In the months before suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks’ assassination attempt on Trump, he received several boxes at his home that may have contained the materials he used to make the improvised explosive devices found in his car and home, per ABC News. Notably, he had a remote control detonator on him during the shooting connected to the bomb found in his Hyundai Sonata. Crooks had no military training and, strangely, the FBI found no internet searches on how to build bombs in his computer history. The day before the attack, Crooks spent time at the Clairton Sportsmen’s Club, a shooting range where he and his father were members, according to CNN. A source told ABC News the AR style rifle the suspect used in the attack was owned by his father, who legally purchased it in 2013.
On July 13, 2024, Crooks went to the hardware store Home Depot and bought a ladder, senior officials told NBC News. Investigators are still determining whether he used this ladder to access the roof of the building where he fired from. It’s located around 200 to 300 yards away from where Trump stood giving a speech. A senior law enforcement official also told CNN Crooks bought 50 rounds of ammunition from a local gun store the day of the shooting. The FBI hasn’t yet determined if they were used in the attack. According to the New York Post, Crooks’ dad called authorities on Saturday to report his son as missing, along with one of his guns.
