A police officer tried to stop Thomas Matthew Crooks, the sniper who wounded Donald Trump, but failed. The 20-year-old opened fire during the former president’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, shooting from the roof of a building 93 miles from Trump’s stage. Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe described to CNN how a police officer attempted to intervene.
Law enforcement received a report of a suspicious person outside the security perimeter: initially, no information on possession of a weapon. Officers located a person on the roof of a building. One officer helped another officer climb up to check the situation. Crooks then turned and aimed his AR 45 at the officer who stepped back for cover and saved his life. The sniper then opened fire.
Slope admitted that “obviously” there was a lapse in the security apparatus: only this explains the freedom with which Crooks climbed onto a building from which he had a completely unobstructed view to shoot the former president.
“It’s being investigated, and we’ll find out eventually,” he said. Local police apparently had not received any intelligence or specific warnings about the rally, which Trump’s campaign announced on July 3. A week ago, the Secret Service, state police, local police, bomb squad and other agencies met to discuss roles and responsibilities. If he had known about any threats, the sheriff would have done “everything to keep” Trump “from coming out.”
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