Failed Trump Assassination Attempt

Notice how Crooks is running from left to right and then disappears until we see his head pop up? That left/right direction does not appear consistent with him climbing that 5' extend-a-ladder at the front of building #2. We would see him running towards the camera if he did with minimal left/right movement. I think he's running along the roof of building #3 to get to the passage between building #3 and #6. Did he come out of the side window of the two story building? Did he come out of that little enclosed courtyard behind building #2 and #3 somehow?

I also think this video has been cropped. It makes no sense that Copenhaver would start filming Trump's speech at the moment when Crooks is in mid-stride.
Good point. If that's his head we're seeing, then he's surely further back than the back side of the slope of AGR#6. He could be running atop the building behind it. And yeah, it's a shame we only get 14 seconds of it.
 
New footage - to me anyway! - taken from the grassy (west) side of AGR #6 appears to show that Crooks was still alive after shot#9, and that shot#10 (the final shot that comes about 10 seconds later) indeed killed him:

Now the eyewitness's statement in this 'original' video of Crooks on the rooftop, from 0:14 - 0:16, makes more sense:

"Oh he's turning this way, be careful guys."

After which you hear the final 'crack' shot.

 
What strikes me a bit off if Crooks was really hit from the back or more from the front. Unfortunately, we only have a few images available to come closer to a solution. And I can be off, of course. Sorry, for the picture again.

The red mark looks to me like if the skin goes to the outside, which is more likely for an exit wound. Most often, and judging from shooting game, the entry wound is minimal, and often you even need to search for it. The exit wound depends then on the bullet, though I don't know what military or snipers use, and I'm lacking the proper English names: full metal jacket, or tipped ones? No matter what, when a bullet exists a body, the skin goes outside, because of the strength/force.

The hair could also be blown up when it exists on the back. And also maybe he was lifting his head to look, what damage he had done, where the sniper could see him. Which is also normal after shooting, to get an overview of the scene. Depends if a shooter is used to use both eyes for aiming and only concentrates on the one eye in front of the sight or if he closes one.

Screenshot 2024-07-31 at 20.53.08.jpg
 
Now the eyewitness's statement in this 'original' video of Crooks on the rooftop, from 0:14 - 0:16, makes more sense:

"Oh he's turning this way, be careful guys."

After which you hear the final 'crack' shot.

The guy who filmed that 'original' footage of Crooks taking up his firing position is Mike DiFrischia, and he added another data point about that day:

'Kind of a part of history': Crawford County man captures cellphone video of Trump shooting

TribLive.com July 16, 2024

Something didn’t feel right to Mike DiFrischia.

The business owner and registered Republican had attended rallies twice previously for former President Donald Trump.

But something seemed off, he said, when he saw a teenage boy “with the look of panic on his face” dart through the Butler Farm Show fairground crowd minutes after Trump took the stage around 6 p.m. Saturday.

DiFrischia, standing near a 6-foot-tall oak tree right at the rally’s fenced perimeter, turned toward a warehouse 30 or 40 feet away. There, he saw a different young man — later identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park — “army-crawling across the roof.”
 
Now the eyewitness's statement in this 'original' video of Crooks on the rooftop, from 0:14 - 0:16, makes more sense:

"Oh he's turning this way, be careful guys."

After which you hear the final 'crack' shot.

And now, also, I think what we're seeing in the following video is that Crooks has just hauled himself up onto the back slope of AGR#6 after crossing the connecting 'hallway' between that building and the one behind it:


A still from the above video:

crooks_reaches_roof_AGR6.png

Notice the number 12 on the doorway. That's not the 'connecting hallway' I'm thinking of. I think he's further away, and has just crossed the 'hallway' we've already thought he might have crossed to reach his firing position:

Crooks_access_rooftop.jpg

If he did come through that window at the end of the two-storey building, then surely he would have been let in. Remember, both SS and SWAT were stationed there...
 
