A detailed review of recently released body camera footage from the assassination attempt on former President Trump appears to show the suspected gunman walking across a rooftop minutes before firing a fatal shot at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, last month.
Newly discovered footage sheds more light on the assassination attempt and the seconds leading up to the shooting on July 13.
One piece of body camera footage released by Butler Township police shows a steady zoom in to show a shadowy figure appearing on the roof of the American Glass Research (AGR) complex at 6:08 p.m.
Trump assassin spotted wandering around Pennsylvania rally hours before shooting
New video appears to show suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks (top right) on a rooftop before the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump (left). (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images, left, Iron Clad USA, center, Butler Township Police Department, right, Fox News, bottom right)
Person seen on body camera Officers were walking through a green space on the east side of the AGR complex near the water tower when the body camera captured a person, believed to be Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, jumping across a roof and heading toward a building at the southernmost end of the complex.
The video shows a person, possibly a police officer, walking on the ground in the opposite direction from Crooks, seemingly unaware that the shooter is on the roof.
During those minutes, the officer is seen communicating with other officers and patrolling an adjacent parking lot. There is no audio from his body camera.
When the figure on the roof disappears again, the officer’s body camera footage points to 6:09 p.m., and based on timestamps on other police body camera footage, it would have taken Crooks roughly two and a half minutes to get ready and fire at Trump and other attendees.
The AGR Building where Thomas Matthew Crookes fired his shot. (AP Photo/Jean J. Puskar)
The FBI previously said Crooks climbed through air conditioning units and ducts to get onto the roof of a building, then traversed multiple rooftops before finding a shooting position on the roof of a building about 150 yards from where the former president spoke at a rally.
Investigators determined that Crooks had purchased a ladder hours before the assassination attempt but left it at his Bethel Park home and did not use it at the rally. The ladder was not found at the scene.
Newly discovered video corroborates Crooks’ timeline with video of one of the shooting victims, James Copenhaver, also showing a figure moving around on the rooftop.
A preliminary report released last week by Rep. Clay Higgins (R-Louisiana) said Crooks fired eight shots in an attempt to kill Trump.
Trump shooting: Timeline of assassination attempt raises questions about how gunman escaped security
A new video from James Copenhaver, one of the victims seriously injured in the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Trump, shows a figure moving across a rooftop minutes before shots rang out at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. (James Copenhaver)
One bullet grazed President Trump’s right ear and fatally wounded firefighter Corey Comperatore. Rally attendees James Copenhaver and David Duch were also shot and injured.
The other shot was fired by a Butler SWAT officer from the ground about 100 yards from the AGR building. The bullet struck Crooks’ rifle butt, causing it to break and leaving injuries to Crooks’ face and shoulder area, Higgins said.
The Southern Secret Service’s countersniper team fired another shot, entering Crooks near the left side of his mouth and exiting near his right ear.
A chilling new video was also just released showing Crooks casually walking through a crowd in Butler, Pennsylvania, about two hours before the shooting.
Chilling new video has emerged showing suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks casually walking through a crowd in Butler, Pennsylvania, about two hours before he opened fire on former President Trump and rally-goers. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images, Maine, Iron Clad USA, inset)
The short video, released by clothing company Iron Clad USA, shows Crooks wearing shorts and a “Demolition” T-shirt at 4:26 p.m., walking empty-handed past a row of vendors selling Trump merchandise ahead of the July 13 rally. Crooks was wearing the same T-shirt when he opened fire on Trump.
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A text message sent by local police in former President Trump’s state of Pennsylvania to colleagues at least 90 minutes before Crooks opened fire described him as a suspicious person.
Messages obtained by Fox News Digital from the Beaver County Emergency Services Division through Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa show that officers flagged down Crooks but did not approach him after spotting him using a rangefinder.
Fox News’ Bonnie Chu and Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.
