A police officer from the state of Pennsylvania spoke with lawmakers on Thursday where he stated that it was a bullet fired from the gun of a local operator that stopped Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old would-be assassin who tried to kill former president Donald Trump back in July, before the Secret Service was able to completely neutralize the threat.
Sgt. Edeward Lenz, from Adams Township Police Department, offered testimony during a House hearing before the House Trump Assassination Attempt Task Force, which has the mission of looking into the incident that occurred in July.
“Across the two counter assault teams, the quick reaction force, three sniper teams and support personnel, we provided total manpower of 44 persons, exceeding the number requested by the Secret Service,” Lenz, a commander with the Butler County Emergency Services Unit (ESU), went on to say in his opening statement. “At no point during the planning process was Butler County ESU asked to secure the AGR complex, nor the perimeter surrounding that area. At no point during the planning process was Butler ESU asked to deploy a sniper team to the roof of the AGR complex.”
via Fox News:
Butler County snipers inside the AGR building could not see the shooter from the roof of the AGR complex, nor was that part of their duties for the day, Lenz added. A member of the quick 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 suspicious male near the AGR building and a photo of the shooter using a range finder pointing toward the stage, who was later identified as Crooks.
The sniper reported that information to the Pennsylvania State Police, Lenz explained. The FBI previously said this sighting occurred around 5:10 p.m. on July 13, one hour and one minute before Crooks began shooting.
Soon afterward, when it became clear that a threat was on the roof of the AGR building, an operator with Butler County ESU exited the red barn from behind the stage where Trump was speaking and monitored the AGR building area, Lenz said. He “quickly identified” where the shots were coming from, located the shooter, and fired one round at Crooks with his rifle, “which caused the shooter to recoil and briefly fall out of sight,” the Adams Township officer testified.
“He did this less than six seconds after shots began… at a distance of approximately 110 yards,” Lenz revealed during his testimony. A counter sniper with the Secret Service then fired the shot that killed Crooks. Previously, the FBI had told the media during a press call that the Secret Service counter sniper fired off the fatal round that took out Crooks roughly 15.5 seconds after Crooks began firing. The bureau also said at that time the local officer who fired a round missed the shooter.
“Regarding the round fired by the local officer, we have no forensic evidence indicating that that round either struck our subject or the subject’s rifle,” FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek stated back in August.
The Task Force on Thursday heard testimony from three local Pennsylvania law enforcement officials, including Lenz, who provided security protection at the July 13 rally; the medical examiner who conducted Crooks’ autopsy; and a retired Secret Service agent.
Witnesses largely suggested that the Secret Service’s lack of direction given to local agencies ultimately led to the security failures that allowed 20-year-old Crooks to position himself on a nearby rooftop and fire at the former president, striking him in the ear and killing rally attendee Corey Comperatore. Two other attendees, David Dutch and James Copenhaver, were critically wounded by Crooks’ gunfire.
“If we knew there was a suspicious person out there… why in the world would you let President Trump go on that platform?” Task Force Chairman Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Penn., went on to ask while delivering his opening remarks.
Current Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe released a statement about the hearing Thursday saying, “We thank Congress for addressing some of the U.S. Secret Service’s most immediate needs in this heightened threat environment. This short-term funding will better equip the U.S. Secret Service to enhance security measures in the months ahead. We look forward to working with Congress on full-year funding to deliver the additional personnel, technology, and equipment our workforce needs to do their jobs.”