A team of local police snipers was deployed inside the building from the roof of which bomber Thomas Matthew Crooks fired shots, wounding former US President and current presidential candidate Donald Trump during a campaign rally, the New York Post reported, citing according to law enforcement sources, quoted by BTA.
The building in the city of Butler (Pennsylvania), which housed a factory for glass and plastic packaging, was used by the local police as an “observation“ for her snipers to watch for threats while the former president delivers a speech only about 110-120 meters away, the sources said. According to them, at the time of the shooting, the police officers were inside the building, but not on its roof.
Crooks was able to climb the building undisturbed before firing eight times, wounding Trump in the ear, killing one rally attendee and wounding two others.
The revelation comes after local media reported that Crooks was spotted in the building about half an hour before he opened fire - with one of the Beaver County police officers even taking a picture of him before the shooting.
Law enforcement sources said it was unclear whether any of the local officers - who were tasked with securing the perimeter around the rally - were able to alert US Secret Service agents to the shooter.
The newspaper added that one of the officers tried to search the roof a few minutes before the shooting began, but retreated when Crooks pointed a rifle at him.
According to US Secret Service spokesman Anthony Gugliemi, local police were responsible for securing the area from which the shooting took place. According to the sources, the police checked the site and the premises before the start of the Trump rally, but their officers did not go on the roof during the event for fear of interfering with the work of the snipers of the US Secret Service.
Neither Butler City Police, Pennsylvania State Police, nor Beaver County EMS responded to the publication's request for comment.