A series of shocking details about the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump were revealed during a hearing before the US Department of Homeland Security.
The hearing was chaired by the US House Oversight Committee on July 23 (local time), just one day after Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned due to the attempted assassination of Mr. Trump.
Mr. Trump was shot multiple times while giving a campaign speech to a crowd of supporters in Butler City, Pennsylvania, USA on the afternoon of July 13. The suspect was identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20 years old, who fired at Mr. Trump from a distance of more than 100 meters, causing him to bleed from his right ear.
At the hearing before the US House Oversight Committee, Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Christopher Paris made shocking public statements.
Police Leave Position to Search for Suspect Crooks
According to Christopher Paris, two Butler ESU officers left their vantage point on the roof where Crooks climbed, aiming at former President Trump before opening fire.
“They left their assigned position to look for a suspicious individual. They were the ones who first spotted Crooks and alerted other law enforcement agencies,” Paris said.
“So did those ESU officers leave the building where they could look out the window to look for Crooks?” Rep. Dan Bishop, R-Pa., asked the Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner.
“That’s my understanding,” Paris said, adding that the two ESU officers went searching with other local police in the area. “I can’t answer a minute-by-minute timeline because we don’t have that timeline yet.”
The North Carolina congressman also asked whether they would have seen Crooks climb onto the roof if the two officers had not left their posts. Paris said he did not know.
Crooks fired eight shots
Investigators believe Crooks fired eight shots before he was killed by a Secret Service sniper.
“I believe the suspect fired eight shots,” Paris said at the hearing. “Eight shell casings were recovered at the scene.”
Officials had previously confirmed that the suspect fired multiple shots at the Trump rally.
Paris also told lawmakers that ESU was responsible for securing the building where Crooks opened fire.
Police Confront Suspect Crooks on Roof
An ESU officer confronted Crooks for several minutes on the roof before he opened fire on Trump, according to the Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner.
The confrontation lasted just a few minutes. Two ESU officers learned of Crooks’ location on the roof and attempted to climb up and confront the suspect.
At that point, Crooks pointed a gun at one of the officers, who fell to the ground.
Paris told lawmakers that Crooks was on the roof for about three minutes but was only confronted by police for a few seconds before he opened fire on former President Trump.
“Whether or when this was referred to the Secret Service or other law enforcement agencies is still under investigation,” Paris added.
Communications between Secret Service and local police
Paris also detailed conversations between law enforcement about Crooks before Trump took the stage.
According to Paris, “there was an exchange of text messages” between ESU members, in which one member said he spotted Crooks and reported him as a suspicious individual. “Suspicion was heightened when the ESU member used a rangefinder on Crooks,” he said.
Pennsylvania State Police later received calls and text messages from ESU about Crooks’s activities and forwarded them to the Secret Service.
The shocking shooting only injured former President Donald Trump but left one audience member dead and two others injured.
