Thomas Matthew Crooks Had A 'Major Depressive Disorder Diagnosis'

Thomas Matthew Crooks was identified as the suspect shortly after several gunshots rang out just ten minutes after Donald Trump took the stage at his rally on Saturday.

Secret Service agents quickly surrounded the 78-year-old and shielded him behind the podium. Blood was visible on his right ear as he was escorted to safety. While the former President dodged a bullet, a firefighter from Pennsylvania did not. Corey Comperatore passed away saving his family from the gunfire.

As the FBI continues to investigate Thomas Matthew Crooks' background, they are uncovering details surrounding his mental health and social groups.

A senior congressional source, who was directly informed about the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, informed NewsNation that Thomas Matthew Crooks had been diagnosed with "major depressive disorder." It is unclear if Crooks was on any medications or if he was seeing a therapist for the depressive disorder.

Former classmates have come forward, claiming the 20-year-old was a "loner" and was "bullied" by his peers.

“Those other kids would always say, ‘Hey, look at the school shooter over there!’” a former student told The New York Times. “They would tease him about his poor hygiene, his body odor. He was an easy target.”

Greg Smith, who was at the rally on the day of the shooting, told BBC News that Crooks had climbed onto a building just outside the event and that he had pointed out the gunman to the police.

“We noticed the guy bear-crawling up the roof of the building beside us, 50 feet away. He had a rifle, we could clearly see a rifle," he told the news outlet. “We’re pointing at him, the police are down there running around on the ground, we’re, like, ‘Hey man, there’s a guy on the roof with a rifle’… and the police did not know what was going on.”

"I’m thinking to myself, ‘Why is Trump still speaking, why have they not pulled him off the stage’ … the next thing you know, five shots ring out."

Smith claimed he tried to alert the police for three to four minutes before the shooting occurred.

Two firefighters from Steubenville, Ohio, who were attending the rally, told the AP that they provided aid to injured individuals and heard bullets hitting the broadcast speakers.

“The bullets rattled around the grandstand, one hit the speaker tower and then chaos broke. We hit the ground and then the police converged into the grandstands,” Chris Takach said, per NewsNation.

“After we heard the shots got fired, then the hydraulic line was spraying all around, you could see the hydraulic fluid coming out of it. And then the speaker tower started to fall down,” the second firefighter, Dave Sullivan, said. “Then we heard another shot that you could hear, you knew something was, it was bullets. It wasn’t firecrackers.”

According to a retired Secret Service agent and security expert, who spoke with Fox News, Thomas Matthew Crooks allegedly scouted the Butler Farm rally site and meticulously planned his attack before attempting to assassinate the former president at a Trump rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.

"It’s clear now the gunman did an advance of the target before the event," Bill Gage, who is now a consultant at Safehaven Security Group, said. "[Arthur] Bremer, [Lee Harvey] Oswald and [John] Hinckley, they all scouted before," he added, citing the attacks on Presidents Richard Nixon, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan, respectively.

"[Crooks] knew that there were elevated positions there i.e., those buildings off in the distance, and that he would need a ladder to access," Gage continued. "It is being reported that he didn’t use it – but the purchase indicates to me that there was some advance planning involved," further claiming that the 20-year-old knew he would need a rifle and not a handgun.

Both Crooks and his father were members of the Clairton Sportsmen’s Club, located approximately a 25-minute drive from the gunman’s home.

Investigators are continuing to examine the shooter's actions preceding the assassination attempt, as no clear motive has yet been identified.