On Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania, a local police officer faced a critical situation when he encountered the gunman on a rooftop aiming at former President Donald Trump. The confrontation, described by Butler’s town manager Tom Knights, unfolded rapidly. In an interview with NBC News’ Stephanie Gosk, Knights detailed the officer’s actions and the intense moments that followed.

“One of our officers was actually boosted up to the roof by another, and when he pulled himself up, he did in fact see an individual on the roof with a weapon.” This sighting set off a series of responses as the officers realized the immediate threat to the former president.

“He saw the shooter?” asked Gosk. “He did,” Knights confirmed. “Turned towards him, had the barrel of his weapon pointed at the officer.” At this critical time, the officer was clinging to the roof’s edge unable to draw his weapon or access his radio.

The situation escalated as the officer made a split-second decision. “Strictly a defensive movement for him to lower his head, duck, and ultimately he lost his grip, falling about eight feet to the ground,” Knights explained. This fall resulted in injuries. The alert was broadcast over a “blanket tactical channel,” ensuring all units were aware of the immediate danger.

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The officer who confronted Thomas Matthew Crooks on the roof radioed a “blanket tactical channel” that there was “an individual on the roof with a weapon” before the assassination attempt on President Trump.

Why wasn’t President Trump immediately evacuated?

Was the Secret… pic.twitter.com/c2J0KlQEwF

— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) July 17, 2024

However, the timing between the radio alert and the actual shooting attempt remains unclear, a detail that investigators are still trying to determine. “How much time between that radio communication and the gun being fired at the former president?” asked Gosk.

“I don’t have that information,” Knights said.

“Once the suspicious individual was identified as being in the vicinity of the AGR building, our police, who were primarily assigned to traffic duty and traffic control, did in fact, because of proximity, move towards that building to try to find and identify,” Knights explained in a separate interview.

Saturday’s tragic incident sparked a blame game among various law enforcement agencies over security lapses at the building utilized by the assailant. While the Secret Service has pointed fingers at local authorities, it has refrained from naming specific agencies involved.

“There has, to the best of my knowledge, not been any direct communication with members of the Secret Service to our officials,” he continued. “There are ongoing interviews with all law enforcement that were at the event, regardless of what their roles were.”

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Knights also touched on the community’s reaction and the intense scrutiny the police force faced following the incident. “I think our law enforcement did exactly what training taught them to do, and they did their job. How subsequent events played out, that’s another thing for what I hope to be a really complete report on the incident to educate everybody.”

Kimberly Cheatle, the Director of the Secret Service, has acknowledged her responsibility for the security breach during an assassination attempt on Trump but indicated she does not intend to resign. In response, Republican members of Congress have summoned her to testify next week. FBI technicians at their Quantico, Virginia lab are examining the gunman’s texts, emails, and additional data to uncover motives.

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Last Saturday, 20-year-old Thomas Crooks fired an AR-style rifle barely missing former President Donald Trump. The bullet grazed Trump, an incident that led to his appearance at the Republican National Convention on Monday with a bandaged ear. Amidst roaring chants of “fight” from the audience—a sentiment echoed by Trump himself after the attack—Crooks’ attempt on the former president’s life was thwarted by a Secret Service sniper.

Before his violent act placed him on the grim list of attempted presidential assassins in U.S. history, Crooks had kept a low profile, seemingly blending into the background. Jim Knapp, the former guidance counselor of the gunman at Bethel Park High School in the suburbs south of Pittsburgh, described Crooks as a solitary figure during his school days.

“He just wanted to stay by himself,” Knapp recalled to The New York Times, noting that Crooks often chose to sit alone at lunch in the cafeteria, focused on his phone rather than interacting with his peers. Former classmates shared consistent memories of Crooks, painting him as an intelligent yet reclusive figure who navigated the school corridors with his head bowed and seldom participated in class discussions.

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Despite his quiet demeanor, they affirmed that he never exhibited violent tendencies or made threats. “He didn’t want attention, good or negative,” said Julianna Grooms, 19, who first noticed Crooks during their freshman year. During their freshman year, Crooks was conspicuous in his wide-legged jeans and SpongeBob T-shirts. Grooms recalled that some students mocked him for his hygiene and his reserved demeanor.

“Those other kids would always say, ‘Hey, look at the school shooter over there!’ They would tease him about his poor hygiene, his body odor. He was an easy target,” she explained.

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The Bethel Park School District confirmed Crooks graduated in 2022, though it withheld further details about his academic record. A video shared with TMZ captured a moment from his school days, showing classmates bothering him during a class.

In the footage, Crooks, seated at his desk, is visibly agitated as a classmate tugs at his trouser leg, prompting him to repeatedly say, “Stop, you’re pulling my leg,” while laughter can be heard from the person recording the incident.

Anna Dusch, 20, recalled sharing an Advanced Placement American government class with Crooks during their senior year, a period when classes had resumed normally following pandemic-related disruptions like virtual learning and staggered schedules. Dusch noted that Crooks was well-versed in the class material but remained private about his political leanings.

“I would’ve never known who he was voting for,” she mentioned to The Times. “He seemed to be really intelligent. If there was a fact to be said, he knew it.”

She observed that Crooks mostly kept to himself and, despite his somewhat unusual demeanor, never gave her any cause for concern. “He was a little bit odd, but I never would’ve suspected this,” Dusch added. “I don’t think any of us knew who he was.”

“Their class was so traumatized from it. All of these kids were really isolated,” noted Jill Bortz, whose son also went to the same school. “Those are the prime years. That’s not going to work for every kid, you know?”

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