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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.”

The officer who confronted Thomas Matthew Crooks on the roof radioed a "blanket tactical channel" that there was "an individual on the roof with a weapon" before the assassination attempt on President Trump.

Why wasn't President Trump immediately evacuated?

Was the Secret… pic.twitter.com/c2J0KlQEwF

— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) July 17, 2024

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

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.

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.