Despite the 90-degree heat, on Saturday, July 13, thousands of people attended Pennsylvania’s Butler Farm Show, a roughly 100-acre fairground used for agricultural displays. They were excited to see former President Donald Trump, who had spoken at the venue in the past.
Butler County voted overwhelmingly for Trump in 2020, so the crowd had to be as friendly as it gets in the country.
But things took a sudden and fatal turn minutes after the former president and presumptive Republican nominee began speaking.
Here’s a timeline of Trump’s assassination attempt, as new major points emerge from the investigation:
Twenty minutes before the shooting, the United States Secret Service notified through Pennsylvania State Police that there was a suspicious user with a rangefinder on the ground, according to three sources familiar with a briefing with members of Congress on Wednesday.
According to three sources, the secret service transmitted information about the suspect via rangefinder to the sniper team and intervention agents.
At this point, local authorities were not aware that the suspected user possessed a firearm, according to a local law enforcement official and the Butler County Sheriff.
Donald Trump rose to the level at 6:03 p. m. local time and began speaking to the crowd.
People alerted law enforcement to the gunman’s presence on the roof of a building about 410 feet from the scene, at least two minutes before the first shot of Trump, video analyzed through CBS News.
The video offers a glimpse into the chaotic minutes leading up to the attempted assassination of the former president and raises questions about law enforcement’s state of preparedness in relation to the building.
“Look, everyone’s pointing fingers. Someone’s on the roof,” one user says as at least one law enforcement officer walks around the building. “He’s there, right there. Right there, see? He’s lying down. ”
Another user appears to gesture to the officer: “He’s on the roof. . . right here, right on the roof. ” »
As one witness later described: “We saw a guy crawling, you know, a bear crawling across the roof of the building next to us, 50 feet away from us. I point to the guy crawling on the roof. “The witness added: “He had a gun; obviously, we may see him with a gun. “
Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe said shortly before the shooting, an armed officer tried to catch up to the shooter but had to retreat.
“All I know is the officer had both hands up to get on the roof,” Slupe told CBS Pittsburgh station KDKA, the officer never made it “because the shooter had turned toward the officer. “
“And correctly and intelligently, the officer let go,” Slupe said. After that, the shooter pointed his rifle at the rally, Slupe said.
Other videos show the chaotic moments leading up to the shooting. Exactly 12 seconds before the first shot, a video shows a police officer walking through the building.
Another video, starting at 6:11:28 p. m. m. , five seconds before the first shot, shows other people shouting that the guy on the roof has a gun. It shows other people running to escape the gunman.
In the video, other people are seen watching the gunman at 6:11:29 p. m. , exactly 4 seconds before he opened fire. It shows other people shouting that the shooter is “here. “
The video also shows Trump Secret Service snipers aiming their rifles at the shooter. A sniper appears to detect something a moment before the first shot is fired.
As Trump spoke about immigration, the first shot of the alleged killer was fired.
The moment of the sniper and the third shot came a moment later. All three shots came from Trump’s right.
Three seconds later, several shots are heard. At least three more shots were fired, followed by what sounded like a gunshot, as the crowd erupted in screams.
Video recorded by a member of the public shows Secret Service snipers appearing to aim in the direction of the gunman. A final shot is heard 15 seconds later.
The Secret Service sniper who neutralized the gunman fired a circular and helped him through a spotter, according to two federal law enforcement officials with knowledge of the reaction to the shooting. It was not immediately revealed which of the shots heard in the video killed the shooter.
Secret Service agents surrounded Trump, who brushed his ear as blood ran down his face. It took a minute and a half to get the former president off the stage.
As Secret Service agents tried to squeeze him into his waiting SUV, Trump raised his fist in defiance and gave the impression of saying, “Fight. ”
Some other people in the crowd turned their attention to three other people who had been shot. Among those affected was Corey Comperatore, 50, a firefighter, father and great admirer of Donald Trump. They shot him in the head and killed him.
“I asked Corey’s spouse if she could share our conversation,” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said at a news conference the next day. “She said yes. He also asked me to share with all of you that Corey died a hero, that Corey immersed himself in his family to protect them last night at that rally. Corey is the most productive of us. May his memory be a blessing. “
Two other people, David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74, were seriously injured. CBS News has learned that one of those affected was in a medically induced coma.
Trump and his protectors left the rally site about 2 1/2 minutes after the last shots were heard, according to three sources familiar with a police briefing with members of Congress on Wednesday. He was evacuated to Butler Memorial Hospital.
The emergency room was evacuated and Trump began receiving treatment, according to the three sources.
President Biden paid a visit to Delaware, where he spent the weekend.
