The shooting took place at 6:11 pm and a member of Beaver County’s ESU team had noticed a suspicious man on a nearby roof at around 5:45 pm. He had called it in and took a picture of Crooks.
Thomas Matthew Crooks was spotted by police officers nearly 30 minutes before he fired at Donald Trump and into the crowd on Saturday, according to a new report from News 11.
Law enforcement sources told the outlet that leading up to the assassination attempt on Trump, Crooks was spotted almost 30 minutes before the incident took place. The shooting took place at 6:11 pm and a member of Beaver County’s ESU team had noticed a suspicious man on a nearby roof at around 5:45 pm. He had called it in and took a picture of Crooks.
26 minutes later, Crooks was on the building about 150 yards away from Trump and fired several shots before being killed by Secret Service snipers. Trump was struck in the ear, two attendees were critically injured, and rallygoer Corey Comperatore was shot and killed.
The sources told the outlet that an officer checked the grounds for Crooks at that point, however, did not see him in the location of the picture that was taken originally. Witnesses said that they had seen Crooks on the building and tried to alert authorities. The building's roof has now been reported to have been a police officer staging area to provide overwatch security for the event.
Some left-wing activists were later critical of the shooter for missing Trump's head and not finishing the job. "How do you miss" as well as "one job" trended on X after Trump narrowly survived the attempted assassination. Questions surrounding the quality of the Secret Service and the security at the rally have cropped up as a result of the incident.
Libby’s Desk
Commentary and must-reads from Libby’s desk, straight to your inbox.
TPM Newsletter
The Post Millennial’s top stories, delivered to your inbox.
