Donald Trump shooter who tried to assassinate former president identified by FBI

The gunman who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump is a 20-year-old local who went to school less than an hour down the road.

The FBI identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks from Bethel Park, a village 65km south of where Mr Trump held his rally at Butler Farm Showgrounds.

His voter-registration record showed that Crooks was registered as a Republican. The upcoming November 5 election would have been the first time Crooks had been old enough to vote in a US presidential race.

However federal campaign-finance records show he also donated $US15 to the Progressive Turnout Project, a liberal group, through the Democratic donation platform ActBlue on January 20, 2021 — the day Joe Biden was inaugurated as President.

Crooks also does not have a criminal history according to Pennsylvania’s public court records, and officials said they were still unsure of his motive.

Fearing revenge attacks, police quickly shut down all roads leading towards the home of the Crooks’ family in Bethel Park. A no-fly zone was also enforced over the village.

Crooks graduated in 2022 from Bethel Park High School, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He received a $US500 “star award” from the National Math and Science Initiative.

Numerous relatives did not respond to messages seeking comment however his father Matthew Crooks told CNN late on Saturday night, local time, that he was trying to figure out “what the hell was going on” with his son.

Mr Crooks said he was waiting to “talk to law enforcement” before addressing what his son had done.

Exactly how Crooks did what he did — almost assassinating a former and potentially future president — remains a mystery.

Crooks is believed to have somehow gained access to a local glass factory before climbing up onto the building’s roof. The building was just outside the security perimeter set up by Mr Trump’s security and local police.

About 130m from where Mr Trump was speaking, Crooks was seen bear crawling towards a clear vantage point on the roof with an AR-style rifle.

Dressed in lightly-coloured clothing, including a grey t-shirt and cream cargo pants, some Trump supporters did spot him on the roof, yelling at police for help.

But their pleas for help were too late with Crooks managing to fire off a handful of shots from his assault rifle, one of which hit Mr Trump on the side of his head.

Mr Trump dropped to the ground and spectators, standing behind the former president, were also hit. One died at the scene while two others remain in hospital critically injured.

Seconds after trying to assassinate Mr Trump, Crooks was dead.

A Secret Service sniper, on a nearby roof, fired the fatal shot.

Graphic photos and videos of Crooks circulated on social media, including a photo that showed blood all over his face and his long brown hair strewn across his forehead.

“They blew his head off, Secret Service blew his head off,” a witness named Greg Smith told the BBC.

“We noticed a guy crawling … bear crawling up the roof of the building beside us.He had a rifle. You could clearly see him with a rifle. We’re pointing at him, the police are running around on the ground.

“I’m thinking why is Trump still speaking? Why haven’t they pulled him off the stage? Next thing you know, five shots ring out.”

Butler local Ryan Knight also saw Crooks with a gun.

“I walked over about 20 minutes before the shooting happened to stand along the fence line where Trump was. As I was doing that, I was right beside the building, which had the shooter on it,” Mr Knight said.

“When I was sitting there, a guy said, ‘Oh God, he had a gun.’ When I looked up, there was a guy on top of the building with an M16 with a blanket, pointing at the president. He starts shooting. Four to five shots rang out. I throw the guy I’m with to the ground. I jump to the ground, I look up, and I see his head get split up from the shot from the Secret Service.”

Officials refused to release further information in their first press conference about the assassination attempt because they were struggling to identify him due to the lack of identifying documents on his body. But authorities eventually used biometrics and DNA to identify Crooks.

Mr Trump was speaking at the rally in Butler, ahead of this week’s Republican National Convention. The attack was the most serious attempt to assassinate a president or presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981.