Employment Background Of Trump Rally Shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks Revealed

As the FBI investigates the background of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old who tried to assassinate Donald Trump, they are starting to reveal details about his history.

On Saturday, Crooks fired several shots at Donald Trump during a rally in Pennsylvania, with one bullet grazing the former president's right ear. Moments later, the Secret Service shot and killed the gunman.

While a motive is still unclear, law enforcement has learned that Thomas Matthew Crooks worked at a nursing home.

According to CNN, Crooks resided in Bethel Park, a suburb of Pittsburgh, roughly an hour's drive south of the Trump rally. He graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022.

“We are working hard to determine the sequence of events related to the subject and his movements in the hours, days and weeks prior to the shooting,” Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office said, while noting that “we’re still very early in this investigation.”

The gun used was traced to Crooks’ father.

According to the Wall Street Journal, sources familiar with the investigation indicate that authorities also found explosive devices in the vehicle Crooks was driving.

Federal Election Commission records reveal that a donor named Thomas Crooks, associated with the gunman's street address, contributed $15 to the Progressive Turnout Project, a Democratic-aligned political action committee, on Inauguration Day in January 2021, when Crooks was 17 years old.

A week after turning 18, Crooks registered to vote as a Republican, according to Pennsylvania's voter database, which matched his name, age, and address.

CNN reported that Crooks was employed as a dietary aide at Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, a nursing home located less than a mile from his family's home.

“We are shocked and saddened to learn of his involvement as Thomas Matthew Crooks performed his job without concern and his background check was clean,” Marcie Grimm, the center's administrator, said in a statement.

A colleague who worked with Crooks at the nursing home described him as “the sweetest guy.” Last week, they collaborated to find a simpler method for nursing home residents to open ranch dressing packets, an effort that the colleague said reflected Crooks' caring nature.

“These stupid ranch packets in the kitchen — no one can ever open them,” the colleague recalled. “Earlier this week he was helping me with a bunch of sick old ladies (to) put ranch on their salads.”

“It’s hard seeing everything that’s going on online because he was a really, really good person that did a really bad thing, and I just wish I knew why," they added.

According to several reports, Crooks used a semi-automatic rifle and fired approximately eight shots. Law enforcement sources indicated that he was situated on top of a shed outside the security perimeter established by the Secret Service, shooting from around 400 feet away from the stage.

They linked the gun back to Crooks's father.

Donald Trump took to social media to release a statement just hours after the shooting.

"I want to thank The United States Secret Service, and all of Law Enforcement, for their rapid response on the shooting that just took place in Butler, Pennsylvania," he said on his Truth Social account. "Most importantly, I want to extend my condolences to the family of the person at the Rally who was killed, and also to the family of another person that was badly injured. It is incredible that such an act can take place in our Country."

"Nothing is known at this time about the shooter, who is now dead. I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear," the former President added. "I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening. GOD BLESS AMERICA!"