Trump rally shooting: Local officer retreated from roof after Thomas Crooks pointed rifle at him - Report
Law enforcement officers stand over Thomas Crooks' body in Butler
Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old gunman who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump, had pointed hisAR-style rifle at a local law enforcement officer who climbed the roof. The officer, threatened by Crooks, retreated down the ladder and moments later, Trump was shot, law enforcement officials told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Since the incident, numerous witnesses have come forward and claimed that they informed the US Secret Service officials and other local authorities about the presence of a gunman on the roof of a building near the rally.
“We noticed the guy crawling, bear-crawling, up the roof of the building beside us, 50ft away from us,” one of the witnesses told BBC.
Despite identifying the rooftop as a potentially vulnerable point in the security detail of the former president, the Secret Service did not act in time.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have identified the shooter as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks from Bethel, Pennsylvania. He was neutralised by the United States Secret Service agents
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
How fast can the Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jet really fly?
)
Did China ask its people 'not to respond to aliens'? Origin of bizarre claim on social media
)
MS Dhoni-CSK Fallout? Report claims failed stake sale talks triggered rift
)
Scientists reveal the SAFEST COUNTRY when catastrophe strikes the planet
)
Serial killer on the loose in South Korea's Jeju Island? Fourth body found in three days as more than a dozen people go missing
)
2/3rd of glacier detached, collapsed: ISRO satellite images reveal what triggered Nepal floods
)
Trump once again claims without him there would be ‘no Israel right now’
)
Foreign espionage attacks against German companies surge to 37%, Bitkom report reveals
)
Blake Lively wins partial legal fee from Justin Baldoni after $8M request
)
Why is Pakistan deploying Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones near India border?
)
'OH MY GOD! We've found other agents!': Investigators discover not one or two, almost 700 OpenAI AI agents went rogue, hacked Hugging Face
)
Lunar eclipse 2026: India timings, places to see and more. August Blood moon factsheet
)
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on global outreach tour
)
Both pilots killed as training aircraft crashes in Lucknow – What we know
)
16-year-old charged with preparing terror attack on kindergarten in Norway
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
How the S-400 protects itself from enemy attacks
)
Nepal floods: Over 165 dead, 400 missing; US, India, China, World Bank mobilise aid
)
India's multi-layered watch: The new surveillance war
)
5 doomsday planes spotted in US skies hours after CIA director's secret trip to Russia
)
9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to finally face trial in 2028, nearly 27 years after horrific attacks
)
Islamabad hospital fire: What we know about one of the biggest facility that housed Imran Khan
)
Workers run for life while filming Nepal flash flood: Scary new visuals emerge from Rasuwa
)
Russian military planes enter South Korean air defence zone amid rising tensions with North Korea: What's happening
)
Ron Weasley Is Back! Rupert Grint set to return to Harry Potter universe on Broadway
)
400-year-old 'vampire' grave in Poland reveals non-existent genetic lineage
)
Dolly Parton, global icon and queen of country music, dies at 80
)
Nepal flash floods: Kailash Mansarovar yatra affected, close to 400 pilgrims out of contact
)
'If he is dead, they're putting on a pretty good show': Trump casts fresh doubt over Mojtaba Khamenei's fate
)
Man arrested near US Capitol with guillotine in pickup truck: What happened?
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
Why the Su-30MKI cockpit is painted bright turquoise green
FBI and Secret Service
Notably, FBI officials seemingly threw the Secret Service under the bus, post the failed assassination bid.
“It is surprising but, to get all the details of that will come out later in the investigation," saidKevin Rojek, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office when quizzed he was surprised at the number of shots.
"The Secret Service really needs to answer that question,” Rojek stated, adding that the FBI was only there to support the Secret Service who were in charge of securing the scene.
While the FBI threw Secret Service to the wolves,Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens came to their rescue.
“In their defence, what I would want to say is it is incredibly difficult to have a venue open to the public and secure that against any possible threat against a determined attacker, that’s a huge lift to try and do it,” Bivens told reporters.
Meanwhile, FBI stated that the incident would beinvestigated as a potential act of "domestic terrorism".Also known as home-grown terrorism, it is a form of terrorism in which victims "within a country are targeted by a perpetrator with the same citizenship" as the victims.
(With inputs from agencies)