The red mark looks to me like if the skin goes to the outside, which is more likely for an exit wound. Most often, and judging from shooting game, the entry wound is minimal, and often you even need to search for it. The exit wound depends then on the bullet, though I don't know what military or snipers use, and I'm lacking the proper English names: full metal jacket, or tipped ones? No matter what, when a bullet exists a body, the skin goes outside, because of the strength/force.

See Brewer's post here
 
Notice the number 12 on the doorway. That's not the 'connecting hallway' I'm thinking of. I think he's further away, and has just crossed the 'hallway' we've already thought he might have crossed to reach his firing position:

Yeah, that door 12 hallway is not the one I was referring to, although I didn't make that clear, because it links AGR#6 with the two-story building.

To use your image @Niall, I made a theoretical route, in yellow, if Crooks used the ladder on AGR#3 (I said #2 before. Oops). Also, that slightly open window cannot see Trump but, in blue, is a theoretical shot from behind.

I don't know how long after Crooks was killed that this video was taken, but the front door of #6 is a double door. The right door looks propped open. It probably doesn't mean much, but thought I'd just point it out.

Crooks_access_rooftop_alternative_with_theoretical_shot.jpg
 
What strikes me a bit off if Crooks was really hit from the back or more from the front. Unfortunately, we only have a few images available to come closer to a solution. And I can be off, of course. Sorry, for the picture again.

The red mark looks to me like if the skin goes to the outside, which is more likely for an exit wound. Most often, and judging from shooting game, the entry wound is minimal, and often you even need to search for it. The exit wound depends then on the bullet, though I don't know what military or snipers use, and I'm lacking the proper English names: full metal jacket, or tipped ones? No matter what, when a bullet exists a body, the skin goes outside, because of the strength/force.

The hair could also be blown up when it exists on the back. And also maybe he was lifting his head to look, what damage he had done, where the sniper could see him. Which is also normal after shooting, to get an overview of the scene. Depends if a shooter is used to use both eyes for aiming and only concentrates on the one eye in front of the sight or if he closes one.

View attachment 99395
I don't mean to complicate already complex situation.

Regarding this picture, there were some questions raised at that time on X, how blood looked dried so quickly questioning the veracity of the picture. I didn't follow those line of questions Google search shows few results
How long does it take for blood to dry outside the body after?

Other research has determined that body fluids, such as blood, dry within ~ 1hr of deposition on a surface but that timing is influenced by the surface and environmental factors such as temperature.
May be it is related to heat and it was pretty hot in the NE in any case. If I remember correctly (July 13th I think), this picture was first posted by some military connected guy and there are people who asked the quickness of this picture at that time.
 
A question for gun owners, could a person break down the rifle Crooks used and carry it in a backpack? Then reassemble it, say, on a roof? He's been recorded as wandering around and he doesn't look like he's carrying anything large, at least. So where did he store his stuff?

In this long article, it's mentioned that there were three suspicious vehicles, a bike (with photos and location), a car and a van, none of which anything is known about to the public yet, other then a report of 'bomb making materials' found inside 'a vehicle'.

I found this quote in the article interesting:
The IRA had probably the most sophisticated support element for their attacks - and they always hit a checkpoint or a patrol that fell victim to a pattern. In those - the shooter arrived to the firing location, and found the rifle waiting there - placed by the support element (called the quartermaster). After the shot, the sniper would run away from the shooting location as fast as possible, and conceal the rifle in a dead drop to be retrieved later by the support element. After ditching the rifle, the shooter would get in a cab, get on a bus, get in a car, don a uniform and get in a contractor’s vehicle, etc.

Was Crooks' rifle in 'his possession' (could've been stashed) the whole time; was it reassembled (on the roof of AGR#3?); was it given to him at the side window; was it already in place? Maybe these were already answered?
 
Now the eyewitness's statement in this 'original' video of Crooks on the rooftop, from 0:14 - 0:16, makes more sense:

"Oh he's turning this way, be careful guys."

