Trump shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks was ‘spotted on roof 26 minutes’ before assassination attempt
Donald Trump’s would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks was spotted on the roof 26 minutes before he opened fire, according to a shocking new report.
Officers on the scene saw Crooks, 20, on top of the building just 400 feet (120 meters) away from the rally stage and took two photos of him because he was acting suspiciously, sources said. WPXI.
It is unclear whether he had the AR-style rifle with him when he was first seen or whether he remained on the roof the entire time.
The shocking new allegations emerged as authorities and the U.S. Secret Service face mounting questions about how Crooks was able to kill the former president and a member of the protest crowd.
Shortly after Trump sped away, the lifeless body of Thomas Matthew Crooks was seen on a rooftop surrounded by police. His death was not confirmed until 7:24 p.m.
Law enforcement at the event in Butler, Pennsylvania, is under heavy scrutiny after it emerged the roof was identified as a “vulnerable point” for security
The local Pennsylvania sheriff defended the police officer who confronted Crooks on the roof just before the shooting.
Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe confirmed Monday that one of his armed officers encountered the gunman seconds before he began a bloodbath at the former president’s rally.
The officer, who has not been named, backed away when Crooks pointed his AR-style rifle at him.
Slupe defended the decision and said KDKA he would have ‘done the same thing.’
“All I know is that the officer had both hands on the roof to climb up, but he didn’t because the shooter had turned toward the officer. The officer, rightly and smartly, let go.
“I mean, people think the cops are superhumans, like you standing on the roof with one hand holding on for dear life and pulling out a gun. It doesn’t work like that.
Yearbook photos have surfaced of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the gunman who opened fire on former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania
Slupe also said that members of his department were aware of Crooks’ suspicious behavior before the meeting and immediately began looking for him.
Local police, not the Secret Service, searched the building, but Crooks was still able to climb up and take aim at the former president.
Slupe admitted that Crooks was in the “secondary protection ring” when he opened fire.
He said the Secret Service is responsible for the ring around the president, but local police will take control of the outer ring.
Trump clutched his right ear as the first shots rang out at 6:12 p.m.
Those present claimed they alerted the Secret Service to a man on the roof where the gunman was later killed
The 78-year-old former president survived the horrific assassination attempt when the bullet missed him by less than an inch on Saturday afternoon.
That happened eight minutes after he took the stage at 6:03 p.m. Eastern Time, where Trump began his speech and pointed to a large graphic in the same direction as the one that showed the shooter on the roof of an AGR International building.
Even before he took the stage, Trump’s supporters said they saw the gunman crawling across the roof with a rifle, but they said their warnings to the Secret Service were ignored.
“I thought to myself, ‘Why is Trump still speaking, why haven’t they taken him off the stage?'” one witness told the BBC. “The next thing you know, five shots are fired.”
With the sun still high in the sky, Trump emerged at 6:03 p.m. to a chant of “God Bless the USA” over the loudspeakers. He continued to wave and fist pump at the crowd for several minutes.
Trump pulled out a large graph showing statistics about the migrant crisis at the southern border and told the crowd at 6:11 p.m., “That graph is a couple months old…”
“If you really want to see something sad, look at what happened,” Trump continued — before abruptly grabbing the side of his head as several “pops” were heard throughout the room where the event was taking place.
The 78-year-old fell to the ground in a flash as five more shots rang out in quick succession above his head, before four Secret Service agents rushed to the stage and dove on top of the former president.
Staggering footage shows Trump crouched on the ground as officers protect him, blood trickling down his cheek.
Several Secret Service agents continued to storm the stage, while four heavily armed agents stood at the side of the stage, ordering those in attendance to “get down on the floor.”
The sniper, who was on an exposed rooftop 400 feet (120 meters) from the crowd, fired another shot at the stage a second later as Trump fans poured out of the stands.
“The guy was spun around, pinned between the benches and shot in the head. There’s a lot of blood and he had brain tissue,” the man told CBS News
The Secret Service quickly attempted to gain control of the pandemonium, shooting three people in the building within seconds, one fatally.
An emergency room doctor, with blood spatter on his shirt, later said he immediately jumped into action to perform CPR on a victim.
“The guy was spun around, pinned between the benches and shot in the head. There’s a lot of blood and he had brain matter,” he told CBS News.
“So I got him together, so I have people there that are really helpful. I also did CPR and chest compressions.”