Bethel Park, Pennsylvania – Local police stationed outside former President Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania, helped search for a “suspicious male” who had wandered off the traffic line on Saturday, but officers came face to face with a gunman and had to retreat from the side of the AGR building, local authorities said Wednesday.
“Following President Trump’s arrival, officers received a report of a suspicious male near the AGR building and several officers left their assigned intersection and responded to the scene to assist with the search,” Butler County Executive Tom Knights said on Wednesday. “A search was conducted in the area surrounding the AGR building but the suspect was not located and no ladder was found.”
A Butler Township police officer went to check on the roof and was “lifted” onto the roof by another officer, Knights said. The officer then saw the shooter, later identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park. Video footage shows a witness yelling around the same time that someone on the roof had a gun.
Ex-Secret Service agent claims Trump assassin Thomas Crooks scouted rally location beforehand
Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump waves as he is led off the stage surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Saturday, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Jean J. Puskar)
Crooks then pointed a rifle at officers, Knights said.
“The officer was in a defenseless position, unable to engage the assailant while holding on to the edge of the roof,” Knights said. “The officer let go and fell to the ground. Butler Township Police were quickly notified of the assailant’s location and that he was armed. A few minutes later, the assailant began firing.”
Crooks shot and killed at least four people before Secret Service and local police snipers returned fire.
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Police officers stand near the body of attempted assassin Thomas Crooks of President Donald Trump, Saturday, July 13, 2024. The gunman killed at least one person and wounded the former president in the assassination attempt. (Todd the Driller)
Secret Service agents were able to neutralize the gunman at the scene, but not before he fatally shot 50-year-old father-of-two Corey Comperatore and seriously injured 57-year-old David Duch and 74-year-old James Copenhaver.
Trump later said he had been hit in the ear, and was photographed with his fist raised and blood streaming down the side of his head as he was escorted off the stage by Secret Service agents.
The Secret Service secured the scene, and the FBI later took over as the investigating agency.
The FBI is investigating a potential motive and recent communications by Crooks, and the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general also announced Wednesday that it would investigate the Secret Service’s security response to the event.
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An undated file photo of Thomas Matthew Crooks. Crooks is the alleged gunman behind the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Source: Fox News Digital)
Sen. John Barrasso told Fox News’ Aisha Hasni after a congressional briefing on Wednesday afternoon that lawmakers were told Crux had been identified more than an hour before Trump took to the stage.
Sources previously told Fox News Digital that an initial suspicious witness report of Crooks carrying a rangefinder before the shooting was reported to Pennsylvania State Police but was “ignored.”
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The PSP countered that while it sent dozens of officers to help secure the rally at the request of the Secret Service, they were not responsible for guarding the building or surrounding grounds used by Crooks.
“Butler Township has been and will continue to cooperate with investigating authorities and will not comment further until the investigative report has been completed and released,” Knights said.