“There is no position in the United States for this type of violence,” Biden said. “It’s sick. It’s sick. That’s one of the reasons we want to unite this country. We let that happen. We can’t be like that. We tolerate this. “
Biden later returned to the White House, where he reported on the assassination attempt.
Trump wrote in Truth Social: “I was shot in the top of my right ear. I immediately knew something was happening when I heard a whistle, gunshots and immediately felt the bullet rip through the skin. Bleeding has occurred. “
Trump left the hospital around 8:50 p. m. , according to 3 sources at a briefing with members of Congress.
Hours after the shooting, the Secret Service turned over the crime scene and investigation to the FBI, according to the three appeals with the lawmakers’ report.
Shortly before 11 p. m. , Trump arrived at Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport. He “remained in place,” according to the 3 sources.
After a wait of more than 30 minutes, Trump and others flying with him left Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport for New Jersey, according to three sources familiar with the lawmakers’ briefing.
Early Sunday morning, the FBI identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks. He was 20 years old and lived in Bethel, Pennsylvania, about 50 miles from the protest site. He earned an associate’s degree in engineering science from a network school and worked at a nursing and rehabilitation center.
At the moment, investigators say their motivations are unknown. They say he appears to have acted and did not discover any transparent indication of his intentions or threats on his social media accounts.
Throughout the afternoon and morning, investigators searched the suspect’s home and car. They said they discovered suspicious devices in his space and in his vehicle that were secured by bomb disposal technicians.
A former Bethel Park High School classmate told CBS News that Crooks tried to make the school’s top rifle team, but didn’t make it. Jameson Myers described him as “a general guy” and a “nice kid who never spoke ill of anyone. ” “and added: “I never imagined that he would be capable of doing anything I have seen him do in recent days. “
On Sunday morning, Trump posted a message on Truth Social thanking other people for their mind and prayers, saying that “only God kept the unthinkable from happening. “
“We WILL NOT be afraid, but we will remain resilient in our religion and defiant in the face of evil,” Trump wrote, saying he prayed for the recovery of those killed and injured in the shooting.
“Right now, it is more important than ever that we come together and show our true character as Americans by standing strong and determined and not allowing evil to win,” Trump wrote.
Melania Trump also posted a message on social media.
“United States, the fabric of our candy country is in tatters, but our courage and our common sense will have to rise and unite to become one,” the former first lady said.
She said that when she saw the “violent bullet” hit her husband, she realized that she and the couple’s son, Barron, were “about to replace each other in a devastating way. “
“A monster that identified my husband as an inhumane political device tried to extract Donald’s passion: his laughter, his wit, his love of music, and his inspiration,” Melania wrote.
Trump showed on Truth Social that he will fly to Wisconsin as planned to attend the Republican National Convention, which begins Monday.
“Based on the horrific events of yesterday, I was going to delay my trip to Wisconsin and the Republican National Convention for two days, but I just made the decision that I cannot allow a ‘shooter,’ or a potential assassin, to force a schedule change, or anything else,” Trump wrote.
“So I will leave for Milwaukee, as planned, at 3:30 p. m. TODAY,” he added.
President Biden addressed the country from the Oval Office on Sunday night.
“We cannot allow this violence to be normalized,” Biden said. “The political rhetoric in this country is very heated. It’s time to calm her down. We all have a duty to do so. ”
He added that “politics will never have to be a real battlefield, God forbid, a battlefield. ”
The president cited a series of violent political acts in recent years, the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, a foiled plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the attack on former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, and the intimidation of election officials.
“In America, we settle our differences” through the ballot box, Biden said, “not with bullets. ”
The FBI says it has won more than 2,600 so far. Investigators are now tracing this timeline backwards, from the shooting and all the moments leading up to it, analyzing the life of the would-be killer in the days and months leading up to July 13.
On Monday afternoon, the GOP officially nominated Trump as its 2024 presidential nominee, marking the third time since 2016 that Trump has been nominated. He will officially settle for the nomination in a speech Thursday night at the Republican National Convention.
“The next candidate got the following votes: 2,387 votes for President Donald J. Let’s make this official,” Louisiana House Speaker Mike Johnson said, announcing that Trump “has been chosen as the Republican Party’s nominee for president of the United States. “”.
In an interview while traveling to Milwaukee for the conference Sunday night, Trump told the New York Post that he was “supposed to be dead,” calling the assassination attempt “surreal. “He said he would have been killed if he hadn’t bowed down. Her head to the right to read a graphic about illegal immigrants as she made her way to the demonstration.
“By luck or by God, a lot of other people say it’s because of God that I’m still here,” he said.
— With reporting by Anna Schecter of CBS News