Local SWAT snipers observed Trump rally gunman for nearly 2 hours prior to the assassination attempt. text messages reveal

Text messages show local snipers saw gunman sooner than was previously thought.

By Aaron Katersky, Sasha Pezenik, Leah Sarnoff

July 29, 2024, 02:35 03:35 AM

A local SWAT sniper noticed the suspected gunman at former President Donald Trump’s deadly campaign rally earlier than previously known, according to text messages obtained by ABC News.

On the 13th of July In what police have declared to be an attempt at assassination, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, fired at the scene at Butler, Pennsylvania, killing one person in the crowd, severely wounding two others, and leaving Trump bleeding from his right ear.

at 4:26 p.m. At 4:26 pm — more than two hours prior to when the shooting started — a sniper was leaving the area in which local SWAT members were gathered, observed Crooks “sitting at the exact right at a table on the picnic about 50 yards away from their exit.” in the message read.

View: ABC News’ exclusive first interview with the local SWAT team in the field during the attempted assassination of Trump is shown in full in its entirety on “Good Morning America” on July 29 beginning at 7 a.m. ET.

The text messages obtained were distributed among snipers within the American Glass Research (AGR) area of the building that was utilized as a staging zone for police officers from the local area, who were in the structure.

The sniper who alerted other snipers to the possibility that Crooks was in the vicinity noted that Crooks probably knew of the sniper’s position and wrote, “because you see me leave with my rifle and then place my vehicle in it and he’s aware that you are there.”

A little over an hour later and in the same time frame, according to ABC News previously reported, an individual from the group of snipers recognized Crooks as suspect — shortly thereafter the team called local command, alerting them of the presence of a suspicious person.

In their first remarks to the public after the attempted assassination the Beaver County SWAT team on the ground on that day as well as their officers spoke exclusively with ABC News Senior Investigative Correspondent Aaron Katersky.

This is the first time that any of the key police officers on the scene the 13th of July have provided the firsthand account of what happened.

“We were to receive an in-person briefing from Secret Service members whenever they showed up, but that was never the case,” said Jason Woods who is the lead sharpshooter of the SWAT team from Beaver County, Pennsylvania.

“So I’m thinking that this was a crucial point at which I began believing that something was wrong since the incident never took place,” Woods said. “We had no communication.”

The Secret Service, whose on-site team was augmented as usual by local police, county and state law enforcement agencies and state law enforcement agencies, was the sole responsible agency for the security of the ceremony. The Washington Post reported over the weekend that Secret Service agents have complained that they were not informed of warnings.

Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi did not respond directly to the statements made by Woods and his coworkers. The agency “is committed to gaining a better understanding of what transpired prior to and during the attempted assassination attempts by former president Trump in order to ensure that this never occurs again. That means full cooperation with Congress and in conjunction with FBI and other investigations that are relevant.”

Beaver County Chief Detective Patrick Young who is the head of his department’s Emergency Services Unit and SWAT team, said cooperation is essential when life is at stake.

“I believe our team accomplished all that was humanly possible in that moment,” Young said. “We frequently talk about SWAT that we, as individuals, have no value until we come together as a unit.”