![Police snipers return fire after shots were fired while Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump was speaking at a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania [Gene J Puskar/AP]](https://mmnews.tv/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/gunman-in-Trump-shooting.jpg)
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Donald Trump has survived an assassination bid during a campaign rally on Saturday.
The Trump campaign later reported that he was “doing well” and appeared to have suffered no major injury aside from a wound on his upper right ear.
Early on Sunday, the FBI identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the “subject involved” in the attempted assassination. State voter records indicate that Crooks was a registered Republican.
The suspect was shot dead by Secret Service agents after he opened fire from the roof of a building about 140 meters from the stage where Trump was speaking. An AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle was recovered near his body. According to the Secret Service, one attendee was killed and two other spectators were critically wounded during the incident.
What do we know so far about Thomas Matthew Crooks?
The FBI has identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the suspect in Saturday’s attempted assassination of former U.S. President Donald Trump. Crooks, who resides in Bethel Park, lives about an hour from where the shooting took place in Butler. According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, he graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022 and received a $500 “star award” from the National Math and Science Initiative.
A 2022 graduation ceremony video cited by The New York Times shows Crooks receiving his high school diploma to some applause. In the video, Crooks is seen wearing glasses and a black graduation gown, posing with a school official.
State voter records indicate that Crooks was a registered Republican, and the upcoming November 5 election would have been the first time he was eligible to vote in a presidential race. However, at the age of 17, he made a $15 donation to ActBlue, a political action committee that raises funds for left-leaning and Democratic politicians. This donation, according to a 2021 Federal Election Commission filing, was earmarked for the Progressive Turnout Project, a national group that encourages Democrats to vote.
