Nearly nine months have passed since a 20-year-old seemingly unassuming individual attempted to assassinate then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump at a rally in Butler. Yet, the motive behind his actions remains a mystery.
According to sources who spoke with The New York Post, the FBI has hindered efforts to uncover why Thomas Matthew Crooks carried out the attack, leaving both local law enforcement and those who knew him—former classmates, teachers, and friends—frustrated and searching for answers.
Doug Hagmann, a seasoned private investigator from Erie, Pennsylvania, was hired shortly after the July 13 attack to investigate Crooks on behalf of a private client. Speaking with The Post, he expressed his belief that Crooks was not acting alone. He suggested that a larger “criminal network” may have been involved and could still pose a threat to Trump.
Hagmann and his team—comprising six investigators—have spent months on the case, interviewing more than 100 individuals. They also conducted geofencing analysis on electronic devices not belonging to Crooks, tracking their locations at his home, the shooting range where he practiced, the rally venue, and Bethel Park High School, where he graduated in 2022.
“We don’t believe he acted alone,” Hagmann stated. “This required significant coordination. In my view, Crooks was influenced by more than one individual and was used to carry out this [assassination attempt]. I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that others at the rally were involved.”
🚨 NYP: Thomas Crooks “may have had accomplice”
Absolutely infuriating that we have no answers 7 months later. pic.twitter.com/PAP0lZk643
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) February 28, 2025
Hagmann further revealed that one of the electronic devices linked to Crooks at multiple locations is still active today—specifically, at Bethel Park High School.
During the attack, Crooks, positioned on a rooftop approximately 130 yards from the main stage, opened fire minutes after Trump, 78, stepped onto the platform to address the crowd. He fired eight shots, striking Trump in the right ear. The attack also resulted in the death of 50-year-old Corey Comperatore and left two others, David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 54, seriously injured.
An autopsy report confirmed that Crooks was pronounced dead at 6:25 p.m. on July 13, having sustained a fatal headshot from a counter-sniper.
Hagmann disclosed that during his investigation, he was twice escorted to the Butler County line and ordered to leave—by individuals he suspected were either federal agents or private security personnel. He also noted that some individuals who may have played a role in the attack remain unidentified and need to be held accountable.
Reports indicate that FBI officials under President Joe Biden accessed Crooks’ phone, computer, and encrypted messaging applications used in Belgium, New Zealand, and Germany. However, national security adviser and former congressman Mike Waltz stated that the FBI has been notably secretive about their findings.
Representative Clay Higgins (R-La.), who has been conducting his own investigation into the assassination attempt, has not reviewed Hagmann’s geofencing data. However, he told The Post that he believes Crooks acted alone and dismissed suggestions of a wider conspiracy. Still, he accused the FBI of obstructing his efforts to uncover the truth.
Higgins’ findings were published on December 5 as part of a bipartisan task force’s report on the attempted assassination, dubbed “J13.” Despite extensive research—including ballistics analysis, visits to FBI headquarters in Quantico, and discussions with Crooks’ family’s legal representatives—he has only one working theory.
Higgins suspects Crooks may have been under the influence of a prescription drug that altered his mental state, leading him to act irrationally.
However, in an unusual turn of events, the Pittsburgh County medical examiner did not conduct toxicology tests for pharmaceuticals—or at least did not include such findings in the autopsy report. Furthermore, Crooks’ body was released to his parents just eight days after the incident, without most officials involved in the investigation being informed. He was quickly cremated.
“Thomas Crooks was a highly intelligent engineering student with a bright future ahead of him,” Higgins noted, highlighting that Crooks had been awarded a scholarship to attend Robert Morris University in the fall of 2024.
“Something caused him to snap,” Higgins speculated. “That’s why I suspect pharmaceuticals played a role. He was fully committed to his actions—even to the point of death. He wasn’t erratic, but he was both extremely methodical and wildly dangerous at the same time.”
Yet, descriptions of Crooks as a “wild lunatic” and “highly calculating” don’t align with how those who knew him remember him.
In conversations with The Post, many people from Crooks’ hometown—an area south of Pittsburgh with a history rooted in steel and mining—expressed shock upon learning that he was responsible for the attack.
Several individuals refuted early media reports that depicted Crooks as a troubled loner who wore military fatigues, had threatened violence at his high school in 2019, and had been rejected from the school’s rifle club.
“He was my little buddy,” recalled Xavier Harmon, 48, who taught Crooks in his computer technology class at Steel Center for Career and Technical Education for two years. “I couldn’t believe it when I heard. Tom was the quirky, funny kid who always excelled in class. If he finished his work early, he’d help his classmates. He was very intelligent.”
Harmon, along with other educators from both Bethel Park High School and the Community College of Allegheny County—where Crooks graduated in 2024 with an engineering degree—said they saw no signs that he was using any type of substances, legal or illegal.
Academically gifted, Crooks maintained nearly straight A’s throughout high school and college, scoring an impressive 1530 out of 1600 on the SATs.
“I don’t think his goal was to kill the president,” Harmon speculated. “My guess is he got involved with the wrong people and the situation wasn’t what he expected. If he had planned this, there would be clues—documents, an itinerary, even internet searches. But there’s nothing.”
Jim Knapp, a former guidance counselor and coach at Bethel Park High School, knew Crooks’ family well before meeting Thomas.
“He was just a regular kid from a typical family in Bethel Park,” Knapp told The Post. “Neither he nor his sister, Katie, ever showed signs of trouble, and their parents seemed completely normal. Tom was a nice kid—mostly kept to himself, but he had friends.”
