Police chief says officers left their post to search for the shooter at a Trump rally before shooting

WASHINGTON (AP) – Two local police officers are stationed at the building complex where a gunman opened fire on former President Donald Trump The head of the Pennsylvania State Police said Tuesday he went out to search for the man before the shooting, raising questions about whether a key post was unguarded when the gunman climbed onto a roof.

Pennsylvania State Police Colonel Christopher Paris told a congressional committee that two officers from the Butler County Emergency Services Unit were stationed at a second-floor window of the AGR International Inc. building complex. They discovered Thomas Matthew Crooks They behaved suspiciously at the scene and left their post to search for him together with other police officers, he said.

Paris said he did not know if officers would have been able to see Crooks climb to the roof of an adjacent building if they had stayed at the window. Video taken by a deputy who visited the scene Monday shows a second-story window in the building provided a clear view of the roof from which Crooks opened fire. It was unclear if the video showed the window where officers were stationed.

Testimony by the Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner before the House Homeland Security Committee provides new insight into security arrangements for the July 13 Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, but raises further questions about law enforcement decisions before Crooks opened fire.

Richard Goldinger, Butler County district attorney and head of the emergency unit, did not immediately respond to a text message from The Associated Press on Tuesday. A Secret Service spokesman did not respond to questions from AP, including who gave the order for those officers to leave their posts.

The revelation comes amid growing questions about a Numerous security flaws This allowed the 20-year-old gunman to get onto the roof and fire eight shots from an AR-style rifle into the crowd shortly after Trump began speaking. One bystander was killed and two others were injured. Trump suffered an ear injury but was unharmed.

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned on Tuesdayone day after she insulted for hours by Democrats and Republicans over the intelligence community’s failure to protect the Republican presidential candidate. Cheatle told lawmakers on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee on Monday that the assassination attempt was the intelligence community’s “most significant operational failure” in decades.

The Homeland Security Committee also asked Cheatle to testify, but lawmakers said she declined. Cheatle’s name was on a card on a table in front of an empty chair during the hearing, which began shortly before her resignation decision was announced.

Several investigations into the shooting are underway by the Biden administration and the House. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said Tuesday they support a bipartisan task force to investigate the Trump assassination. The House could vote as early as Wednesday on establishing the task force, which will consist of seven Republicans and six Democrats.

Local police searched for Crooks after noticing his strange behavior and seeing him using a rangefinder, a small device similar to binoculars that hunters use to measure distance to a target. Officers did not find him near the building and a local officer climbed to the roof to investigate. The gunman turned and pointed his rifle at him. The officer did not fire a single shot – or could not. Crooks opened fire on the former president seconds later, officials said.

Cheatle acknowledged that the Secret Service had been notified of a suspicious person two to five times before the shooting, but that there was no indication at the time that that person was carrying a weapon. She also revealed that the rooftop from which Crooks opened fire was identified as a potential weak spot days before the rally. Cheatle said Trump would never have been brought on stage if the Secret Service had known the “actual threat,” but Crooks was not classified as a “threat” until seconds before he began his shooting.

Authorities are looking for clues to Crooks’ motives, but have been unable to find any ideological motives that could explain his actions. Investigators who searched his phone found photos of TrumpPresident Joe Biden and other senior administration officials. He also researched the dates of the Democratic National Convention and Trump’s appearances and looked for information on major depressive disorder.

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Lauer reported from Philadelphia. Associated Press reporters Michael R. Sisak in New York and Kevin Freking in Washington contributed.