Local law enforcement reportedly stationed three snipers inside the construction whose roof was pierced by the shooter who tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a military rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, pointing to possible security breaches that resulted in the former president being injured and one user killed. .
Three police snipers were stationed inside the building and were tasked with window tracking the demonstration, CBS News and local news outlet Beaver Countian reported, citing local police sources.
One of the law enforcement officers stationed at the construction site reportedly saw the gunman “examine” the roof and bring in a rangefinder, before disappearing from the scene and returning with a backpack.
The officer managed to take a photo of the shooter and even radioed the sightings to his command center, but the alleged shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was allegedly able to climb to the roof thanks to an air conditioning unit.
Local law enforcement officials cited in the reports blamed their failure to prevent the scammers on a lack of manpower, which prevented them from attacking a sniper on the roof or offering observers for snipers on the ground, as well as “extremely poor planning. “
According to local television station WPXI, officers at the scene first saw Crooks about 30 minutes before he fired at Trump and rally attendees.
Some police officers arrived at the building after the police sniper raised the alarm, attempted to climb to the roof and hit Crooks, but by then he had been shot and killed by the Secret Service.
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On Saturday night, Trump was speaking to supporters at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, when Crooks shot him. Several gunshots were heard and Trump hid a podium before being temporarily protected by several Secret Service agents. As officials tried to remove him from the stage, Trump raised his fist toward the crowd as his right ear appeared to be bloodied. Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old former local fire chief, was killed in the shooting while trying to protect his family from gunfire. Two other participants in the demonstration, David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74, were shot and hospitalized.
Earlier Monday, the FBI said it was still investigating the shooting, considering it an assassination attempt on Trump and a possible domestic terrorist incident. The firm said its technical specialists had access to Crooks’ phone and were also scanning his other electronic devices. CBS News, the FBI’s investigation seeks to identify whether the shooter was “motivated by a violent extremist ideology or had ties to other conspirators or co-conspirators. “
What we know about the assassination of Donald Trump (Forbes)
Rifle Squad Member Remembers Trump’s Alleged Shooter as a ‘Comically Bad Shooter’: What We Know About Thomas Matthew Crooks (Forbes)
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