Secret Service investigates how Trump shooter got so close: NPR

Police snipers return fire after shots were fired during a speech by former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday.

Gene J. Puskar/AP

Hide caption

Show/hide label

Gene J. Puskar/AP

The U.S. Secret Service is investigating how a gunman armed with an AR-style rifle was able to get close enough to shoot and wound former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, fulfilling one of its core missions in a monumental way.

The gunman, who was killed by Secret Service agents, fired several shots at the stage from an “elevated position outside the rally site,” the agency said.

An Associated Press analysis of more than a dozen videos and photos of Trump’s rally, as well as satellite images of the site, shows the gunman came astonishingly close to the stage where the former president was speaking. A video posted on social media and geolocated by AP shows the body of a man in gray camouflage clothing lying motionless on the roof of a factory north of the Butler Farm Show grounds where Trump’s rally was held.

The roof was less than 150 meters from where Trump was speaking, a distance from which a good marksman could easily hit a human-sized target. For reference, 150 meters is the distance from which U.S. Army recruits must hit a human-sized silhouette to qualify with the M16 assault rifle in basic training. The AR-15, as carried by the shooter at the Trump rally, is the semi-automatic civilian version of the military M16.

The FBI identified the shooter early Sunday as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.

The Secret Service was not present at a late-night press conference where FBI and Pennsylvania State Police officials updated reporters on the shooting investigation. FBI Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek said it was “surprising” that the gunman was able to fire on the stage before he was killed.

Members of the Secret Service sniper and counter-assault teams were at the rally, according to two law enforcement officials. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss details of the investigation.

The heavily armed Counter Assault Team, whose Secret Service code name is “Hawkeye,” is responsible for eliminating threats so that other agents can shield and take away the person they are protecting. The Counter Sniper Team, known by the code name “Hercules,” uses long-range binoculars and is equipped with sniper rifles to engage threats from long distances.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said his department and the Secret Service are working with law enforcement to investigate the shooting. The safety of presidential candidates and their campaign events is one of the department’s “most important priorities,” he said.

“We condemn this violence in the strongest possible terms and commend the Secret Service for its swift action today,” Mayorkas said. “We are in communication with President Biden, former President Trump, and their campaign teams and are taking every possible measure to ensure their safety.”

Calls for an investigation came from all sides.

James Comer, a Kentucky Republican who chairs the House Oversight Committee, said he has contacted the service for a briefing and asked Director Kimberly Cheatle to attend a hearing. Comer said his committee will send out a formal invitation soon.

“Political violence in any form is un-American and unacceptable. There are many questions and Americans demand answers,” Comer said in a statement.

New York Democrat Ritchie Torres, a US representative, called for an investigation into the “security deficiencies” at the rally.

“The federal government must continually learn from security mistakes to avoid recurrence, especially when those mistakes have national implications,” Torres said.

Wisconsin’s Democratic governor, Tony Evers, posted on X that he and his staff were in contact with security planners ahead of the Republican National Convention, which begins in Milwaukee on Monday. “We cannot be a country that accepts political violence of any kind – that is not consistent with who we are as Americans,” Evers said.

The FBI said it will lead the investigation into the shooting, working with the Secret Service and local and state law enforcement.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department would “bring all available resources to this investigation.”

“My thoughts are with the former president, those injured and the family of the bystander killed in this horrific attack,” Garland said in a statement. “We will not tolerate violence of any kind, and violence like this is an attack on our democracy.”