Gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks bought 50 rounds of ammunition before trying to assassinate Donald Trump

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Gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks bought 50 rounds of ammunition before trying to ************ Donald Trump

The gunman who tried to ************ Donald Trump bought 50 rounds of ammunition at a **** store just hours before the *******.

Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, stocked up on bullets for his rifle before climbing on to a roof in Butler, Pennsylvania, and opening *****.

The semi-automatic AR-15 rifle was reportedly among 20 firearms legally bought by his father.

A transmitter was also found on the gunman’s body by the FBI, which could have connected to ‘rudimentary’ explosive devices in his car.

His motive ******** a mystery, with the FBI saying that the maths nerd, who worked as a dietary aide at a care home, did not appear to have strong political leanings.

Crooks was a registered ***********, but three years ago he donated $15 to a campaign group that backed President Joe Biden.

The ********* is being investigated as an act of domestic terrorism.

Investigators are searching the gunman’s phone and computers.

Meanwhile, his social media activity shows that he liked to play chess and video games, and was learning how to code – but it has not yet revealed anything alarming.

Crooks’ home in Bethel Park, a suburb 40 miles from the site of the rally in Butler where the ********* took place, is also still being searched.

One explosive device was found in the property and two more in Crooks’ Hyundai sedan, which he drove to the warehouse overlooking the rally on Saturday.

That morning he bought 50 rounds of ammunition for the rifle, which was legally purchased and owned by his father Matthew, 53, a counsellor and registered Libertarian voter.

According to CNN, Matthew owned more than 20 guns which were all bought legally. After Crooks was ******* by a Secret Service *******, police searched his body and discovered the transmitter.

Investigators are determining whether it could have been used to activate devices in the boot of his car, CNN said.

One theory is that the explosives could have been a distraction to draw law enforcement away from his position. But being confronted by members of the public could have forced him to speed up his plans and open ***** sooner, sources said.

Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022 and in May graduated from the Community College of Allegheny County in western Pennsylvania with an associate’s degree in engineering science.

His former high school peers said he was ‘sweet’ but relentlessly bullied. Ironically, he was a ‘comically bad shot’ when he tried out for the school’s rifle team, according to former classmate Jameson Murphy.

Camera IconThomas Matthew Crooks Credit: Unknown/X formerly

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A second classmate claimed that Crooks said ‘some things that were kind of concerning’ and made ‘crass jokes’ while they did target practice.

More recently, he was a member of a ********* club for at least a year.

Clairton Sportsmen’s Club president Bill Sellitto said members felt “*****” after the *********, and a lawyer representing the club, Robert S Bootay III, said: “The club fully admonishes the senseless act of *********.”

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