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.
At 4:26 p.m. — nearly two hours before the shooting began — a sniper leaving the area where local SWAT members assembled saw Crooks “sitting to the direct right on a picnic table about 50 yards from the exit,” the text message said.
Thomas Crooks was skulking around.
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“We were supposed to get a face-to-face briefing with the Secret Service members whenever they arrived, and that never happened,” said Jason Woods, lead sharpshooter on the SWAT team in Beaver County, Pennsylvania.
The Secret Service, whose on-site team was supplemented as usual by local, county, and state law-enforcement agencies, was ultimately responsible for security at the event. The Washington Post reported over the weekend that Secret Service agents have complained they were not made aware of the warnings.
“So I think that was probably a pivotal point, where I started thinking things were wrong because it never happened,” Woods said. “We had no communication.”
Beaver County Chief Detective Patrick Young, who runs the Emergency Services Unit and SWAT team, said collaboration is key when lives are on the line.
“I believe our team did everything humanly possible that day,” Young said. “We talk a lot SWAT that we as individuals mean nothing until we come together as a team.”
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