A Pennsylvania police officer told lawmakers Thursday that a local operator’s bullet ultimately stopped failed assassination attempt shooter Thomas Crooks before the U.S. Secret Service shot him.
Adams Township Police Department Sgt. Edward Lenz’s testimony came Thursday morning during a hearing before the Trump Assassination Attempts Task Force, which is investigating the July 13 shooting of former President Trump, the first of two recent assassination attempts against him.
“With the two counter-assault teams, the quick reaction force, the three sniper teams and support personnel, we provided a total complement of 44 personnel, exceeding the number requested by the Secret Service,” Lenz, commander of the Butler County Emergency Services Unit (ESU), said in his opening remarks. “At no time during the planning process was Butler County ESU asked to secure the AGR Complex, nor the perimeter surrounding this area. At no time during the planning process was Butler County ESU Butler was only asked to deploy a sniper team to the roof of the AGR complex.”
Butler County snipers inside the AGR building could not see the shooter from the roof of the AGR complex, nor was it part of their duties for the day, Lenz added.
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From left to right: Sgt. Edward Lenz, commander of the Butler County Emergency Services Unit; Patrolman Drew Blasko of the Butler Township Police Department; Lt. John Herold of the Pennsylvania State Police; and former U.S. Secret Service agent Patrick Sullivan were sworn in at the first public hearing of a bipartisan congressional task force investigating assassination attempts against former President Trump at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Thursday . (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
A member of the rapid response force, however, noticed several suspicious people in the area, one of whom turned out to be the shooter.
A Beaver County sniper took a photo of the male suspect near the AGR building and a photo of the shooter using a rangefinder pointing at the scene, who was later identified as Crooks.
The sniper reported that information to Pennsylvania State Police, Lenz said. The FBI previously said this sighting occurred around 5:10 p.m. on July 13, an hour and a minute before Crooks began shooting.
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Thomas Crooks is seen at the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13. (Senator Ron Johnson)
Shortly afterward, when it became apparent that a threat was on the roof of the AGR building, a Butler County ESU operator came out of the Red Barn from behind the stage where Trump was speaking and monitored the AGR building area, Lenz said. He “quickly identified” the source of the shots, located the shooter and fired a round at Crooks with his rifle, “which caused the shooter to step back and fall briefly out of sight,” the witness testified. Officer of Adams Township.
“He did it less than six seconds after the shots started…at a distance of about 110 yards,” Lenz said.
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A Secret Service sniper then fired the fatal shot that incapacitated Crooks on the roof of the AGR building, where he was perched with a direct line of sight to Trump.
The FBI previously told reporters on a press call that the Secret Service counter-sniper fired the fatal bullet that killed Crooks about 15.5 seconds after Crooks began shooting. The FBI also noted at that time that the local officer who shot Crooks did not hit him.
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Sgt. Edward Lenz, commander of the Butler County Emergency Services Unit, testifies Thursday at the first public hearing of a bipartisan congressional task force investigating assassination attempts against former President Trump at Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
“Regarding the bullet fired by the local officer, we have no forensic evidence indicating that this bullet struck our subject or his rifle,” said FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek, in August.
The task force heard testimony Thursday from three local Pennsylvania law enforcement officials, including Lenz, who provided security at the July 13 rally; the medical examiner who performed Crooks’ autopsy; and a retired Secret Service agent.
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A graphic depiction of the sniper team’s position in relation to the would-be assassin at the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. (Fox News)
Witnesses have widely suggested that the Secret Service’s lack of direction to local agencies ultimately led to the security lapses that allowed Crooks, 20, to position himself on a nearby rooftop and shoot the former president, the knocking on the ear and killing the gathering. Corey Comperatore, attendee. Two other participants, David Dutch and James Copenhaver, were seriously injured by Crooks’ shots.
“If we knew there was a suspicious person there… why the hell would you let President Trump get on that platform?” asked the task force’s chairman, Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Penn., during his opening remarks.
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Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., is leading the first public hearing Thursday of a bipartisan congressional task force investigating assassination attempts against former President Trump at the Capitol in Washington, DC. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Rep. Jason Crow, Democrat of Colorado, said in his opening remarks that even though the Secret Service “failed on July 13,” the agency has more responsibility than ever since it took over protection full-time presidential election in 1902.
“The Secret Service should be expected to perform its protective mission flawlessly without any errors, but Congress must also ensure that the Secret Service has the resources it needs to accomplish that mission. It has become clear since July 13 that the Secret Service is stretched too thin,” Crow said.
Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe said in a statement Thursday: “We thank Congress for addressing some of the most immediate needs of the U.S. Secret Service in this heightened threat environment. This short-term funding will better equip the U.S. Secret Service to strengthen security measures in “
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On the day of the rally, Crooks parked his vehicle and flew a drone between approximately 3:50 p.m. and 4 p.m., approximately 200 yards from where the former president was scheduled to speak. Christopher Wray, Director of the FBI testified at a July 17 congressional hearing that Crooks had been at the rally site for about 70 minutes on the morning of the assassination attempt.
Investigators located eight boxes on the roof where Crooks fired the shots.
