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By Kaitlin Lewis
Night Reporter
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Law enforcement snipers at Donald Trump's rally Saturday spotted the gunman behind the former president's assassination attempt before the shooting, according to a report by CBS News' Olivia Rinaldi.
According to a local law enforcement officer who had "direct knowledge" of the shooting, three snipers were stationed inside the building in Butler, Pennsylvania, that 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks used to shoot at the former president.
One of the snipers stationed inside the building reportedly first saw Crooks outside and looking up to the roof of the building before the suspect left the scene. Crooks later came back and sat down while looking at his phone near the building. CBS News reported that a sniper took a photo of the suspect when he returned.
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Crooks then took out a rangefinder and the sniper who spotted him "radioed to the command post" about the suspect's actions. Crooks then disappeared again and returned to the building with a backpack. Secret Service snipers again alerted their command post about Crooks' actions.
According to the source who spoke with CBS News, Crooks had already climbed to the top of the building in question by the time additional officers arrived at the scene for backup. The suspect also positioned himself "above and behind the snipers inside the building."
By the time that police "started rushing to the scene" and other officers attempted to get onto the roof, the source told CBS News that a different Secret Service sniper had killed Crooks.
Several questions have been raised about how the alleged gunman was able to reach a vantage point and fire several shots at Trump, which left one attendee goer dead and injured two others, before being countered by the Secret Service. The FBI has launched an investigation into the incident.
Local law enforcement agencies helped to secure the campaign event on Saturday. The Associated Press (AP) reported that one law enforcement official "who spoke on the condition of anonymity" said that several rally attendees reported to local officers that Crooks was acting "suspiciously" before the shooting occurred. The Washington Post also reported on Monday that video from the event shows that witnesses tried to alert a police officer that a suspicious person was spotted on a nearby building roof nearly a minute and a half before shots were fired.
WPXI in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, reported that members of Beaver County's emergency services unit had spotted "a suspicious man on a roof near the rally at 5:45 p.m., called it in and took a picture of the person." The station later learned the person in the photo was Crooks.
According to AP, the shooting occurred around 6:10 p.m. Saturday.
Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger told KDKA—CBS News' station in Pittsburgh—that the county "provided some snipers for [the Secret Service], some quick response teams, but we didn't have any responsibility with securing the perimeter or anything outside of that venue."
"And the hierarchy of command for the security would have been the Secret Service, followed by the state police and then the local municipal departments," Goldinger added.
Newsweek has reached out to the Butler County District Attorney's Office and the Beaver County Sheriff's Office via email for additional information.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said after Saturday's shooting that while he has "full confidence" in the Secret Service's leadership, "we are speaking of a failure."
"We are going to analyze through an independent review how that occurred, why it occurred, and make recommendations and findings to make sure it doesn't happen again," Mayorkas told CNN.
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said in a statement published Monday that the agency "is working with all involved Federal, state and local agencies to understand what happened, how it happened, and how we can prevent an incident like this from ever taking place again."
"The Secret Service is tasked with the tremendous responsibility of protecting the current and former leaders of our democracy," Cheatle added. "It is a responsibility that I take incredibly seriously, and I am committed to fulfilling that mission."
Correction 07/15/2024, 10:21 p.m. ET: This headline and article have been updated for clarity. The original headline and story attributed the snipers to the Secret Service. They work for local law enforcement. We regret the error.
Update 07/15/24, 11:05 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional information and background.
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