A former Bethel Park High School classmate of Donald Trump shooter Thomas Crooks described him on Sunday as a “loner” who was often bullied in school.
The classmate told CBS affiliate KDKA that Crooks also often wore hunting outfits to school. He provided the affiliate with photos of Crooks in school wearing a Bethel Park High School hoodie.
NEW: These photos show the gunman in a classroom in high school & on the school bus. Provided to me from the classmate in my previous tweet. These photos are 2022 and pre 2022 at Bethel Park high school @KDKA pic.twitter.com/4gNyBaMVRS
— MEGHAN SCHILLER (@MeghanKDKA) July 14, 2024
Another former classmate, Michael Dudjak, told NBC News Crooks was “on his own a lot,” though he didn’t witness any bullying firsthand. He said he was with other former high school classmates on Saturday and they were all “in shock” over Crooks’ attack on Trump.
“It’s definitely terrifying for someone you went to school with to commit such a heinous act… that’s the craziest thing about it when it entered my brain,” Dudjak told NBC. “You were in the same class as this person two years ago.”
Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022, where he earned a $500 award for achievements in math and science, according to a Bethel Park Journal report.
He was rejected from his high school’s rifle club and told not to return “because of how bad a shot he was,” a former classmate told ABC News on Sunday.
“He didn’t just not make the team—he was asked not to come back because how bad of a shot he was,” Myers said. “It was considered like, dangerous.”
The team’s coach declined to comment to ABC News, while a school district spokesperson did not immediately response to a request for comment.
The Bethel Park School District told KDKA it would cooperate with law enforcement officials in their investigation.
More recently, a nursing home director said Sunday that Crooks was a “dietary aide” at the facility, suggesting he was responsible for running food to its residents.
Crooks was killed by law enforcement on Saturday after he launched multiple shots from an AR-15-style at Trump during his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The president’s ear was grazed and one rally attendee was killed. Two other attendees were critically injured.
Crooks’ motive has remained unclear, and officials have not yet determined whether his political profile—a registered Republican who once made a donation to a Democratic group—contributed to his attack.
The FBI identified Crooks by analyzing his DNA, officials told KDKA, as he did not have any identification on him.
