Trump’s attempted assassin was expelled from the school shooting club because he was a “bad shot”

July 15, 2024

It has been revealed that the 20-year-old gunman who attempted to kill Donald Trump at a campaign rally had previously been expelled from his high school’s shooting club because he was “a bad shot.”

Thomas Matthew Crooks was shot and killed by Secret Service agents on Saturday night after he opened fire on the former president from a vantage point on the roof of a building just outside the security perimeter of the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The shooter from nearby Bethel Park fired several shots at Trump – one narrowly missed his head and hit him in the ear.

Trump ducked behind the podium and his security personnel rushed to the stage to protect him. However, three rally participants were hit by the volley of bullets.

Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old former fire chief who was attending the rally with his family, was killed when he threw himself over his loved ones to shield them from the gunman’s hail of bullets. Two other rally attendees – David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74 – were injured and hospitalized in critical condition. Their conditions were updated to stable on Sunday afternoon.

As authorities try to determine what motivated the 20-year-old to assassinate the former president, former classmates, friends and family members are revealing details about his past.

Crooks’ former classmates at Bethel Park High School have revealed that he was interested in firearms during his school years – and participated in target practice for the school’s rifle team.

Jameson Myers told ABC News that Crooks did not make the team and was asked not to return to the club after the preseason due to his “dangerous” shot.

“Not only did he not make the team, he was asked not to come back because they thought he was a dangerous player because he was such a poor shooter,” said Myers, who went to both elementary and high school with Crooks.

Shooter Thomas Crooks is pictured in a yearbook photo (AP)

A member of the shooting team, who wished to remain anonymous, also told the broadcaster that Crooks “shot terribly” and was “not really suited to the shooting team.”

Crooks graduated from high school in 2022, but his interest in guns obviously didn’t end there.

Crooks was a member of the local Clairton Sportsmen’s Club in Pennsylvania, which has a 180-meter shooting range, CNN reported.

The club’s lawyer confirmed in a statement that the shooter was a member of the club, but said that given the ongoing police investigation, they “cannot comment further on this matter.”

It is unclear whether Crooks specifically used the club’s shooting range.

Investigators believe Crooks’ father purchased the AR rifle used in the attack about six months before the shooting.

The FBI is investigating how Crooks – who was legally allowed to own a rifle at age 20 under state law – came into possession of the weapon and whether he took it without his father’s permission.

Despite his interest in weapons, people who knew Crooks were surprised that he was behind the assassination.

The motive for the attack remains unclear. Authorities said Sunday that they are investigating Crooks’ background and are trying, among other things, to access his cellphone.

Explosive devices were discovered both in the shooter’s car, which was parked near the rally, and in his house.

Online records show that Crooks was registered to vote as a Republican, but federal campaign finance reports show that he also made a $15 donation to a Democratic-aligned political action committee called the Progressive Turnout Project on Jan. 20, 2021.

For Crooks’ family members, the motive for the gruesome attack also remains a mystery. His uncle Mark Crooks said: The Independent on Sunday morning that he had “no idea” why it happened.

“I don’t know what to say,” he said.