The family of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the young man involved in the Donald Trump shooting incident, is focusing on their own well-being and has not yet released a statement, said Crooks’s father in his first media interaction.
While leaving a grocery store, Matthew Brian Crooks, 53, told Fox News that his family needs space to cope. “We just want to try to take care of ourselves right now. Please, just give us our space,” Fox News quoted Matthew as saying.
“We’re going to release a statement when our legal counsel advises us to do so – until then, we have no comment,” he added.
Twenty-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks was killed by Secret Service snipers while attempting to shoot former US President Donald Trump during a rally in Pennsylvania.
Earlier reports indicated that Matthew declined to provide further details about the case, stating that he would not make any public statements before interacting with law enforcement.
The gun used by Thomas Matthew Crooks to shoot at Donald Trump was registered in his father’s name, who is a registered Libertarian. The exact motive behind the attack is still being investigated.
Months before the assassination attempt, Thomas Matthew Crooks had made online searches related to major depressive disorder, according to a New York Post report. However, there is no concrete evidence indicating that Crooks was suffering from a mental disorder.
The investigation revealed that Crooks attempted to diagnose himself after recognizing his troubling thoughts or feelings but ultimately chose violence over seeking mental health counseling. This information was reported by the New York Post, citing former FBI terrorism task force supervisor Michael McKeown’s statement to WTAE.
Crooks fired multiple rounds from the roof of a building adjacent to the Butler Farm Show grounds, where Donald Trump was addressing an election rally. Within seconds, he was fatally shot by a Secret Service counter-sniper.
