We know this about the suspected shooter

Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old from a relatively affluent suburb. He is the man suspected of attempting to murder former President Donald Trump.

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We know this about the suspected shooter
Photo: Joshua A Bickel/AP/TT

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Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old from a relatively affluent suburb. He is the man suspected of attempting to murder former President Donald Trump.

The morning after the assassination attempt, where the former president was injured in the ear, all roads around the 20-year-old's home were blocked off.

The quiet suburb of Bethel Park, near Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, was shaken by the news that Crooks is suspected of being the perpetrator.

His family's house was searched by the FBI on Sunday, who found material to manufacture some form of bombs, and the finds were made in both his car and at home.

The federal police are investigating the assassination attempt as "potential domestic terrorism", but they have not found signs of radicalization or hatred towards Trump.

No motive found

According to Robert Wells, second-in-command at the FBI, the police have barely found the suspected shooter on social media, except for an account on Discord. The police have not yet managed to access the 20-year-old's mobile phone.

Therefore, they do not have a clear motive either.

Crooks himself was killed after the assassination attempt, he was shot by the police after several shots had been fired at Donald Trump. According to Wells, he had used a semi-automatic rifle of the AR-15 type, which was legally purchased by his father.

Bethel Park, where Crooks lived and went to school, is according to American media relatively affluent and is located about an hour's drive from the city of Butler where the election rally was held.

Early on Sunday, the neighborhood was anything but calm.

They told us to leave our houses, they said it was an emergency. There were no warnings, they just knocked on the door in the middle of the night, says neighbor Kelly Little to CBS.

Registered Republican

In 2022, the suspected shooter graduated from Bethel Park High School, a school with approximately 1,400 students. During the same year, he is said to have received a prize of $500 for good results in mathematics studies, according to local media.

Classmates describe him as quiet and reserved and say he kept to himself, although not necessarily by choice.

He is said to have registered as a Republican before the election. At the same time, there are reports that he donated $15 to the liberal organization Progressive Turnout Project via the Democratic donation platform Actblue in January 2021, according to The New York Times.

The newspaper also writes that he is not in Pennsylvania's public court records, and therefore has not been previously convicted of a crime in the state.

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By TTEnglish edition by Sweden Herald, adapted for local and international readers

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