The Pennsylvania man who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a July 13 campaign rally was spotted by law enforcement officials nearly 100 minutes before Trump walked on stage, according to emails obtained by The New York Times.
Among the emails were those from a counter-sniper from a local law enforcement agency who was going off duty at 4:19 p.m. on the day of the shooting and about 90 minutes before Trump, now the GOP presidential nominee, began speaking at the rally, in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The newspaper described the movements of the shooter, 20-year-old Matthew Crooks, as "often a step ahead of the Secret Service."
The local counter-sniper, who saw Crooks sitting at a picnic table, told his colleagues the unknown male at the time "knows you guys are up there" on the roof of one of the building in a cluster about 150 yards from rally from which Crooks fired.
By 5:10 p.m., Crooks left the picnic table and took a position below the counter-snipers. One counter-sniper photographed him.
The counter-sniper shared the pictures with other officers at 5:38 p.m., along with a message that Crooks possessed a rangefinder and a suggestion that a uniformed officer "check it out."
At 6:11 p.m., Crooks was fatally shot by a Secret Service counter-sniper after firing eight shots, killing on and wounding three including Trump.
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