Thomas Matthew Crooks apparently went on an online rampage days before he climbed onto a roof and opened fire at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, killing one and wounding others, including former President Donald Trump, Fox News has learned.
Secret Service and FBI officials told U.S. senators during an all-member briefing on Wednesday, July 17, that Crooks, 20, wrote a threatening message on the gaming platform “Steam” days before the attempted murder in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, Fox News' Jacqui Heinrich reported.
According to officials, Crooks allegedly wrote: “July 13th is my debut, watch how it plays out.”
Steam is a popular platform where tens of millions of gamers buy games and communicate. The discovery came as investigators continue to search Crooks' technology devices, including his mobile phones and laptop.
SECRET SERVICE STILL FACE QUESTIONS AS FBI INVESTIGATES TRUMP SHOOTER THOMAS MATTHEW CROOKS
Trump shooter Thomas Crooks' transmitter and cell phone, obtained by WPXI. (Handout by WPXI/AFP/AP's Gene J. Puskar)
When investigators reviewed the laptop, they found some searches in July about: Trump, Biden, when the DNC convention is and Trump's July 13 rally, top US security officials told senators on Wednesday.
Investigators found no evidence of a particular ideology on the laptop, which the FBI considers notable, and no one in the interviews reported that Crooks discussed politics, according to senators who spoke to Fox News after the meeting.
Senators also learned that the suspect had two cell phones. The main phone was recovered from the scene along with a remote transmitter.
TRUMP SHOOTER'S PARENTS CALLED POLICE HOURS BEFORE ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT
A second cellphone found at the home had only 27 contacts. The FBI is in the process of tracking down and interviewing those people, senators were told.
Former President Donald Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential nominee, is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents at a campaign rally Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The development comes just hours after it emerged that Crooks' parents contacted police on Saturday hours before the attempted murder.
The mother and father of the suspected killer told local police that Crooks was missing and that they were concerned for his well-being, a source told Fox News.
FBI agents search the Thomas Matthew Crooks neighborhood in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, Monday, July 15, 2024. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
It was not clear whether they knew he was in possession of an AR-15 rifle that belonged to his father.
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Police have not said what action they took after being contacted.
Fox News' Rebecca Rosenberg, Jake Gibson and David Spunt contributed to this report.
