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The 20-year-old would-be assassin, who shot Donald Trump, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was once sent away from his high school rifle club and viewed as a threat.
At 6:15 p.m. on Saturday, the registered Republican and 2022 high school graduate opened fire on the former president from a roof 130 yards away from the Butler, Pennsylvania, rally stage with an AR-style rifle.
Unsettling stories have already surfaced from people who knew Crooks during his time at Bethel Park High School.
Frederick Mach, a current team captain who attended the school a few years behind Crooks, said that Crooks tried out for the rifle team but was turned away because he was a lousy shooter.
A team member at the time of Crooks' audition, Jonathan Myers, claimed that there was something sinister about him at the time.
Not only did he not make the team, but Myers was requested not to return due to his poor shooting performance, which was deemed risky, she said ABC News.
Jameson Murphy, a student, continued, "He tried out...and was such a comically bad shot he was unable to make the team and left after the first day.'
Murphy recalled a shooting incident where Crooks missed his target by almost 20 feet, hitting the left wall. Other team members noted Crooks' inappropriate jokes and unprofessional behavior, with a classmate noticing concerning comments about his interactions.
'He made some crass jokes that weren't appropriate when there are firearms in the school setting,' they added.
Crooks, a dietary aide at Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, was found wearing glasses, braces, and an American flag t-shirt in yearbook headshots after attempting to kill Trump and killing a rally crowd member.
Trump was seen in terror as gunshots from Crooks' family erupted, and then reacted with a 'fight, fight, fight' as the Secret Service escorted him to a hospital. Crooks' uncle remains private.
'I haven't seen that part of my family in years,' he said. 'Honestly it's been so long I don't think much about them it’s a shame. The kid is like a stranger to me. They're private and they don't reach out to anybody any time.'
Bethel Park School District confirmed Crooks' graduation and pledged cooperation with investigators. Crooks donated to a Biden-backed group during the 2020 inauguration. A resident confirmed the gunman's identity, and police and Secret Service swarmed the community. Those who spoke to DailyMail.com said the family were quiet and kept to themselves.
Matthew Crooks, 53, is investigating a shooting in Pennsylvania. He was armed with an AR-style rifle and appeared to be wearing merchandise for Demolition Ranch, a popular YouTube channel about firearms. Crooks was identified using DNA.
A bomb squad and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents shot and killed a crowd member, while two others are in critical condition, all males.
During the attempted assassination, Trump was seen to abruptly take hold of his ear as loud bangs sounded out and zipped by before he ducked to the floor, leaving him bleeding and hurt.
Piercing cries from the MAGA throng surrounded the 45th US President as Secret Service crowded around him.
