‘Shooter was moving roof to roof … ‘: Witnesses recount chilling moments before Trump’s assassination bid – Times of India



At the rally in Pennsylvania, where Donald Trump was attacked, two witnesses claimed to have seen the shooter. One witness described seeing the gunman moving across rooftops, seemingly scouting for the ideal position to target the former US president.
The FBI identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. Crooks, armed with an AR-style rifle, was killed by Secret Service agents after firing multiple shots at the stage from an elevated position outside the rally venue.
At the Pennsylvania rally where former US President Donald Trump was attacked, two witnesses claimed to have seen the shooter. One witness described seeing the gunman moving across rooftops, seemingly scouting for the ideal position to target the former US president.
The FBI identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. Crooks, armed with an AR-style rifle, was killed by Secret Service agents after firing multiple shots at the stage from an elevated position outside the rally venue.
The incident, where the gunman got close enough to injure Trump, is considered a significant security failure. The shooter was on a rooftop approximately “200 to 250 yards” from where Trump was addressing his supporters, according to US media reports.
An attendee, Ben Macer, said that he saw the gunman moving from roof to roof. He informed an officer about the shooter, who was positioned about “200 to 250 yards” away from the stage. Macer recounted, “When I turned around to go back to where I was, it was when the gunshots started, and then it was just chaos, and we all came running away.”
Another witness, Ryan Knight, from Butler, also saw the suspected shooter on top of the American Glass Research building. Knight said, “I walked over about 20 minutes before the shooting happened to stand along the fence line where Trump was. As I was doing that, I was right beside the AGR building, which had the shooter on it.”
He added that someone nearby exclaimed about the gunman, and then Knight saw the shooter aiming at Trump with an M16. “Four to five shots rang out,” he said, before the shooter was killed by the Secret Service.
The Secret Service confirmed that one attendee was killed and two others were critically injured in the incident.
“When I was sitting there, a guy said, ‘Oh God, he had a gun.’ When I looked up, there was a guy on top of the building with an M16 with a blanket, pointing at the president. He starts shooting. Four to five shots rang out. I throw the guy I’m with to the ground. I jump to the ground, I look up, and I see his head get split up from the shot from the Secret Service,” Knight said.





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