U.S. News: Shooting Spotlights Role of Local Police

"From his second-row seat at Donald Trump's Pennsylvania campaign rally on Saturday, Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe heard a "bam-bam-bam" as the former president was speaking, and at first he thought about a complaint lodged earlier in the day about fireworks near the site.

Slupe said he learned later that a local police officer spotted gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks before he opened fire but was unable to stop him. The officer was helped by a colleague onto the roof where Crooks was positioned, but when Crooks turned toward him, the officer dropped to the ground, Slupe said.

"I understand that he or someone that was with him radioed, 'Gun, gun, gun, gun,'" Slupe said. "And of course, by that time it was too late."

In the days since the attempted assassination, the Secret Service has faced an onslaught of questions about how a gunman reached the roof of a building about 400 feet from the rally stage. But state and local law enforcement, which held key responsibilities in securing the event, are in the spotlight as well.

Among the questions for the several investigations now under way: How did the Secret Service coordinate and communicate with local officers before and during the event? And what went so wrong that the former president came within inches of losing his life?

One detail became clearer Monday: The Secret Service said local law enforcement was in charge of securing the building, belonging to American Glass Research, where Crooks was perched.

"While the Secret Service is ultimately responsible for ensuring the safety of the former president, that particular building that was outside of the perimeter of the event was secured by the local police authorities," Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.

The service in a later statement it posted Tuesday sought to clarify that it wasn't blaming its local partners for the incident.

The Secret Service generally takes a multitiered approach to securing events. Its own agents take charge in securing the inner circle surrounding the protectee. Local officers assist with crowd control and are often tasked with securing structures outside the security perimeter during events, former agents said.

As part of its defense against longer-range threats, the Secret Service uses counter-sniper teams, typically composed of a shooter and a spotter. In advance of events, the Secret Service routinely visits nearby businesses and buildings, but also relies on local authorities as experts on securing the surroundings.

"They're going to know the alleys, the roadways," Guglielmi said.

The Butler County Sheriff's Office, the Pennsylvania State Police and the Butler Township Police Department were among those that worked with the Secret Service on Saturday to secure the farm show grounds where Trump spoke. The neighboring Beaver County also provided a SWAT team, a spokesman said.

The state police has said it was taking cues from the Secret Service for the rally's security and provided all resources requested by the federal agency.

"We work with them to provide whatever is requested," said Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens at a briefing on Sunday. "But they're the lead."

Securing the building used by the gunman wasn't part of the state police department's duties, a spokesman said Monday.

The state police department provided 30 to 40 troopers to help with securing the inside perimeter of the rally, he said.

Eyewitnesses said they spotted the gunman crawling around on the roof of the building armed with a rifle and alerted police.

"Someone's on top of the roof -- look," one person is heard saying in video footage of the minutes before shots rang out. "There he is -- right there."

In an ABC News interview, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said that a "very short period of time" passed between the suspect being spotted and him firing off shots at Trump.

"Seeking that person out, finding them, identifying them, and eventually neutralizing them took place in a very short period of time, and it makes it very difficult," she said.

The Secret Service didn't station agents on the top of the building Crooks used because it had a sloped roof and that created a safety risk, Cheatle said.

"The buck stops with me," Cheatle told the network. "I am the director of the Secret Service, and I need to make sure that we are performing a review and that we are giving resources to our personnel as necessary."" [1]

1. U.S. News: Shooting Spotlights Role of Local Police. Wolfe, Jan; C. Ryan Barber.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 17 July 2024: A.3.