Trouble Signs Ignored Minutes Before Trump Rally Shooting

United States: Minutes before shots were fired at Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania, signs of danger were already evident. Police had received a report about a suspicious man pacing near the magnetometers and were seen exchanging photos of the suspect.

Witnesses also alerted authorities to an armed man on a nearby roof. When a police officer climbed up to the roof to investigate, the gunman aimed his rifle at him, but the officer did not fire any shots.

Suspect’s Actions Lead to a Narrow Escape for Target

A sniper almost cut down a 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks within seconds of him firing an AR-style rifle towards the former president but it was too late and now the investigators are trying to painstakingly piece together how an armed man with no military background managed to reach the high grounds and get the jump on teams of Secret Service Agents.

Former Police Chief Criticizes Secret Service’s Handling of the Situation

Stan Kephart, who is a former police chief and served the two former presidents, said that the shooting was followed an “an absolute and abysmal failure” on the part of the Secret Service to protect Trump, and the agency is ultimately responsible for the candidate’s safety, he added.

“You don’t get to blame other people. They are under your control,” said Kephart, now a consulting expert on law enforcement event security.

Mayorkas Acknowledges Failures

AS reported by abc news, President Joe Biden has already ordered an independent investigation of the attempted assassination on Trump. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said he has “full confidence” in the Secret Service’s leadership, but he conceded that the gunman never should have reached that deadly position.

“We are speaking of a failure,” Mayorkas told CNN that They are going to analyse through an independent review how that occurred, why it occurred, and make recommendations and findings to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Witnesses Reported Suspicious Behaviour of the Gunman

Several rallygoers reported to local officers that Crooks was acting suspiciously and pacing near the magnetometers, as per the law enforcement official who talked on the condition of anonymity because that specific was not authorized to discuss the investigation.

It was a Butler Township police officer who encountered the gunman on the roof before the shooting. The officer was looking for the suspicious person when another officer hoisted him up so he could grab the edge of the roof, local officials said.

The FBI has said that it was investigating the attack as a potential act of the domestic terrorism, but the agency had not identified a clear ideological motive.