Video shows Trump shooter crawling on roof as onlookers alert police

A shocking video shows would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks climbing onto the roof from which he shot former President Donald Trump – as panicked onlookers alert nearby police officers to his presence.

In a video shared on X, concerned attendees at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, can be seen watching Crooks, 20, climb onto the roof of a factory about 400 feet from where Trump was due to speak. During the 52-second clip, they grow increasingly frustrated as police ignore their alarm.

“Look, they’re all pointing at Crooks,” says the man behind the video camera. People are pointing at Crooks and looking directly at him, who is clearly visible on the roof.

“Yes, there is someone up there on the roof. There he is,” he says, while the others shout: “Here, up there on the roof!”

Trump can be heard making his remarks in the background as the camera zooms in on Crooks lying on his stomach on the roof.

Several people can be seen looking at the shooter and making comments about him, but the police do not appear to take any action to confront Crooks, and Trump is allowed to continue speaking.

“Officer!” a man is heard shouting before a woman jumps in and screams in a panicked tone: “He’s on the roof!”

Another person then shouts, “He’s getting up now!” as the footage shows Crooks sliding forward on his stomach.

In a large part of the one-minute video, the crooks can be seen completely in the picture. The police hardly seem to address the concerns of the viewers.

It was not immediately clear whether the police officers who called the demonstrators and who are not seen in the video intervened immediately.

The video emerged amid reports that a local police officer spotted Crooks moments before he attempted to kill former President Donald Trump but was unable to stop him.

After protesters spotted Crooks on the roof of the factory, an officer climbed a ladder to investigate, police officials told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The officer – whose department had been recruited by the Secret Service to assist with security – encountered Crooks, who pointed his AR rifle at them.

The officer then backed down the ladder, and Crooks immediately took aim and fired about eight shots at the former president – grazing him in the ear, killing a heroic volunteer firefighter in the crowd and seriously wounding two others, the source said.

Immediately after he came under fire, Secret Service agents arrested Crooks.

Why the crooks targeted the former president was not immediately clear on Sunday.

Law enforcement sources said as of Sunday there was no known manifesto or clear motive posted by the shooter online.