Bethel Park, Pennsylvania – The Secret Service should have foreseen “tactical reasons” to place counter-snipers on the roof of the AGR Building when gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire at former President Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, said a retired Army infantry captain who witnessed the chaos from the front row.
“I’ve been through a ton of gun battles and I’ve never seen anything like that,” former congressional candidate Sean Parnell, who can be seen on the right side of the stage next to Trump in photos from the shooting, told Fox News Digital.
“Wouldn’t it make sense to engage behind the president’s back?” he added. “There were tactical reasons to occupy it.”
Secret Service sources say Thomas Matthew Crooks hid a rifle before Trump rally sniper attack
President Trump speaks to supporters in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. Sean Parnell, a retired Army captain and former congressional candidate from the area, can be seen near the bottom right. In the background is the building where would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks climbed and fired his gun. (Courtesy of Linda Muslin)
Parnell said when he arrived at the rally site he immediately looked around and potential security vulnerabilities were noticeable, but so was the police presence.
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“Those aren’t firecrackers. They’re snipers. Get down quickly!”
“As a combat veteran of 16 months in Afghanistan, I can tell you that when you come back from combat, you’re used to looking for those kinds of threats,” he said. “It’s something I’ll never forget. I thought nothing bad was going to happen. I was at a political rally… and yet I still think about it.”
He said he immediately thought the shooter was sitting in either the nearby water tower or the AGR building on the north side of the stage.
“In a flash, it was like it was a building or a water tower,” he recalled, “but that’s not going to happen. The Secret Service would shut it down.”
But somehow, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, managed to climb to the top with a rifle.
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According to the US Secret Service (USSS), four anti-sniper teams were stationed around the rally: two from the agency and two from local police.
Two of the four units opened fire, one from local forces and one from the USSS, and a Secret Service sniper shot and killed the gunman seconds after the shooting began.
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Crooks shot at least four people with an AR-15 from the rooftop, killing 50-year-old father-of-two Corey Comperatore and severely wounding 57-year-old David Duch and 74-year-old James Copenhaver.
Trump later said he was shot in the right ear, and photos from the scene showed him with blood on the right side of his head, crouching for cover before standing up.
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Mr Parnell stood next to his wife in the front row, between Mr Crooks and the former president.
“We were in the line of fire when a bullet exploded overhead,” he said. “I knew right away it was a sniper. I got my wife to the ground. I said, ‘Those aren’t firecrackers. That’s sniper fire. Get down!'”
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gestures to the crowd as Secret Service agents escort him off the stage following an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Jean J. Puskar)
A source told Fox News on Thursday that Crooks had hidden the murder weapon somewhere beforehand.
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Authorities also revealed that his final message on the online gaming platform Steam contained the ominous claim: “My debut will be on July 13th. Watch how it unfolds.”
After counter-sniper forces neutralized the threat, medical crews rushed to the bleachers to treat the casualties.
Parnell had met one of them before, Comperatore, a local engineer and volunteer firefighter.
Parnell, a former Army Ranger and congressional candidate from the area, said he had met the father of two while campaigning.
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“A lot of the people who come to the rallies are people who have supported me,” he said. “I wouldn’t say I know him, but I’ve shook his hand.”
Comperatore’s wake is scheduled for Thursday. He will be buried on Friday after a private ceremony.
Fox News’ David Spunt and Ashley Papa contributed to this report.
