Thomas Matthew Crooks, the gunman who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump, managed to fly a camera-equipped drone over the event site in Butler, Pennsylvania, before the attack. Despite being spotted by police earlier, he evaded capture and later fired multiple shots, injuring Trump and killing a former fire chief. Investigations reveal Crooks’ extensive planning, including researching school shootings and bringing homemade bombs to the rally. While his motive remains unclear, experts suggest his act of violence might not have been politically driven, adding a chilling layer of mystery to his actions.

According to news reports, Thomas Matthew Crooks, the gunman who attempted to kill Donald Trump a week ago, managed to fly a drone equipped with a camera above the fairgrounds near Butler, Pennsylvania, just before the former president was scheduled to appear there.

The most recent revelation regarding the security lapses that preceded the shooting coincides with the development of a more comprehensive picture of Crooks’ preparations, even though it still leaves open any clear explanation for the 20-year-old’s actions, which resulted in a bullet grazing Trump, the shooting death of former fire chief Corey Comperatore, and the critically injured two rally attendees.

Crooks reportedly flew the drone on a prearranged route over the shooting site earlier on July 13, the day of the incident, according to law enforcement officials reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Later in the day, from the roof of the American Glass Research building, some 150 yards from where Trump was speaking, the would-be assassin fired at least six rounds from a semiautomatic rifle. A short while later, Crooks was shot once in the head by a Secret Service counter-sniper, eliminating him.

However, investigators claim that more than an hour before the shooting, Crooks was recognized as suspicious by police when they noticed him wandering around the rally with a backpack and a range finder but were unable to locate him.

According to investigators, Crooks reportedly started organizing the attack a few days after the Trump campaign announced the July 3 rally. He also reportedly visited the fairgrounds up to six times before the event.

Following his briefing by law enforcement last week, representative Gary Palmer, a Republican from Alabama, stated that police observed “someone engaged in suspicious activity” on the day of the event.

Following his briefing, senator from Oklahoma Markwayne Mullin stated that authorities “were actively looking for him for 19 minutes before the shots rang out.”

An additional piece of information regarding Crooks’ meticulous preparation for the attack has been obtained from 14,000 browsing history links on his phone. FBI investigators have shown that although he did not leave an ideological manifesto typical of many mass shooters, he had done a study on school shootings through linked internet searches on his phone. He allegedly had a mugshot of Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley on his phone and had searched him.

Additionally, Crooks searched the internet for Joe Biden, the Democratic convention the following month, depressed illness, explosive materials, and chemical compounds. In addition to carrying a bulletproof vest and three 30-round magazines that were later discovered in his Hyundai Sonata, Crooks packed two homemade bombs to the event that were intended to be detonated using a remote fireworks igniter.

Authorities also revealed that Crooks had received multiple items addressed to “hazardous materials” at his residence.

However, the gunman has been accused of having little to no partisan ideological background or motivation. Crooks, according to Mullin, “hated politicians as a whole.” Recalling Crooks as a reserved student with a tiny circle of friends, his old classmates at the high school in Bethel Park, south of Pittsburgh, noted that although his personality and school experiences were subject to variation.

Crooks, who was gifted in mathematics, graduated from the Community College of Allegheny County in May with an associate’s degree in engineering science and expressed interest in a career in mechanical engineering.

He enjoyed building computers, playing video games, and practicing target shooting at a nearby gun range. He had worked at a Pittsburgh nursing home delivering meals and cleaning dishes for $16 an hour since graduation. He had even worked there the day before the massacre. He assured the nursing home that he would return to work on Sunday.

The New York Times was informed by Crooks’ computer technology instructor, Xavier Harmon, that he was “struggling” to understand his pupil. According to Harmon, Crooks “didn’t feel like they were accepted among their peers, so computer technology was the place they called home,” just like other students in computer class.

During his 2021 induction into the National Technical Honor Society, Crooks penned an autobiographical statement outlining his wide-ranging interests, which encompassed computer technology, engineering, history, and economics.

The need to assign a political motivation to Crooks’ attempted murder may not be warranted, according to specialists in mass shootings. According to James Densley, head of the Violence Project, “what we might be seeing here is, somebody intent on perpetrating mass violence, and they happened to pick a political rally.” Densley made this statement to the New York Times on Saturday.

A growing image paints Crooks’ family as reclusive and antisocial. According to the FBI, his parents, Matthew and Mary, were certified social workers who worked from home. Their modest home was as disorganized as that of a hoarder.

As per the neighbors, the family hardly ever struck up a discussion. According to Liam Campbell, 17, who traveled the school bus with Crooks, “he didn’t speak to anyone, and no one spoke to him,” as reported by the Times. He gave off the impression of being the type of person who avoided striking up a conversation with strangers. He gave off a tense vibe.

Jim Knapp, Crooks’ guidance counselor, claimed that Crooks was more interested in Bitcoin or the newest technological developments than in politics. When asked about his weekend, Knapp told the Times, “Tom always had something like: ‘Well, I sat in my bedroom, and I was gaming. I was on my computer. I didn’t do much this weekend, but I still had fun.”

“Other than his drive for academics, Tom was simple,” he added.