 not in the hands of would-be assassins. The shooter was 20, Thomas Crooks, with no known connections with anything extremist. A key question, how did Crooks get to the roof in a position to fire at the rally? ABC's Aaron Katursky. Fellow students say he was smart and a loner who was rejected by the rifle team in part for being such a bad shot. Investigators are now trying to search his phone. They're looking for any misinformation he may have been consuming and whether that played any role.