After being killed at the scene, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, Kevin Rojek, said Thomas Crooks had no means of identification on him, so agents had to “run his DNA and get biometric confirmation,” CNN reports.
Here are five things known about Crooks:
- Crooks graduated in 2022 from Bethel Park High School, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
- State voter records revealed that Crooks was a registered Republican, Reuters said.
- Crooks lived about an hour away from where the shooting took place in Butler.
- When he was 17, Crooks made a $15 donation to ActBlue, a political action committee that raises money for left-leaning and Democratic politicians, according to a 2021 Federal Election Commission filing.
- Crooks received a $500 “star award” from the National Math and Science Initiative, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review stated.
When reached by CNN on Saturday night, the shooter’s father, Matthew Crooks, said he was trying to figure out “what the hell is going on” but would “wait until I talk to law enforcement” before speaking about his son.
A resident who lives down the road from Crooks’, John Wolf said he was in contact with other worried neighbours, saying, “People are scared.”