There are currently two theories circulating about how Thomas Crooks ended up carrying a DPMS AR-15 rifle onto the roof of the AGR Building in Butler, Pennsylvania last Saturday. Before the assassination attempt on former President and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
A federal law enforcement source briefed on the investigation said Crooks hid his father’s rifle either near an air conditioner he used to climb to the roof of the AGR building or in a backpack he was carrying along with a golf rangefinder.
Thomas Matthew Crooks is photographed in front of the Butler Fairgrounds in the aftermath of the assassination attempt on the former president on July 14, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Bethel Park School District/Getty Images)
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However, the source said hiding the rifle in a backpack would have required significant disassembly and reassembly of the rifle, and that it was more likely that Crooks hid the rifle behind an air conditioning unit.
Fox News reported that Crooks purchased a ladder and ammunition the morning of the rally, but federal law enforcement sources said no ladder was found at the scene and the leading theory is that Crooks grabbed a rifle and climbed onto an air conditioning unit, then onto the roof.
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)
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We also know that the unit in the building was a sniper team from the Butler Township Emergency Services Unit who were on “surveillance” for the event. The team was looking out the windows of buildings at the event site, watching for any suspicious activity, while Crooks was stalking on the roof above them.
An undated file photo of Thomas Matthew Crooks in a yearbook photo. 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)
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Fox News also reported that the Secret Service counter sniper who killed Crooks fired just one shot.
