The parents of Donald Trump’s would-be assassin reportedly called police to report their son missing just hours before he rattled off at least three shots at the former president.
It’s unclear exactly what was said to police, but Fox News reported that 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks’ parents, Mary and Matthew, told officers “they were worried” about their son and he’d disappeared unannounced.
That revelation came Wednesday night, just as other key details about Crooks’ potential motive came to light.
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The FBI said in a briefing Wednesday that Crooks googled the phrase “major depressive disorder” and searched for information about Trump, Joe Biden, and Attorney General Merrick Garland before the shooting.
Officers walk away from Thomas Crooks’ home in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, where he lived with his parents.
Reuters/Aaron JosefczykCrooks also looked up events where Trump and Biden would be speaking, according to The New York Times. Those searches led some to speculate that Crooks may have been looking for any high-profile person to murder, and Trump’s Pennsylvania rally—roughly 50 miles from his home, where he lived with his parents and worked at an assisted living facility—happened to be the closest opportunity. The FBI has yet to release a definitive motive for the attack.
After zeroing in on the event, Crooks reportedly searched for more detail on the rally, but nothing that caught the eyes of law enforcement ahead of time.
Crooks’ ability to come within inches of assassinating Trump has thrown the Secret Service into crisis mode. At the RNC, Trump allies have been spotted demanding answers from Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle about the “security failures” that allowed Crooks to get a clear shot at the former president from less than 150 yards—a range many proficient shooters consider to be a comfortable kill zone.
Crooks, who reportedly reached a rooftop using a ladder he purchased earlier that day, was shot dead within seconds of opening fire. His parents have cooperated with investigators, the FBI said, but have said nothing publicly about their son.
