Butler SWAT operator’s shot delayed Trump rally gunman before Secret Service killed him: report

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A local sniper likely saved lives at former President Donald Trump’s rally in Butler Township last month when his only shot hit the attempted assassin’s gun.

A report from Louisiana Rep. Clay Higgins said a Butler SWAT operator fired the gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, from about 100 yards away. The shot struck the butt of the gunman’s rifle and fragmented in his face, neck and right shoulder area as the butt broke into pieces.

Crooks fell to the ground but recovered after a few seconds and got back up, the report said. The shot delayed the shooter long enough for a U.S. Secret Service sniper to fire the fatal shot.

Rep. Mike Kelly speaks on the attempted murder investigation

A Pennsylvania congressman who was in Butler Township for three days presented his preliminary report to the U.S. House of Representatives task force investigating the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly of Butler made that report public Thursday.

“The faith, trust and confidence that the American people should have has been severely shaken,” said Kelly, a Republican who represents Pennsylvania’s 16th District.

The Butler native and chairman of the U.S. House task force investigating the July 13 assassination attempt was present at the rally that day. Now, more than a month later, he has more questions than answers.

“All we know is that if they can’t give you a definitive answer, it’s because there was no definitive plan,” Kelly said.

Two weeks earlier, acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. testified before Congress. He showed a photograph of the AGR roof and insisted that local snipers in a nearby building should have seen the shooter on the roof.

Local police officers working the rally said they told the Secret Service they did not have enough staff to do so.

“I was disappointed, first of all, that someone in that position would make that assumption and say the problem was that the local guys didn’t do their job,” Kelly said.

“The police came to assist that day, not to replace the federal agents who were there,” Kelly added.

Eight minutes before the shooting, officers spotted the gunman moving between buildings at the AGR complex. That information was relayed from the county command post to the Secret Service’s independent command post.

At the same time, video shows panicked police and soldiers with guns in hand searching for the shooter as Trump speaks on stage.

“Why do you think former President Trump wasn’t removed from the stage?” KDKA-TV’s Jennifer Borrasso asked Kelly.

“I have no idea,” Kelly said.

Police were unable to reach the shooter before he fired eight shots, wounding Trump, David Dutch and Jim Copenhaver and killing Corey Comperatore.

“If they suspected there was someone who shouldn’t be there, they should keep them away. Corey would be alive today, the other two men who were injured would not be. The president would not have been injured.”