After which you hear the final 'crack' shot.

Have the women who can be heard screaming "Crooks! Get over here!" and "Crooks! What are you doing!" been identified? They can be heard in other videos as well.
 
I can't find the article! They made you take it down?!
I'm not sure at all about the entry an exit wounds, it's based on the idea of him being shot from behind, and the entry wound isn't visible really, just a raising of the skin at the back right side of his neck,
I think you're right, consistent with entry from the back, not a good viewing angle but its a fit. Still is from this Indian government video analyzing bullet wounds, gruesome but educational. It's consistent with a gunshot suicide I attended years ago too.
1722461402950.png
If it was a 5.56 or .223, it's a versatile round. You can tailor make your cartridges as desired by changing propellant quantities/type and using different projectiles. You can make them light, fast, frangible and flat shooting or heavy, slow and sub sonic. Sub sonic with a silencer would be ideal for tying up any loose ends. As long as you had a compliant coroner.
If a .223 hit him below the ear it would've ruptured the structures of the inner ear and the eardrum, the heart could continue beating and blood would well within the ear and trickle out. Blood would exit the entry wound too as indicated by the photo which I can't see anymore unfortunately.
Looking at the rooftop footage, it appears that that his heart was still beating post shooting with enough strength to pump blood uphill and out of his wounds until he bled out. I doubt this would've happened if he was hit in the face with a 300 Win Mag at 150 yards, heart would've stopped very quickly due to the massive trauma. There'd also be pieces of skull, blood and brain matter over the roof behind him. A 5.56 or .233 at 150 yards in the face? Depending on the bullet and barrel length, short barrel means less power and the lighter projectile bleeds energy much faster than the heavy bullet of a 300 Win Mag you'd have a fractured skull and perhaps an exit wound but nowhere near as much damage. Thanks Joe and thanks for your input everybody.
1722467485227.png
 
A question for gun owners, could a person break down the rifle Crooks used and carry it in a backpack? Then reassemble it, say, on a roof? He's been recorded as wandering around and he doesn't look like he's carrying anything large, at least. So where did he store his stuff?

In this long article, it's mentioned that there were three suspicious vehicles, a bike (with photos and location), a car and a van, none of which anything is known about to the public yet, other then a report of 'bomb making materials' found inside 'a vehicle'.

I found this quote in the article interesting:


Was Crooks' rifle in 'his possession' (could've been stashed) the whole time; was it reassembled (on the roof of AGR#3?); was it given to him at the side window; was it already in place? Maybe these were already answered?
FBI director Wray did testify that Crooks rifle had a collapsible stock.

From the article:


Thomas Crooks, the shooter who killed one person and injured Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on July 13, may have possessed a collapsible stock weapon, FBI director Christopher Wray told lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

Wray stressed to the House's judiciary committee that it wasn't a final conclusion, as FBI agents and other law enforcement officials continue to investigate the shocking event. But it could explain one of the questions yet to be answered: specifically, how Crooks was seen on the ground by some individuals before the shooting in Butler, Pa., but was not viewed in possession of a gun until he climbed his perch on a nearby roof.

"The weapon had a collapsible stock which might explain why it was less easy to observe," he said.
 
I don't mean to complicate already complex situation.

Regarding this picture, there were some questions raised at that time on X, how blood looked dried so quickly questioning the veracity of the picture. I didn't follow those line of questions Google search shows few results

May be it is related to heat and it was pretty hot in the NE in any case. If I remember correctly (July 13th I think), this picture was first posted by some military connected guy and there are people who asked the quickness of this picture at that time.
And is it really Crooks? The "bat-wing" shape appears on his right ear in many photos. Not so much the left. Could be the photo was reversed? Or shopped?

Why are almost all photos of him from school? 5 or so years ago (or more)?

In the photo of him on the wall: no bat ear. (apparently showing left side).
 

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