from Great Game India:
The FBI is investigating how Thomas Matthew Crooks, just 20 years old, managed to shoot at former President Donald Trump during a rally in Pennsylvania. Questions are being raised about how Crooks got onto a nearby building with a clear view of Trump, less than 150 meters away, despite security measures in place. The 3D recreated scene using videos and images, shows two sniper teams positioned on nearby rooftops. While it appears the view of the first sniper team may have been obstructed by trees, the second sniper team had a clear view of the shooter. This incident has prompted a critical review of security protocols, with experts and officials calling it a significant security lapse and demanding a thorough investigation into the matter.
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Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old citizen of Pennsylvania, was shot and killed by the Secret Service shortly after he opened fire at former president Donald Trump’s rally in Butler on Saturday night. But how did its most serious security breach in decades go unnoticed by a dedicated squad of counter snipers?
The two Secret Service countersniper teams may have first had difficulty seeing the shooter as he crawled up the roof due to its slanted sides, according to a Washington Post analysis based on more than 40 videos and photos, satellite imagery, and terrain analysis used to build a 3D model examining the rally site and shooter’s position. The shooter was perhaps partially obscured by trees close to the demonstration from at least one team assigned to detect and neutralize would-be snipers reports The Washington Post.
During an event, the overall coordination of security measures falls under the purview of the Secret Service. According to the director of the organization, local law police were supposed to secure the building where Crooks reportedly opened fire, but they failed to stop him from climbing to the roof.
When questioned if the trees and the roof’s slant would have affected the teams’ ability to react, the Secret Service chose not to answer.
Three former law enforcement personnel—two retired snipers, a former Secret Service agent, and a former marine sniper—reviewed and verified the Post’s assessments.
The pitch of the building’s roof, which rises approximately 3.5 feet from its external walls to its top, may have hindered both units, according to The Post’s 3D model. The research, which used a camera to see the teams’ eyes, predicted that Crooks would not have been seen as he made his way up the roof to reach his last shooting position. According to The Post’s reconstruction, two trees that stand between the suspect and the nearest Secret Service countersniper squad in terms of distance (just over 400 feet and atop a barn that is roughly 23 feet tall) may have made it more difficult for them to see him.
The Post’s reconstruction suggests that even though the second countersniper squad was farther away—roughly 550 feet—they would have had a less blocked view because of their somewhat westward positioning and the possibility that the trees were out of their line of sight.
Binoculars, which provide a wider field of vision than a rifle optic, are frequently used by countersniper teams to screen for threats, according to former officer Jason Lawless, who served as a sniper with the Tulsa Police Department’s Special Operations Team. However, the northernmost crew had moved to their rifle positions approximately two minutes before gunfire broke out, indicating that they were aware of a possible threat at that moment. When exactly Crooks was noticed by the Secret Service counter-snipers. is unknown.
Lawless stated, “If they’re on scope, they’ve been notified about something.” He said that one of the counter snipers on the northernmost team shuddered when Crooks fired his opening bullets, looked away from the sight, and repositioned.
Before Crooks is said to have fired, the southernmost countersniper team—which is shown in previous photos facing south—seemed to reposition northward, indicating that they were also aware of a threat.
The elevation of the two teams’ positions on the barn roofs was between five and eight feet higher than the rooftop where Crooks is said to have fired from. The Post’s model indicated that this meant that neither team was probably high enough to spot Crooks as he crawled up the other side of the roof.
The counter snipers might have been unable to see the slanted roof, according to a law enforcement officer with knowledge of the shooting. The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to an ongoing inquiry, claimed that the countersniper who killed Crooks had him in his sights for a short while attempting to determine whether he had a gun and posed a threat. The officer then shot Crooks seconds after Crooks fired.
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