Donald Trump's Shooter Requested a Day Off From Work — Citing a Really Vague Reason
Federal investigators continue to gather details about the motive behind Thomas Matthew Crooks’ attack on former President Donald Trump in Butler County, Pennsylvania. Crooks, a 2022 graduate of Bethel Park High School, was employed as a dietary aide at Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, a state-regulated facility. Although he was expected to be at work on the day of the shooting, law enforcement officials disclosed that he had requested his boss for a day off, as reported by Fox News.
Crooks allegedly informed his boss that he wouldn’t be coming in on Saturday because he had 'something to do' but assured his co-workers that he would work on Sunday. The center's administrator, Marcie Grimm, said, “We are shocked and saddened to learn of his involvement." Grimm shared that Crooks 'performed his job without concern and his background check was clean.' A coworker at the nursing home also described him as compassionate at work, according to TIME Magazine.
The person said, “It’s hard seeing everything that’s going on online...He was a really, really good person who did a really bad thing, and I just wish I knew why.” During the interviews, Crooks' former classmates, teachers, and neighbors also expressed how hard it was for them to imagine Crooks as the gunman who shot a rallygoer dead and critically injured two others. Xavier Harmon, a classmate from Crooks' computer technology course, shared his perspective on the matter. As reported by The New York Times, he stated, “That’s where I’m struggling — I’ve looked at horrific pictures of an individual that I stood six inches away from, shaking his hand, calling on him in class."
Speculating on the motive behind the horrific act, Violence Project founder, James Densley, explained, “When somebody attacks a president, our gut instinct is to say, ‘That must be politically motivated'...[But] what we might be seeing here is, this was somebody intent on perpetrating mass violence and they happened to pick a political rally.” Liam Campbell, a neighbor to the Crooks family, noted that he always appeared extremely reserved. He stressed, “He didn’t speak to anyone, and no one spoke to him. He seemed like the kind of person who didn’t like to start conversations with people he didn’t know. He seemed nervous.”
Several others also depicted Crooks as a social outcast who maintained a low profile. Sarah D'Angelo, Crooks' classmate opined, “He didn’t really fit in with everybody else." Meanwhile, school officials admitted that Crooks did not have any disciplinary issues and was rarely absent in high school. They added that he actively participated and was interested in learning. Crooks was shot in the head and killed on the spot by a Secret Service sniper after he opened fire.
