Donald Trump’s primary 2024 shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed on the scene by a Secret Service sniper during the assassination attempt and never went to trial.

Quick Scoop

What happened during the shooting?

  • On July 13, 2024, Donald Trump was speaking at a campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania when shots were fired from a nearby rooftop.
  • The shooter, 20‑year‑old Thomas Matthew Crooks from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, used an AR‑15–style rifle and fired multiple rounds toward the stage.
  • Trump was grazed in the upper right ear, one rally attendee was killed, and at least two others were seriously injured.

What happened to Donald Trump’s shooter?

  • Crooks was shot and killed within seconds by a Secret Service counter‑sniper after he opened fire; he died on the rooftop and was not taken into long‑term custody.
  • Because he died at the scene, there was no criminal trial or sentencing for him.
  • The FBI and other agencies instead focused on reconstructing his actions, motives, and possible contacts through digital forensics and interviews.

What do we know about him and the investigation?

  • Crooks was a 20‑year‑old kitchen worker and registered Republican who lived with his parents in a suburb of Pittsburgh.
  • Investigators analyzed his phone and other digital evidence, interviewed hundreds of people, and reviewed thousands of images to understand how he planned the attack.
  • As of the end of the federal investigation, authorities said he acted alone, and his precise motive has not been publicly clarified.

Later related incidents (for context)

  • Two months later, on September 15, 2024, there was a separate attempted assassination involving a different suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, at Trump’s golf course in Florida; Routh was arrested alive and charged with federal gun crimes.
  • This second case is distinct from Crooks: Crooks was killed immediately at the Butler rally, while Routh’s case proceeded through the legal system.

TL;DR: The man who shot at Donald Trump at the Butler, Pennsylvania rally in July 2024, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed on the spot by a Secret Service sniper, so there was no trial; investigators later concluded he acted alone, but his exact motive remains unclear.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.