Trump shooting live updates: Photos show suspect 1 hour before shooting
A comprehensive timeline of the attempted assassination suggests the ingredients were there to have potentially thwarted the attack as late as six minutes before the first shot was fired.
The timeline, reviewed by ABC News, said a member of a local SWAT team from Beaver County, Pennsylvania, first spotted the suspect, Thomas Matthew Crooks, at 5:10 p.m. Saturday — about one hour before the shooting — when he walked by a window. The team was comprised of eight snipers and spotters and had been in position since 10:30 a.m.
At 5:14 p.m., a member of the Beaver County sniper team took Crooks’ photo.
Police snipers photographed Crooks outside the AGR building at 5:14pm.
Obtained by ABC News
Police snipers photographed Thomas Matthew Crooks outside the AGR building at 5:14pm.
Obtained by ABC News
At 5:28 p.m., he took a photo of a bicycle and backpack.
Police photographed a bicycle and backpack at 5:28pm.
Obtained by ABC News
At 5:32 p.m., a sniper saw Crooks looking at news feeds on his phone and noticed he had a range finder. The sniper flagged the suspicious activity in a group text and received a response saying, “Call into command.” The sniper did as instructed at 5:41 p.m. and communicated a description of the suspect lurking around the AGR Building, the roof of which Crooks ultimately used as a perch.
At about 6 p.m., police sought information about the suspect’s direction of travel. At 6:05 p.m., Crooks was spotted at picnic tables carrying a backpack, and that information was relayed over the radio.
At 6:05 p.m., Trump walked onto the stage.
At 6:06 p.m., the sniper who first noticed Crooks left his position and went to meet patrol officers to let them know the suspect was around the building on the side of the fairgrounds. One marked vehicle and an unmarked vehicle moved into position.
At 6:12 p.m., shots were fired.
Police climbed onto the roof and confirmed the suspect dead at 6:32 p.m. A search of Crooks’ pockets turned up a phone and a transmitter device.
After Thomas Matthew Crooks is shot and killed, police photographed the roof, Crooks’ body, and objects on the roof, including a black cell phone and a gray wireless transmitter.
Obtained by ABC News
The timeline does not reveal who received the information and whether concerns a suspicious person and possible threat were transmitted to Secret Service commanders on site, who could have delayed Trump’s entry into the rally or opted to take additional security steps.
-ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik, Josh Margolin, Aaron Katersky and Chris Looft
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