The last photo taken of Thomas Matthew Crooks shows the 20-year-old gunman crawling on the ground, apparently scouting a location to shoot at former President Donald Trump almost an hour before the attack. In the photo, Crooks is seen with long brown hair and glasses, wearing a gray T-shirt featuring the popular gun YouTube channel Demolition Ranch.
The photo, taken by a Secret Service agent around 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, was circulated among law enforcement at Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, to report the suspicious activity, according to WXPI. Around 6:11 p.m., Crooks positioned himself on a slanted warehouse roof and fired at Trump from a distance of 165 yards.
Final Photo Gave Clues to Attack
Two more newly-released photos show Crooks' bicycle, which was found near the scene, and a remote detonator recovered from his body along with his cellphone. It was later revealed that the detonator was linked to explosives discovered in his car.
These latest revelations raise further questions about the Secret Service's handling of the situation, especially after their embattled chief, Kimberly Cheatle, bizarrely said that officials deemed the roof too risky a position to place an agent.
Crooks was behaving strangely near the metal detectors at least an hour before the assassination attempt and was later seen using a range finder.
On Tuesday, it was revealed that the shooter infiltrated the rally's security zone three hours before the attack, after driving 50 miles north from his home in Bethel Park, located on Pittsburgh's southern outskirts.
At 3:00 p.m., Crooks set off a metal detector while trying to enter the site and was found carrying a rangefinder, a device typically used by hunters and marksmen to prepare for long-distance shots.
Security officers allowed Crooks to enter the secure area, keeping an eye on him until he left a short time later, according to an official. He remained undetected until just before 5:45 p.m. when an officer from the Beaver County Police Department noticed him acting suspiciously near the outer perimeter and took a photograph.
Complete Security Lapse
On Monday, it was claimed that a police sniper team was stationed in the AGR International building and that they saw Crooks outside three times in the minutes leading up to the attack.
A law enforcement official told CBS that no action was taken when one of the snipers first noticed Crooks looking up at the building's roof, according to the Daily mail report.
Crooks disappeared around a corner but was seen again, sitting down and looking at his phone, prompting a sniper to take his picture. The sniper then radioed the command post after seeing Crooks take out his rangefinder.
Investigators believe that Crooks went to his car to retrieve the AR-style rifle he had stolen from his father, according to the outlet.
Just moments before Crooks aimed at Trump, a local police officer confronted him. Crooks pointed the rifle at the officer, who then dropped and fell eight feet down.
Although the bullet only grazed Trump's right ear, Crooks fatally shot firefighter and father Corey Comperatore, who was attending the rally with his wife and daughters.
The 50-year-old father shouted, "Get down!" and used his body to shield his family from the gunfire before being fatally shot, his grieving wife told The New York Post from her Sarver, Pennsylvania home on Monday.
Authorities have not yet disclosed a potential motive for the shooting, which also left two other rally attendees injured.
