A shooting range, a gun store, and a ladder purchase: Tracking the Trump rally gunman’s movements leading up to his attack

CNN ^ | July 15, 2024 | John Miller

[edwinland]

In the 48 hours before he opened fire on former President Donald Trump, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks made a series of stops in and around his suburban Pittsburgh hometown.

On Friday, he went to a shooting range where he was a member, and practiced firing, a law enforcement official told CNN. The next morning, Crooks went to a Home Depot, where he bought a five-foot ladder, and a gun store, where he purchased 50 rounds of ammunition, the official said.

Then, Crooks drove his Hyundai Sonata about an hour north, joining thousands of people from around the region who flocked to Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. He parked the car outside the rally, with an improvised explosive device hidden in the trunk that was wired to a transmitter he carried, the official said. Then, investigators believe, he used his newly-bought ladder to scale a nearby building, and opened fire on the former president.

As investigators continue to search for a motive behind the attempted assassination, they are scrutinizing Crooks’ movements before the attack and trying to piece together a timeline of his actions leading up to it.

Yet nearly 48 hours after the shooting, investigators are struck by the lack of leads they’re finding about Crooks’ mindset and possible motives. Even after successfully breaking into his phone and searching his computer, scouring his search history and bedroom, and interviewing his family and friends, agents still haven’t found evidence that would suggest political or ideological impetus for the shooting, law enforcement sources told CNN.

[aklurker]

This ladder looks most like the one at the scene:
https://www.cityelectricsupply.com/f4p-f4p-fsl8-t-8p-8ft-fiberglass-tripod-ladder-300lb

[Magnum44]

This is a Hyundia Sonata:

This looks to be at least a 10' ladder:

The story is still not coherent.

[ansel12]

Where do you see all that explained?

Read post 54 again, you are reading he bought a 5 foot ladder and then you see a picture of a 10 or 12 foot ladder and you are building a story, we don’t know the details about the ladders yet.

[Fireone]

Those ladders are heavy! There’s no way that scrawny 20 year old basement boy carried that, and his shooting gear from the van to the building,& set it up without being seen.

[Justa]

“The one in the picture looks like it’s aluminum.”

Aluminums are silver throughout. This step ladder has red sides. IOW a fiberglass step ladder with aluminum rung steps. The fiberglass ladders are heavier and more expensive than aluminums and are typically used for electrical work. Not something someone could easily carry long distances. The ladder almost certainly came from inside the building.

This story and the MSM reporting stink to high heaven.

Additionally, the shooter’s corpse shows heavy cupping on the outer ear and deformed teeth. Possible fetal alcohol syndrome or severe drug usage during pregnancy. A shooter with an obscured identity? Some homeless guy shown how to shoot then put in place to do the deed? Then a media-fake distraction to Crooks?

[goodnesswins]

C’mon...anyone have photos? This is sounding implausable

[Fireone]

Could be the bullet through his head caused some deformity, but I noticed the inbred hillbilly look also.

[fatima]

Unreal.

[Ann Archy]

Because i have a BRAIN AND HAVE SEEN WHAT OUR TOTALLY CORRUPT GOVERNMENT AGENCIES HAVE DONE!

[joethedrummer]

“According to him, crooks was spotted 30 minutes before, but they lost track of him.“

Yet, they somehow have the technology to track down folks who were in n a crowd of tens of thousands on Jan 6, 2021…

[cgbg]

“The kid obviously deleted his search history & scrubbed social posts.”

The FBI obviously deleted his search history and scrubbed social posts.

[Tom Tetroxide]

What I am saying is the news makers are lying.

Who are you going believe? Them or your lying eyes?

[pterional]

No discovery on the true facts. We hear AR 15 platform but caliber, optics or iron sites have never been mentioned. Nothing in the news makes any sense except that this person had help both physically and information. Feels like the Las Vegas shooting .

[joethedrummer]

Why are we arguing over what size the ladder was??

There’s a clear photo in post #44. THERE it is..

Now, there’s NO WAY that he carried that from a parking area without security and cops seeing.

If he didn’t carry it there, WHO put it there and WHO left it there for him???
Security used it prior and just “forgot” about it?? Yeah, right…

[af_vet_1981]

The kid didn’t SCRUB his social media..

Implausible he put this assassination operation together by himself; this conspiracy theory thought crossed my mind
1. He was recruited and trained
2. Was he involved with antiIsrael movement?
3. Is this an Iranian deep operation using throwaway American because President Trump took out Soleimani ?

[joethedrummer]

“The one in the picture looks like it’s aluminum.“

It is.

I have the EXACT same ladder - in green.

[mac_truck]

Laddrs fold and unfold.

Insightful, you should join Mensa

[aklurker]

Ok, i now believe the ladder in the photos was used before and after the shooting to gain access to the roof where they should have been. We don't know that crooks used this ladder, and reports are that he uses an ac unit to gain roof access. Take a look at this picture from another thread (supposedly that is crooks talking with an officer) but what I noticed was the AC unit on this side which looks like you could climb on to gain access on the opposite side from where the ladder was

[central_va]

Insightful, you should join Mensa

They got some hot chicks in Mensa so I may think about it.

[aklurker]

Ladder used BY LE and SS to gain roof access. AC unit used by crooks.