Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, reportedly fired at Donald Trump eight times before being killed
More footage from July 13 is circulating online after a U.S. senator shared a video on X, showing the body of the shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks on the rooftop after he was killed by law enforcement.
An off-camera voice, which appears to be that of the officer wearing the body camera, can be heard explaining to a man in a suit that a sniper had noticed Crooks, and had taken and shared photos of him, but had then “lost sight of him.”
“Bodycam footage provides more info than Secret Service will share (with) America. We NEED detailed answers ASAP on security failures. TRANSPARENCY BRINGS ACCOUNTABILITY,” wrote Senator Chuck Grassley in his post on X on Tuesday.
The video was obtained from the Beaver County Emergency Services Unit in Pennsylvania in compliance with congressional requests, according to Grassley.
Information about the assassination attempt on July 13 has been trickling out, although a motive and a timeline of the day’s events are still unclear.
During the hours-long hearing, the commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police Col. Christopher L. Paris testified. He was asked how many rounds the shooter fired before he was killed.
“I believe that the number is eight. Eight casings have been recovered,” said Paris.
In another line of questioning, Paris was asked if the casings were all discovered in the vicinity of Crooks’ body.
“I’m told that they were,” he answered.
Politicians at the hearing tried to determine a more comprehensible sequence of events. It was revealed that two local officers had an interaction with Crooks roughly three minutes before the shooting.
“It became apparent at some point that (Crooks) was on the roof,” said Paris.
Two municipal officers went to the building and searched its perimeter. One officer gave the other a boost to try to gain access to the roof. While that officer was “hanging from the ledge,” Crooks approached.
“The municipal officer saw Crooks. Crooks saw him and Crooks turned and levelled the gun at him,” said Paris.
There were other law enforcement officers who were on the ground at that point, said Paris, but they were unable to see Crooks from their vantage point.
Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our newsletters here.