Sarah D’Angelo, a former classmate of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old gunman from the Trump rally incident, recalls Crooks as a quiet individual with a small circle of friends. D’Angelo, now a nursing student, shared her experiences with Crooks during their eight years together at Bethel Park High School, describing him as someone she would not have suspected of such actions.
D’Angelo noted that Crooks was neither a loner nor particularly popular, maintaining a small friend group. She remembered him as someone who did not openly discuss his political views, even during their American politics class in high school. Despite recent scrutiny over Crooks’ political affiliations, D’Angelo emphasized his reserved nature regarding such matters.
“He had a small friend group,” D’Angelo said. “He wasn’t a loner but was not the most popular kid in the class.”
Crooks, she said, spent much of his time in homeroom playing on his computer and sitting with a few friends at lunch. She did not recall him being bullied and noted that there were others in the school who seemed more likely to commit such an act.
“Maybe other people in the school that I thought would probably more be capable of such a thing, and he’s definitely not one of them,” she said. “But it’s also because he didn’t talk to a lot of people. So, you don’t really know what’s going on inside his head.”
Crooks was described as a good student who graduated with honors, evident by the silver cord he wore at graduation, symbolizing a cumulative GPA of 3.85 or higher. D’Angelo’s last interaction with Crooks was at their graduation ceremony, where they briefly spoke about the day and the length of the ceremony.
Reflecting on the shocking news of the attempt on President Trump’s life, D’Angelo initially thought the perpetrator might be a relative of Crooks. The realization that it was her classmate left her and the community in disbelief.
“It’s shocking to hear someone from your high school, that you knew, would do something as tragic as that,” she said. “I honestly originally thought it was a relative, because I heard Thomas, and he never went by that. He went by Tom or Tommy.”
D’Angelo, who had considered attending the Trump rally at the Butler Farm Show fairgrounds but decided against it, expressed her sadness and nausea upon hearing the news.
“It’s sad, and I was so nauseous on Sunday hearing about it because you don’t think something like that would happen so close,” she said. “I don’t want to speak for all of us, but we just really want to move on from this.”
The Bethel Park community, according to D’Angelo, does not want this incident to define them. She emphasized the close-knit, family-oriented nature of their town and school, extending condolences to those affected by the tragedy.
“This is a community, a close community that is family-oriented,” she said. “We’re good American citizens, and Bethel High School is really close.”
“This experience just did not seem to add up to happen in Bethel Park,” she added. “Our hearts go out to the families that were affected in this.”
