” that year from the National Math and Science Initiative, according to The Tribune-Review in western Pennsylvania.
In an online recording of the 2022 graduation ceremony, Mr. Crooks can be seen crossing the stage to modest applause after his name is called out, a slender young man with glasses in a black graduation gown who briefly posed with a school official and accepted his diploma.
Brian Conway and Matthew Ericson contributed reporting.
Jack Healy is a Phoenix-based national correspondent who focuses on the fast-changing politics and climate of the Southwest. He has worked in Iraq and Afghanistan and is a graduate of the University of Missouri’s journalism school. More about Jack Healy
Mike Baker is a national reporter for The Times, based in Seattle. More about Mike Baker
Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs reports on national stories across the United States with a focus on criminal justice. He is from upstate New York. More about Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs
Katie Benner is a correspondent writing primarily about large institutions that shape American life. More about Katie Benner
See more on: U.S. Politics, Donald Trump
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Source: nytimes.com
