A photo of the 20-year-old shooter taken through the lens of a Secret Service sniper rifle scope approximately one hour before the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump has surfaced.
Thomas Matthew Crooks was seen crawling on the ground, searching for a prime vantage point to get the best view shortly before Trump took the stage.
An exclusive photo obtained by the New York Post shows Crooks wearing glasses and looking to his left, almost behind him, toward the photographer, with his hands on the ground. The photograph was taken around 5:30 p.m. local time and sent to law enforcement, highlighting suspicious activity, according to the outlet.
An officer attempted to locate Crooks at the spot where the photo was taken but could not find him, the report said.
Around 6:11 p.m., Crooks began firing from his AR-15-style weapon from a roof about 400 feet away from where the stage was located, grazing Trump’s left ear before he went to the ground and was immediately covered by Secret Service agents.
Chilling photo of would-be Trump shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks taken by sniper nearly an hour before attempted assassination https://t.co/txJ8UE5TT2 pic.twitter.com/QM1bNBgPUQ
— New York Post (@nypost) July 17, 2024
Postmortem photos show Crooks’ lifeless body, which was found near a cell phone and a remote detonator. Authorities believe these items were intended to activate explosives in his vehicle, potentially with the aim of causing an explosion that would distract them from his location.
When Crooks was photographed, he was observed using a rangefinder while simultaneously checking his phone, prompting additional questions as to why the officers did not promptly respond at that time. Hunters and target shooters commonly employ this device to calculate the distance and trajectory for long-range shots.
Investigators have proposed a working theory suggesting that the suspect initially headed to his vehicle to retrieve the rifle he’d stolen from his father. Just moments before the first shot was fired, a local officer spotted the suspect on the roof and attempted to apprehend him, only to retreat after the suspect pointed his firearm at them. Initial reports claimed the officer climbed a ladder to engage the suspect, but follow-on reports refuted that, saying he did not have a ladder and was being assisted to the roof by another officer. When Crooks turned to point his weapon at the officer, he could not engage with his own firearm because he was hanging onto the roof.
Several law enforcement officials and lawmakers briefed on the matter said that authorities looking into the assassination attempt told members of Congress on Wednesday that there was a 20-minute lag between when U.S. Secret Service snipers first spotted Crooks on the rooftop and when shots were fired at the former president.
The chronology was made public after sources informed ABC News that Crooks researched pictures of Trump and President Joe Biden on his phone. He also looked up the Trump rally dates in Butler and the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
The timeline that was given in the briefing was as follows, via ABC News:
5:10 p.m. Crooks was first identified as a person of interest
5:30 p.m. Crooks was spotted with a rangefinder
5:52 p.m. The Secret Service spotted Crooks on the roof.
6:02 p.m. Trump takes the stage
6:12 p.m. Crooks fires first shots
“From the time Crooks fired his first shot to the gunman being killed, it was just 26 seconds, according to law enforcement officials. Eleven seconds after the first shot, Secret Service countersnipers acquired their target — and 15 seconds after that, Crooks was shot dead,” ABC News reported.
“Briefers told lawmakers that Crooks purchased an ammunition box at a Walmart on July 5, two days after the rally was announced. On July 13, he went to the rally site in the morning, was there for an hour, and then left. He came back sometime in the early 5 p.m. hour and tried to enter the security perimeter,” the outlet added.
ABC continued: “New analysis by ABC News’ visual verification team reveals that one of two sniper teams posted atop buildings to the north and south behind the rally stage repositioned before the first gunshots were fired. At 6:09 p.m., three minutes before the first gunshots rang out, the sniper team on the roof of the building south of the stage, the furthest away from the shooter’s location, repositioned, turning from the south to the north in the direction of the shooter’s location.”
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