The U.S. Secret Service is currently investigating how a shooter armed with an AR-style rifle managed to get close enough to wound former President Donald Trump during a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, highlighting a significant failure of one of the agency’s main responsibilities.
The shooter, who was fatally shot by Secret Service personnel, fired multiple shots at the stage from an “elevated position outside of the rally venue,” according to the agency.
An analysis by the Associated Press of various videos, photos, and satellite imagery shows how the shooter managed to get remarkably close to the stage where the former president was speaking. A video shared on social media and verified by the AP shows the body of a man in gray camouflage clothing lying on the roof of a manufacturing plant just north of the Butler Farm Show grounds, the location of Trump’s rally.
The roof was less than 150 meters from where Trump was speaking, a distance from which a skilled marksman could easily hit a human-sized target. For comparison, 150 meters is the distance at which U.S. Army recruits must hit a scaled human-sized silhouette to qualify with the M16 assault rifle during basic training. The AR-15, the weapon used by the shooter at the Trump rally, is the civilian version of the military M16.
The FBI has identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.
During a late-night news conference, FBI and Pennsylvania State Police officials briefed reporters on the shooting investigation, noting the surprising nature of how the gunman was able to shoot at the stage before being neutralized.
Members of the Secret Service’s counter sniper team and counter assault team were present at the rally, as confirmed by law enforcement officials. The counter assault team, codenamed “Hawkeye,” is responsible for eliminating threats so that other agents can protect and remove the individual they are safeguarding. Meanwhile, the counter sniper team, known as “Hercules,” utilizes long-range binoculars and sniper rifles to address long-range threats.
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas assured that his department and the Secret Service are collaborating with law enforcement agencies to investigate the incident, emphasizing the critical priority of ensuring the security of presidential candidates and their campaign events.
Various individuals, including U.S. Reps. James Comer and Ritchie Torres, as well as Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, have called for investigations into the security lapses at the rally and stressed the importance of learning from such failures.
The shooting will be investigated by the FBI in coordination with the Secret Service, local law enforcement, and state authorities, with Attorney General Merrick Garland affirming the Justice Department’s commitment to bringing all available resources to this investigation and condemning the violence.
Associated Press writers Colleen Long and Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.
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