Secret Service Did Not Know Trump Shooter Had Gun Until Shots Fired: Official

The Secret Service’s acting director testified to the U.S. Senate on July 30.

Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. prepares to testify to the Senate in Washington on July 30, 2024. Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images

The Secret Service counter-snipers and personnel guarding former President Donald Trump on July 13 were both unaware that a man on the rooftop of a nearby building had a gun, the agency’s top official said on Tuesday.

“Neither the Secret Service counter-sniper teams, nor members of the former president’s security detail, had any knowledge that there was a man on the roof of the AGR building with a firearm,” Ronald Rowe Jr., the Secret Service’s acting director, told senators on Capitol Hill in Washington.

“It is my understanding that those personnel were not aware the assailant had a firearm until they heard gunshots,” he added. “Prior to that, they were operating with the knowledge that local law enforcement was working an issue of a suspicious individual prior to the shots being fired.”

Thomas Crooks, 20, climbed onto the rooftop of the AGR building in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13 as the former president was speaking, according to authorities. Mr. Crooks allegedly fired multiple shots from a rifle starting at 6:11 p.m. He hit four people, including the former president. Former President Trump and two others survived, but the other individual, firefighter Corey Comperatore, died.

Local law enforcement officials tagged Mr. Crooks as suspicious at 4:26 p.m., in part because he parked by officers’ vehicles. Mr. Crooks was later spotted with a rangefinder, which is a device used to measure distances, before shooting. But no officers made contact with Mr. Crooks until just moments before the shooting, when one officer, being boosted to the roof, faced him.

After Mr. Crooks pointed his rifle at the officer, the officer dropped to the ground, officials say.

“I know that local law enforcement was attempting to locate him,” Mr. Rowe said, after Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) wondered why Secret Service personnel did not take action once Mr. Crooks was seen with a rangefinder.

Paul Abbate, the FBI’s deputy director, told the hearing on Tuesday that Mr. Crooks likely carried the rifle in a backpack. He said it was possible the shooter “took it out of the bag on the roof in those moments before and reassembled it there.”

Once Mr. Crooks fired his weapon, a Secret Service counter-sniper took him out within seconds, Mr. Rowe said. The counter-sniper had full discretion to respond to the attack and did not need authorization to fire, according to Mr. Rowe.

The acting director said he was proud of Secret Service agents’ dedication while vowing to hold personnel accountable if an internal investigation finds failures. He said that some personnel may be fired.

Mr. Rowe was testifying for the first time since being named acting director in the wake of the resignation of Kimberly Cheatle, who was director when the rally took place.

Jackson Richman contributed to this report.