A Routine Life, Until It Wasn’t
“Before Thanksgiving 2023, Thomas Crooks’ online life was fairly routine for a 20-year-old.” He scrolled through social media, listened to music, visited news sites, and browsed Reddit. But beneath the surface, “a plan for mass violence was brewing,” according to a months-long CBS News investigation. The boy who once kept people at a distance had become adept at compartmentalizing his life.
Friends rarely visited the Crooks family home. Even as a child, he let few people in. By late 2023, his secret world included “building homemade improvised explosive devices in his bedroom and planning an assassination.”
A Childhood Marked by Isolation
Crooks was born in 2003 and spent his life in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. His childhood was typical in some ways—he loved Legos, model airplanes, the Steelers, and cooking with family. His parents were both social workers who “took pride in their work and family.”
In a college video, Crooks described the family’s holiday traditions: “For Thanksgiving, me and my dad will cook turkey and mashed potatoes together… on New Year’s Eve, my mom and I will bake the pork and the sauerkraut together.”
But even lifelong friends like Tristan Radcliffe, who met Crooks in kindergarten, “were never invited to his home,” and the family “didn’t interact much” with neighbors. Radcliffe said, “He was cool… a ‘nice’ boy who ‘kept to himself.’”
Engineering Dreams Mask a Hidden Agenda
In high school and later at the Community College of Allegheny County, Crooks excelled. He scored a 1530 on his SAT—“putting him in the 99th percentile nationally.” He wanted to transfer to a four-year engineering program. One professor described him as a “star student” who “had his head on straight and was on a path [to] success.”
Crooks once designed a 3D-printed chessboard for the visually impaired that exceeded expectations. He routinely checked in with professors about grades and projects. But many classmates didn’t remember him—he left “little impression.”
Crooks asked to be excused from one assignment requiring an audience of five adults, explaining in an email: “I currently only live with my Mom and Dad. There are no other adults in my house…”
Shifting Habits and Growing Secrecy
In summer 2023, Crooks bought a rifle from his father and joined the Clairton Sportsmen’s Club, visiting over 40 times in the last 11 months of his life. His internet behavior changed. He began using “encryption services that masked some of his internet use,” including Mailfence and Mullvad VPN.
CBS News’ analysis of his internet activity revealed an uptick in searches related to “news, explosives and ammo, and secrecy.” On Dec. 6, 2023, Crooks browsed “news sites and the White House website’s archives,” followed by visits to firearms websites. On Jan. 24, 2024, he logged 1,364 internet requests and started consistently using a VPN after that.
Mullvad CEO Jan Jonsson told CBS, “If somebody abuses the service for nefarious purposes, we cannot block that individual user and unfortunately can’t provide any additional information about them.”
Living Two Lives: Engineering Student and Aspiring Assassin
While applying to four-year universities, Crooks was also ordering explosive fuel. “One day, he emailed himself to review his personal statement… on another, he emailed customer service to complain that the explosive fuel he ordered had not yet shipped.”
His father later told investigators he saw signs of Crooks’ deteriorating mental health. “He observed several instances of his son dancing in his bedroom throughout the night… talking to himself with his hands moving.” Radcliffe, too, noticed Crooks acting differently—“He would always move his legs around a lot, and he would kind of talk pretty fast.”
Also Read: Brands in Orbit: The Growing Battle Over Space Advertising
The Countdown Begins
Crooks graduated in May 2024. On June 14, he emailed the registrar asking about his diploma. In the following weeks, he obsessively researched presidential candidates, including searches for “DNC convention” and “when is the RNC in 2024.” He visited the Butler Farm Show rally grounds on July 7 and returned on July 13 to commit the attack.
That morning, Crooks loaded his trunk with a rifle, a drone, and two homemade bombs. He stopped at a store to buy ammo, then drove to Butler. At 3:51 p.m., he flew a drone over the rally site for nearly 12 minutes, possibly to scout Trump’s podium location.
Local officers grew suspicious. “He was walking around… looking directly at the window I was positioned at,” a sniper recalled. Police photographed Crooks and discussed alerting the Secret Service. But that warning never reached those in charge of protecting Trump.
Moments from Tragedy
At 6:02 p.m., Trump took the stage. Three minutes later, Crooks climbed a rooftop. A local detective saw him and began climbing up. Crooks looked back “surprised,” then “turned his gun toward the detective.”
At 6:11 p.m., Crooks fired eight shots. He killed firefighter Corey Comperatore, injured Trump and two others. A Secret Service sniper then fatally shot Crooks in the face. “The shooter is down. He’s down hard,” a local officer radioed.
Trump, bloodied, raised his fist to the crowd and shouted: “Fight! Fight! Fight!”
The Aftermath: No Clear Answers
That night, Crooks’ father called 911, worried his son hadn’t returned from the range. When agents arrived, he asked, “Is it true?” CNN had called to say his son “shot Trump.”
Investigators combed through Crooks’ life. They subpoenaed records, interviewed everyone from professors to store employees, and examined surveillance footage. Despite this, “many unanswered questions about his motivation remain.”
Crooks “left no known written explanation.” His political beliefs are unknown. “Was the Butler rally just a convenient option… or was he committed to shooting Mr. Trump?”
A Family in Hiding
Crooks’ family has since disappeared from public life. Their home is now monitored by security cameras and blurred on Google Maps. A neighbor described their presence as “ghostlike.” Crooks’ mother resigned from her job of 27 years, writing: “Certain circumstances have left me with no other option…”
Both she and her husband let their social work licenses expire.
Still Searching for Why
Professor Patricia Thompson compiled Crooks’ work in hopes of finding answers. “Why would this kid who had his whole future… laid out for him… why would he do something like this?”
Radcliffe summed it up: “I’m still in disbelief… it just doesn’t make sense. It just doesn’t make any sense whatsoever.”
Source: CBS News investigation