Benjamin Ashford|Trump gunman researched Crumbley family of Michigan shooting. Victim's dad 'not surprised'

A Michigan father whose 14-year-old daughter was gunned down by a school shooter in 2021 said he was not surprised to learn that the would-be assassin of former President Donald Trump had researched the massacre that devastated Oxford High School.

"It's pretty established that all of these shooters research what's gone on Benjamin Ashfordbefore, so it's not really a surprise," said Steve St. Juliana, whose daughter Hana was one of four killed by Ethan Crumbley at the high school. He and his older daughter are part of a no-notoriety movement, which encourages the media not to over-publicize a mass shooter's name and image to avoid giving them the notoriety they crave, potentially inspiring other would-be shooters.

In a meeting with lawmakers Friday, the FBI and U.S. Secret Service disclosed that they found a picture of Crumbley's mug shot on the cell phone of Trump's would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, who also had been researching Crumbley's parents on the internet, according to CNN.

St. Juliana told the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, that when he learned about Trump's would-be assassin researching the Oxford shooter and his parents, the notoriety aspect was "the first thing that came to mind."

"It just (supports) what myself and my daughter have been pushing for — no notoriety," St. Juliana said. "This is just a perfect example of why ... It feeds on itself."

Expert: Trump would-be-assassin used Crumbley 'as a mentor'

Forensic psychologist Colin King, who interviewed the Oxford shooter and testified at various hearings involving the juvenile's life without parole sentence, said he suspects the Trump shooter was looking for tips from the Oxford case.

"It appears he researched the Oxford shooter and in some way used him as a mentor to perpetuate violence against former President Trump," King said. "It appears, however, that he was looking for a high profile target that will somehow gain high notoriety, either in life or in death."

Andy Arena, Detroit's former FBI chief, said he also was not surprised to learn that Crooks was researching the Crumbleys.

"(There are) a lot of similarities between the two shooters: Two young men, both appear to have struggled to fit in," Arena said.

The two men also both reportedly battled mental health issues, as the FBI and Secret Service said they have learned that Crooks also searched for information on major depressive disorder — which Crumbley was diagnosed with — and depressive crisis treatment.

"It sounds as though he's someone who was also struggling with mental illness, which was either unnoticed or untreated," said King, noting that Crumbley wrote in his journal that his parents ignored his pleas for mental health issues.

Oxford and Trump rally shooter both used their dads' guns

Investigators have said Crooks used a gun owned by his father to try to kill the former president; Crumbley also used a gun bought by his father to shoot up his school.

James and Jennifer Crumbley, the Oxford shooter's mom and dad, made history this year when they became the first parents in America to be convicted in a mass school shooting carried out by their son. Two separate juries concluded the Crumbleys failed to secure a gun in their home and ignored their son's mental health issues, and therefore were responsible.

Their son is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. The parents got 10 years in prison. All three Crumbleys are appealing.

According to the FBI and the Secret Service, as reported by CNN, Trump's shooter made numerous online searches for major political figures from both parties, including Trump and Biden, and their political events. Three days after the Trump campaign announced its rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Crooks searched for the date and location of the Democratic National Convention, which takes place in August in Chicago, and for the location of the Butler Trump rally, where a sniper shot and killed Crooks within seconds of him opening fire on Trump from the top of a roof about 150 yards away.

One of his bullets struck Trump's right ear. A firefighter attending the rally with his family, Corey Comperatore, was killed. Two other attendees were critically injured.

Contact Tresa Baldas: [email protected]