Thomas Crooks’ Neighbor Speaks Out
Kelly Little of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, told Fox News Digital that she rarely meets the family of the Trump shooting suspect, even though she lives across the street.
Although investigators have yet to determine his motive, a photo of the 20-year-old man who attempted murder former president trump This becomes clearer as his former classmates share their impressions.
Few people applauded when a thin, bespectacled Thomas Matthew Crooks received his diploma at his 2022 graduation from Bethel Park High School, a YouTube video of the ceremony shows.
Former comrades who have spoken out since he was shot dead by secret service agents On Saturday, reporters described the Pennsylvania resident as a quiet loner.
Jason Kohler, who attended the same high school as Crooks, described him to Fox News as an “outcast” who was always alone and “bullied every day.”
An undated image of Thomas Matthew Crooks. (Press release via AFP)
Kohler told reporters that Crooks would sit alone at lunch and be made fun of for his clothes, which often included “hunting gear.”
Julianna Grooms, who graduated a year after Crooks, also said he dressed in camouflage or hunting gear and interacted awkwardly.
“If someone said something to his face, he would stare at them,” Grooms told the the wall street journal“People would say it was the student who would shoot up the school.”
“He was a nerdy kid, but I don’t think he was bullied as badly as some people say,” said Mark Sigafoos, who shared two classes with Crooks. the Inquirer. “He never wore a trench coat or anything like that to school.”
“He never spoke openly about his political views or his hatred of Trump or anything,” Sarah D’Angelo, another classmate of Crooks’ at Bethel Park High School, told the newspaper. During classes before school started, she remembers him playing games on his laptop.
FBI GOT ACCESS TO THOMAS MATTHEW CROOKS’ PHONE DURING TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT
The Bethel Park School District can confirm that the suspected shooter in the July 13, 2024 assassination attempt on former President Trump graduated from Bethel Park High School. Thomas Matthew Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School with the Class of 2022. (Bethel Park School District)
“I feel like it’s one of those things you don’t expect from him,” Sigafoos continued. “No one I know has ever said he’s a scary, lonely guy.”
Crooks won a National Math & Science Initiative Star Award in 2022, according to a Tribune-Review Article from his senior year. Sigafoos said his now infamous classmate helped him when he didn’t understand course material and was “very kind.”
Sigafoos does not recall Crooks making political statements in class, saying he seemed interested in how government worked but did not try to “insert his own beliefs into it.”
“I’m shocked, to put it mildly,” Sigafoos added. “None of my friends can imagine that a guy we know would try to kill Trump.”
Max R. Smith, who said he took a U.S. history class with Crooks as a sophomore, said Crooks made political statements but did not explain his actions Saturday.
DISCORD REVEALS DETAILS OF POTENTIAL TRUMP ASSASSIN’S ACCOUNT ON PLATFORM
Republican presidential candidate former President Trump is surrounded by Secret Service agents during a campaign rally Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“He was definitely a conservative,” he told the Inquirer. “I wonder why he would try to assassinate the conservative candidate.”
In a mock debate, Smith recalls, their teacher asked students to stand on either side of the class to signal their support or opposition to different proposals.
“The majority of the class was on the liberal side, but Tom, no matter what, always stayed on the conservative side,” Smith said. “That’s always the image I have of him. He would stand alone on one side while the rest of the class was on the other.”
“Everybody’s in shock,” Smith said. “He was so quiet, I wouldn’t have imagined him doing that. But I guess it was the same with Columbine.”
PENNSYLVANIA SHOOTING CLUB OF WHICH POTENTIAL TRUMP ASSASSIN WAS A MEMBER WAS VISITED BY FBI
Thomas Matthew Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School, pictured, in 2022. (Google Maps)
Crooks filed for unemployment in 2020, but he recently worked as a dietary aide at Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, a state-licensed transitional facility.
Center administrator Marcie Grimm said in a statement Sunday that Crooks “performed his job without concern” and that his background check was clean.
ABC News It was reported that Crooks tried to join his school’s gun club but was rejected and asked not to return, according to team members at the time.
He belonged to the Clairton Sportsmen’s Club, which FBI visited as part of his investigation.
