New text messages have cast further light on how Donald Trump’s would-be assassin managed to evade law enforcement officers on the day of the shooting – despite revealing that officers had first laid eyes on him more than 100 minutes before he opened fire.
The messages, obtained by The New York Times, show an iMessage exchange between several officers of the Beaver County Emergency Service Unit, who herald sniper capabilities , in the lead-up to gunman Thomas Crooks ’ deadly attack at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.
At 4.19pm, one countersniper texted his colleagues that he was done for the day.
“Guys I am out. Be safe,” he wrote, screenshots of the exchange show.
Minutes later at 4.26pm, he sent a follow-up message after spotting a young man – later identified as Crooks – sitting on a picnic table near the warehouse where the sniper team was stationed.
“Someone followed our lead and snuck in and parked by our cars just so you know,” he wrote.
“I’m just letting you know because you see me go out with my rifle and put it in my car so he knows you guys are up there sitting to the direct right on a picnic table about 50 yards from the exit.”
The messages were greeted with a thumbs up emoji at 4.27pm, before another officer said “roger that,” at 4.39pm.
Without knowing his specific identity, Crooks was firmly on the authorities’ radar well before Trump took to the stage – and it appears that law enforcement was also on Crooks’ radar too.
The text messages reveal more details about the specific timeline of the attack.
At 5.14pm, one officer took pictures of Crooks on the ground and sent them to the group.
By 5.38pm, just 33 minutes before the shooting, one sniper had “lost sight” of the gunman near the AGR International building.
“Kid learning around building we are in. AGR I believe it is. I did see him with a range finder looking towards stage. FYI. If you wanna notify SS [Secret Service] snipers to look out. I lost sight of him,” they wrote.
“Call it in to command and have a uniform check it out,” another officer replied, according to another message provided by Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley’s office to The New York Times .
At 6pm, three minutes before Trump took to the stage, Crooks was said to have headed away from the rally, back towards the AGR International building.
He abruptly changed course, clambering onto the low-slung structure – Building No. 6 – in a complex closest to the stage, text messages show.
Three minutes later, Trump took to the stage and was met with cheers from his crowd of supporters.
At 6.09pm, Crooks was spotted by members of the public on the roof which gave him a clear line of sight of Trump.
Two minutes later, the 20-year-old began firing a barrage of eight rounds from his AR-15 rifle toward Trump, striking the president in the ear, killing one rallygoer and wounding two others.
At 6.11pm, the gunman was shot dead by a Secret Service sniper.
The shooting is considered a catastrophic failure by the Secret Service, with the director Kimberly Cheatle resigning from her post following fierce criticism from lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle.
Last Wednesday, Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Chrisopher Paris testified before the House Oversight Committee that state police sent an alert and photo of Crooks to the Secret Service via a phone number it provided to state authorities.
Committee Chair Mark Green said he was “totally blown away” that authorities didn’t pull the event after receiving the warning while North Carolina Representative Dan Bishop slammed a “colossal failure” by the Secret Service.
While Crooks’ motive continues to be a mystery, new details continue to emerge about the gunman’s actions.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul told CBS’ Face the Nation on Sunday that Crooks was plotting a “diversion by blowing up his vehicle on the other side of the property, and then he could escape”.
He claimed that the gunman had a detonation device on his body and two bombs in his vehicle.
It also emrgd that, at around 3.50pm that day, Crooks had flown a drone for 11 minutes over a path about 200 yards from the podium where Trump would stand.
This was 36 minutes before law enforcement officers even became aware if his whereabouts.
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