Police Counter Snipers Observed Crooks Using Rangefinder, Photographed Him and Alerted Command Post “Minutes” Before Shooting

July 17th, 2024

Update: Once Crooks Was On Roof, Police Called Out Armed Threat On “Blanket Tactical Channel”

Via: ZeroHedge:

After Crooks was positioned on the roof, one cop boosted another cop up to the roofline – only for Crooks to point his weapon at him. At that point, the boosted cop fell.

Both of them radioed the threat on a “blanket tactical channel” before the shooting, on which “everyone who was on the tactical channel heard it” according to Butler Township manager, Tom Knights.

“The boosting officer and the officer that fell were both on the radio indicating that there was an individual on the roof that did, in fact, have a weapon,” said Knights. “There was a blanket tactical channel being used. Everyone who was on that tactical channel heard it.”

It is unknown how much time passed between that radio communication and when shots rang out – or whether the Secret Service was on the “blanket tactical channel” (one would assume). But there was ample knowledge of the armed guy trying to kill Trump before he began shooting.

Update: Crooks Identified as Person of Interest Over One Hour Before Shooting

Via: Fox:

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., tells Fox News that Senators were told law enforcement identified Thomas Matthew Crooks as a person of interest more than an hour before shots were fired at former President Trump.

Mullin relayed that senators were told that the Secret Service realized the building on which the shooter was perched was outside the perimeter of the rally.

Officials didn’t clarify whether local law enforcement was supposed to be on top of the building.

The shooter was identified as a person of interest around 5:07 or 5:08 because he had a backpack and a range finder. Shots rang out more than an hour later, at around 6:11

Around 19 minutes before shooting, Secret Service agents were actively looking for Crooks but couldn’t find him.

Update: Crooks Entered Secret Service Controlled Perimeter with Rangefinder

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Via: Daily Mail:

At 3pm Crooks triggered a metal detector as he tried to gain access to the site, and was found to be carrying a rangefinder – a gun sight typically used by hunters and marksmen preparing to shoot at distance.

But security officers allowed him in while keeping an eye on him until he left the secure area a short time later, the official said.

He then fell off the radar until shortly before 5.45pm when an officer with the Beaver County Police Department saw him acting suspiciously near the outer perimeter and took a photograph.

It’s really snowballing now.

As the call for backup went out and the police were searching for the suspect (Crooks)—previously observed using a rangefinder—Secret Service let Trump continue on the stage…

Via: CBS:

A sniper from a local tactical team deployed to assist the U.S. Secret Service at former President Donald Trump’s rally on Saturday took a picture of the gunman and saw him looking through a rangefinder minutes before he tried to assassinate the former president, a local law enforcement officer with direct knowledge of the events told CBS News.

The sniper was one of three snipers, members of local tactical teams, who were stationed inside the building that the shooter used in the attack, the officer said. The operations plan had them stationed inside, looking out windows toward the rally, scanning the crowd. The details about the three snipers were first reported by the local news outlet BeaverCountian.com.

One sniper inside spotted the gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, outside and looking up at the roof, observing the building and disappearing, according to the officer who spoke to CBS News. The sniper observed Crooks as he returned to the building, sat down and looked at his phone. At that point, one of the local snipers took a picture of Crooks.

Next, the local sniper observed Crooks looking through a rangefinder, an instrument routinely used by marksmen to determine the distance of a target, and he immediately radioed to the command post, according to the local law enforcement officer. The local sniper also attempted to send the photo of the gunman up the chain of command.

The command post, according to multiple law enforcement officials, served as a central hub to streamline communications between U.S. Secret Service and the local officers from nearby state and county police forces. It is unclear if the command post received the alert.

Officials then lost track of Crooks, who disappeared, but soon returned for a third time with a backpack. The local sniper team called for backup — alerting the command post that the gunman had a backpack and was walking toward the back of the building.

By the time other local officers responded to the backup request, the gunman had scaled the building, positioning himself above and behind the local snipers inside the building, according to the officer.

Two other municipal police officers who heard the call for backup attempted to climb onto the roof. Butler County Sheriff Michael Sloupe told CBS Pittsburgh station KDKA that an armed municipal officer with Butler Township was hoisted by another officer onto the roof of the building where the gunman had taken a position. Crooks focused his rifle towards the officer who ultimately let go, falling off the roof. Moments later, the shooter began firing into the crowd.

A U.S. Secret Service sniper stationed in a building behind the former president fired off one round, according to multiple law enforcement officials, killing the gunman. Two federal law enforcement officers told CBS News the Secret Service team that ultimately killed the shooter was located on a building behind Trump’s left shoulder.

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