Trump Shooter Wasn’t a Member of Rifle Team and Wasn’t Bullied, School Says

Thomas Matthew Crooks, who graduated from Bethel Park High School with the Class of 2022, in Bethel Park, Pa. Bethel Park School District via AP

The man who shot at former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally on July 13 was never a member of a local high school’s rifle team and wasn’t bullied, despite previous reports, according to the Bethel Park School District.

In an updated statement published on its website on July 20, the school district issued a comment titled “correcting the record,” which disputed several claims about Thomas Matthew Crooks, the gunman identified by the FBI, in news reports over the past week. Previously, the district confirmed that he had attended Bethel Park High School in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, and had graduated in 2022.

“It has been reported that Thomas Crooks was a member of the Bethel Park High School rifle team or tried out for it but was dismissed due to poor performance or because the coach had character concerns. Thomas Crooks was never a member of the school’s rifle team and we have no record of him trying out,” the statement reads.

The coach of the team, according to the school, does not have any memory of meeting Mr. Crooks. The suspect may have “informally attended a practice, took a shot, and never returned,” but the school does not “have any record of that happening,” according to the statement.

Multiple classmates and students who knew Mr. Crooks, 20, told media outlets in the past week that he was bullied and suggested that it may have played a role in the assassination attempt.

However, the school district contends that those claims are a “painful misconception.” District records of Mr. Crooks’s academic performance, disciplinary history, attendance, and more suggest that he “excelled academically, regularly attended school, and had no disciplinary incidents, including those related to bullying or threats,” the school district stated.

“Mr. Crooks was known as a quiet, bright young man who generally got along with his teachers and classmates,” the school district said in the statement.

Several reports, meanwhile, have claimed that Mr. Crooks once made a threat against the high school. However, according to the school district, there was an incident involving threats against administration by another student in 2019.

“That incident was thoroughly investigated and quickly addressed, and the student involved received appropriate discipline,” the district stated. “It had no connection whatsoever to Thomas Crooks.”

No Motive Yet

In the rally shooting, Mr. Crooks is alleged to have opened fire at the 45th president, striking him in the right ear; killing a rally attendee; and injuring two others. A Secret Service sniper shot and killed the gunman, who was firing on the rally from a rooftop about 400 feet away, soon after he opened fire, according to officials.

More than a week later, the FBI has not publicly identified the shooter’s motive. So far, officials have not publicly released any information regarding a possible ideological bent that could help explain his actions.

A memo released on July 20 by the Trump campaign and authored by Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), who served as the Trump White House physician, said that the former president sustained a gunshot wound to the right ear from a high-powered rifle that came “less than a quarter of an inch from entering his head, and struck the top of his right ear.”

More details about the investigation are expected to be made public in the coming week when FBI Director Christopher Wray appears before the House Judiciary Committee.

U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle is also scheduled to appear before the House Oversight Committee on July 22 and will likely face numerous questions about her agency’s preparation and response.