Did Father Call Shooter Prior to Assassination Attempt? Call to Police is Missing.

August 2, 2024

Photo Credit Reuters

It has been widely reported that the father of the alleged would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, in search of his son, made a phone call to law enforcement prior to the assassination attempt, but there doesn’t appear to be any record of that call. How is that possible?  More importantly, is that the only call that the father made when trying to locate his son?

Is the missing phone call just another anomaly in what is turning out to be a long list of weird, bizarre and unbelievable shenanigans that make up the story line of this attempted assassination? 

The BBC, for example, reported on July 18th that “The father of the gunman who tried to assassinate Donald Trump called police before the Saturday shooting because he was concerned about his son.” Additionally, the BBC explains, “Matthew Crooks’ father called police because he was worried about his son and his whereabouts, a law enforcement source told the BBC’s new partner CBS. It’s unclear when the call was made but it was before the shooting.”

Most people who read this story found it odd that a father, unaware of where his twenty-year old son was on a Saturday afternoon, would think first to call the police. AbleChild found it odd too.  So, in an effort to understand this unusual parental action, AbleChild contacted Butler Police Department to obtain any information that may be available about the alleged call. Butler Police advised that it was not within its jurisdiction and referred Ablechild to the Pennsylvania Open Records laws. 

Naturally, Ablechild contacted by email the Open Records section and was advised that “Based on a thorough examination of records in the possession, custody and/or control of Butler County, requested record does not exist in the possession, custody and/or control of Butler County, and request is therefore denied as no records exist, as permitted by Section 705 of the RTKL.” Okay record of the alleged phone call does not exist.

Given that nearly three weeks after the shooting, a video has surfaced revealing a man running along the roof of the AGR building seconds before shots ring out, a missing phone call must seem like small potatoes. But it’s not. This is a very specific phone call reportedly made by the father of the alleged shooter prior to the shooting, leaving many to wonder why the former President was allowed to take the stage. 

On its face the alleged call is weird, but according to a July 17th article in the DailyMail.com, “The parents of Trump’s would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, called the cops to say he was missing before the shooting.” The article further stated, “his father told law enforcement he assumed his son had gone to the shooting range at The Clairton Sportsmen’s Club to practice with his rifle and would be back by 1pm on Saturday.”

This is interesting. His father assumed his son had gone “to the shooting range…” Then why did the father call the police? Why didn’t he call the shooting range to make inquiries? More importantly, what made the father worry about his son to the point of calling the police? Both of Crooks’ parents are mental health counselors. Did the father believe his son was having mental health problems? 

The FBI has advised that Crooks had no mental health problems and was not taking medication, so the counselor father could not have been concerned about that. Something about the father’s great concern for his son prior to the shooting isn’t adding up. 

The Crooks have remained silent throughout the investigation, but according to the FBI they are cooperating. In fact, to date the only direct response to media occurred when the father responded to a reporter’s request for comment saying, “I gotta pee.” That response is so out of the realm of decent and tactful that one must wonder if these parents are being protected and why? 

Regardless of the father’s apparent disregard for the family of the rally attendee, Corey Comperatore and those wounded, the father’s phone call made to police prior to the shooting is evidence. That evidence appears to be missing. What happened to that phone call and what was said may be key to knowing the shooter’s motive. 

More importantly, though, one must wonder why law enforcement and, in particular, the FBI hasn’t made the contents of that phone call public. Why hasn’t the FBI advised whether the father made a phone call to the son on the day of the shooting. Seems logical that a father, concerned about his son, would call the son’s mobile phone. 

C’mon. This is a no-brainer. Parents normally don’t first call the police when trying to locate a grown child. What was the father worried about?  What was said in the phone call between father and son, prior to the father calling the police? Of course, maybe this is why there is no record of the call. 

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