United States: The suspect who attempted to kill former President of the United States, Donald Trump, was able to himself within close range by climbing onto the air conditioning unit of one tall building and jumping across the roof of another before firing at Trump, according to ABC News.
More about the news
With the boldest intention to assassinate the ex-President, 20-year Thomas Matthew Crooks had only a few minutes before the incident when he was seen strolling around the area near the magnetometers where people attending the rally were being searched for prohibited items before being allowed into the outdoor rally, police disclosed.
The presence of the crooks in the area of the metal detectors had drawn the attention of one of the police officers, who grew suspicious and began to approach Crook, several sources informed ABC News.
According to the sources of the investigation, the man who was entrusted with the act of assassination was forced to back up but managed to wane in the crowd. It was not immediately clear when, before the shooting, this happened.
Between the time he was seen close to the magnetometers and the time when Crooks purportedly fired at Trump, there were two sets of radio broadcasts, one stating that police were on the lookout for a ‘suspicious’ person and the second one which gave a more general notice that police were pursuing something “suspicious,’ said insiders.
Further explanation of the incidence
As the officers started to look for the suspicious person, Crooks entered the territory of the American Glass Research (AGR) construction site near the secured zone of the event, the sources added.
It was explained that the building was serving as a base for local police, who were located inside the building, explained the head of the US Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, was noted to ABC News this week.
Further, sources speaking to ABC News said local police and other counter-sniper units were present in the ‘AGR’ building where Crooks would ultimately take up a firing position aimed at Trump, the sources said.
According to Cheatle, “I don’t have all the details yet, but it was a very short period of time,” and “Seeking that person out, finding them, identifying them, and eventually neutralizing them took place in a very short period of time, and it makes it very difficult.”
Crooks was killed on the spot
A Secret Service sharpshooter shot crooks on a rooftop at one building behind the stage Trump was speaking at the Butler Fairgrounds, the Secret Service explained.
Despite police insiders’ reports that Crooks allegedly bought the 5-foot-long ladder at a Home Depot before the shooting, it was not used to access the roof and was not recovered by the police, according to the records.
As per the investigators, Crooks reached the spot where he did fire by climbing an air conditioning unit of another building connected to the ground and jumping up from there onto the roof, sources said.
From there, he ascended the slope of the roof of the neighboring building, as witnesses interviewed by ABC News said they saw him there taking up to eight shots at Trump, who was about 400 feet away from him, preparing a speech at the podium, the law enforcement sources said.
While the FBI probe went on Wednesday, doubts arose as to how the shooter was able to climb directly to the roof free from hindrance and able to find a clear line of vision, and shoot a number of shots at the ex-president.
When Crooks was en route to his firing position, the Service Providers were listening to radio traffic of a suspect and overheard local law enforcement pieces discussing some form of shooting related to police, the sources said.
Sheriff of Butler County Michael T. Slupe told ABC News that other officers told him that one of the Butler Township policemen looking for the suspicious individual leaped over the roof of the AGR building and faced the gunman, who aimed at the latter, forcing him to jump back. Gunshots followed a few minutes later.