By The newspaper
18 Jul 2024, 01:50 AM EDT
Officials said the Secret Service spotted the gunman who shot Donald Trump on the roof of a building 20 minutes before he opened fire, striking the former president in the right ear during a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, July 13.
ABC News cites authorities as saying that snipers spotted the suspect, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, on the roof of a building outside the security zone during the rally at 5:52 p.m. ET. The shooting occurred at 6:12 p.m. ET, 20 minutes later.
Identified as a person of interest
It also reveals other key moments leading up to the attack, which were communicated by FBI and Secret Service leaders to lawmakers: Crooks was identified as a person of interest about an hour before the first shot was fired, at 5:10 p.m., and was seen using a rangefinder 20 minutes later.
The information comes from a meeting between law enforcement agencies and lawmakers attended by Republican Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, who told Fox News that Crooks had “a rangefinder and a backpack, but the Secret Service “lost sight of him.”
Trump and Biden searches on your phone
Meanwhile, CBS cites other details shared by authorities after accessing the attacker’s phone, such as that before the attack he searched for Donald Trump and President Joe Biden regarding each other’s next speeches. He also searched for the dates of Trump’s rally in Butler and the dates of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
New footage from Donald Trump’s Pennsylvania rally Saturday shows shooting suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks on a roof before he fired shots at the former president. pic.twitter.com/OC3opebENf
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) July 17, 2024
A video from a bystander at Trump’s rally captured Crooks crawling across the building’s roof, as if looking for the best angle.
Former President Trump was shot in the ear during the rally before Secret Service snipers shot and killed Thomas Matthew Crooks. One member of the audience, identified as a 50-year-old firefighter, was killed in the shooting, and two others were wounded.
The attacker’s motive remains unclear
Police authorities reported that from the moment Crooks fired the first shot until he was killed by snipers, only 26 seconds elapsed.
Four days after the attack, the FBI, which is leading the investigation into the incident, has still not clarified the attacker’s motive, while calls are growing from political representatives for Secret Service chief Kimberly Cheatle to assume responsibility.
The US government is also conducting an independent investigation into the security breaches. It has also reinforced Trump’s security detail and provided independent candidate Robert Kennedy Jr with Secret Service agents, EFE reported.
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