We’re learning more about Thomas Matthew Crooks’ movements before the Saturday shooting at the rally for former President Donald Trump. New video footage obtained exclusively by Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 appears to show 20-year-old Thomas Crooks in the area an hour before he opened fire. The man, who did not want his face on camera, captured the video at 5:06 p.m. Saturday night. He says it was a seemingly simple moment because he was trying to capture the size of the crowd but ended up capturing much more. >> OUR FULL COVERAGE OF SATURDAY’S ATTEMPTED MASSACRE”I wanted to pan the crowd because it was a huge crowd, so I was just enjoying the moment. So this was before the shooting. I obviously had no idea how that day was going to end,” said the man, who was attending the rally with his teenage son. The video footage appears to show Crooks, 20, near a building just beyond the event’s security perimeter. As it pans toward the crowd, multiple police vehicles can be seen in the area, watching the building itself. As the video pans back toward the building, Crooks appears to be seen again. This means Crooks was likely in the area for more than an hour before the shots were fired.>> WHAT WAS CROOKS’ MOTIVATION? FBI SEARCHES FOR ANSWERS“When I saw the video last night, when I went back through my video clips and saw it, I was so cold I couldn’t fall asleep right away,” the man who shared the video said. He added, “I didn’t sleep well. There’s — there’s something. There’s definitely something wrong with this.” Action News 4 in Pittsburgh has learned from multiple sources that Crooks was spotted at the rally, was photographed as a suspect, and officers were actively searching for him when he walked onto the roof. Police sources say Crooks was able to access the roof by climbing over an air conditioning unit next to the building.
We’re learning more about Thomas Matthew Crooks’ movements before Saturday’s shooting at the rally for former President Donald Trump.
New video obtained exclusively by Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 shows 20-year-old Thomas Crooks was in the area an hour before he opened fire.
The man, who did not want his face on camera, shot the video at 5:06 p.m. Saturday night. He says it was a seemingly simple moment, as he was trying to capture the size of the crowd, but ended up capturing much more.
>> OUR FULL COVERAGE OF SATURDAY’S ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTED
“I wanted to pan the crowd because it was a huge crowd, so I was just enjoying the moment. So this was before the shooting. Obviously I had no idea how that day was going to end,” said the man who went to the rally with his teenage son.
The video appears to show Crooks, 20, hiding in the area near a building just beyond the event’s secured perimeter. As the video pans toward the crowd, multiple police vehicles can be seen in the area, watching the building itself. As the video pans back toward the building, Crooks appears to be seen again. This means that Crooks was likely in the area for more than an hour before the shots were fired.
>> WHAT WAS THE CROOK’S MOTIVATION? FBI SEARCHES FOR ANSWERS
“When I saw the video last night and I was looking back at my video clips and I saw it, I got so cold I couldn’t fall asleep right away,” said the man who shared the video.
He added: “I didn’t sleep well. There’s — there’s something. There’s something really wrong with this.”
Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 has learned from multiple sources that Crooks was spotted and photographed as a suspect at the rally, and officers were actively searching for him when he climbed onto the roof.
According to police sources, Crooks was able to access the roof by climbing over an air conditioning unit next to the building.