Moment Trump gunman Thomas Crooks teased at highschool
New video footage has revealed that Donald Trump gunman Thomas Crooks was teased at high school, amid claims that classmates used to refer to him as a ‘school shooter.’
Crooks, 20, nearly killed the former president, after grazing his ear with a bullet fired from an ‘AR-style’ weapon at a campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.
The would-be assassin was taken out by a Secret Service sniper, but not before injuring three people including Trump and killed one rally attendee.
Years before his infamy as a political assassin, Crooks was a ‘loner’ who had few friends at Bethel Park High School.
Video, shared with TMZ, showed his fellow classmates hassling him during a lesson.
Crooks, sat at his desk, repeatedly tells a classmate who yanks at his trouser leg to ‘stop.’
Years before his infamy as a political assassin, Crooks (pictured) was a ‘loner’ who had few friends at Bethel Park High School
New video footage has revealed that Donald Trump gunman Thomas Crooks was teased at high school
‘Stop, you’re pulling my leg’, he can he heard saying as the person filming laughs.
While the video appears to be taken in relative jest, those who knew him growing up said he was a lonely boy who people picked on.
Former classmate Julianna Grooms, 19, told the New York Times: ‘Kids would always say, “Hey, look at the school shooter over there!”
‘They would tease him about his poor hygiene, his body odor. He was an easy target.’
Jim Knapp, the gunman’s guidance counselor at school, told the newspaper: ‘he just wanted to stay by himself.
Trump mouthed the word ‘fight’ at supporters as blood spattered across his face
‘The guy has spun around was jammed between the benches and a head shot here. There’s lots of blood and he had brain matter,’ the man told CBS News
Attendees claimed they warned the Secret Service over a man on the roof where the gunman was later killed
Trump grabbed his right ear as the first shots rang out at 6:12pm
‘He was a very good student. Not once did he ever get in trouble.’
It has since emerged through federal campaign finance records that the gunman was a registered Republican who had previously made a $15 donation to the liberal ActBlue political action committee on January 20, 2021 – Biden’s Inauguration Day.
According to Pennsylvania’s public court records, Crooks had no criminal history and officials claimed they are still working towards identifying a motive behind the shooting.
Crooks appeared to have graduated in 2022 from Bethel Park High School, and received a $500 ‘star award’ that year from the National Math and Science Initiative, a report from The Tribune-Review in western Pennsylvania.
In an online recording of the 2022 graduation ceremony, he can be seen crossing the stage as the crowd applauds him, before briefly posing with a school official and accepting his diploma.
His father, Matthew Crooks told CNN late on Saturday night that 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.
Shortly after Trump was raced away, the lifeless body of Thomas Matthew Crooks was seen on a rooftop surrounded by agents. His death was not confirmed until 7:24pm
Yearbook images have surfaced of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the gunman who opened fire on former President Donald Trump during a rally in Pennsylvania
Trump’s campaign said he was raced to hospital after the shooting, but is ‘fine’
Trump is seen surrounded by Secret Service agents in the moments after the shooting. He raised his fist to indicate that he was okay in an image that has since swept the globe
On Saturday, Crooks opened fire from a rooftop 150 yards from where Trump was on stage addressing thousands of fans in Butler at 6:15pm.
Footage of the moment shows Trump suddenly grabbing his ear as blood poured down his face after at least eight shots were fired in his direction.
The crowd began screaming and fleeing the venue as Secret Service agents swarmed around the injured former-President.
But in a show of strength, Trump emerged from the cover of the suited agents and raised a fist, shouting: ‘Fight, fight, fight’, before he was ushered away from the chaotic scenes and sent to hospital.
Crooks had killed a member of the crowd and critically injured two others before he was gunned down by the Secret Service.
The shooter was killed after he fired from an ‘elevated position’ outside the outdoor rally venue, according to the Secret Service.
Images show at least four members of law enforcement surrounding the bloody gunman and the AR-15-type semiautomatic rifle he used on the roof, while they point their guns towards his body.
