There is one thing that is certain...that ladder is more than 5ft tall! A 5ft tall "ladder" is a step ladder; it has a distinctive wedged frame design for stability. That ladder is a 10 footer and the styles appear to be parallel...it reaches the roof line whereas a 5 footer would not!
Maybe, the picture is very blurry so I can't be sure. The shooter reportedly bought a 5 foot ladder. I own one myself and use it around the house. There could be more than one ladder. A ten foot ladder is clumsy to drag around.
Just saw the aerial view photo Elon Musk posted (with labels) that show TWO ladders...the (10ft) SWAT ladder shown above, and the 5ft step that is on top of an air handler in the adjacent building (not shown above).
"Only one shooter has been identified and the FBI says he acted alone."
I express no opinion regarding the shooter, how many shooters, his/her/their motives, etc. but the fact that the FBI reached its conclusion so quickly and definitely is very concerning.
Either they know more than they are telling us, or they have a preferred narrative that they want to get out in front of the public.
Many law enforcement agencies, including at nearby Pittsburgh, have 90 minute DNA kits. The police also traced the gun ownership to Crook's father and no doubt got a sample from him to match. I believe they knew within a few hours the results but they no doubt already knew enough thanks to the gun's serial number and FBI gun registration database. There also is a story that the father had called police to say his AR-15 was missing and thought his son had it. So I don't think (at least not yet) that there is any deception here as to DNA identification.
Could be police tactics. Even if they knew a second shooter was involved, they may publically say there weren't any others involved to make them feel safe. In the meantime, the investigation continues and all their eyes are on the additional shooters. We never really know.
I want to follow the local LEO that provided supplemental security to the USSS. If they all start sucking starting Glocks, the fix is in. Another point, the infamous agent who could not revolver her service weapon, was she trained USSS or from another DHS agency assigned to fill a slot while trained agents were removed to other details.
The Body Team with #45/47 at the convention looked professional and the right size to do the job. I wonder if they were USSS or contractors?
Solid write-up. Keep on reporting on this until the truth comes out.
Word on the street is the Trump shooter was spotted by law enforcement nearly 30 min before shots fired. I've not been able to verify this with my sources yet.
I'm no expert in transvestites, transgenders, genderqueers and whatnot because I make it a point not to run in those circles, but the media (who can't fully be trusted) have said that mass murderer Audrey-turned-Aiden Hale is a female-transition-to-male transgender. I don't plan to verify this at all.
I think you are correct about Hale. As you may know a judge has decided to not release the Manifesto written by Hale claiming the bereaved families own it under copyright protection. There must be a lot more to the story but I have not followed it carefully.
Excellent article. I am interested in your opinion of drones. I see small exploding drones killing plenty of troops in Ukraine. They're cheap, small and can be flown from well outside any security perimeter. How would you protect someone from such a risk?
There is a huge amount of research going on to try and solve the drone problem. Some of it includes jamming, but not all drones can be jammed. Some of it is different types of counter-drone weapons or technology. Drones are the best weapons the Ukrainians have against the Russians, and they use them by the tens of thousands. Meanwhile drone technology itself continues to evolve. I think we will soon see counter-drone drones capable of shooting down drones probably using fragmentation rounds.
BBC interview of an eye witness that was 50 feet away from a shooter. He and his buddies were yelling at the police pointing to the shooter before he fired.
Here is another cell phone video showing the shooter crawling up the roof and people calling to the secret service and police that there is a shooter on the roof for 53 seconds.
I think there is clear evidence that the Secret Service sniper team had ID'd the shooter some minutes before they fired. It seems like they were advised by radio and were prepared, but they didn't shoot until the shooter fired a number of rounds. I presume they were asking for permission.
Is it the case that the Secret Service has to wait for the assailant to act before responding? Does the Secret Service need to get a so-called "green light" before he can shoot? Both seem to be contrary to the duty of protection. Whether it involves communication equipment failures or failures to communicate instructions clearly and effectively does not absolve the errors made with the advance team planning nor the blatant mistake of not securing a building within 500 feet of President Trump. You would think and hope with the sophisticated technology, weaponry ,surveillance systems and training that these errors in planning and judgement would never occur. It was only by the grace of God that our country is not in a worse civil turmoil than it already is.
Experts on the Secret Service say that the rules of engagement are there has to be a real threat of serious bodily harm and/or threat of death. What this appears to me in practice is they wait for the shooter to shoot. I have no way to confirm this is the case, but it seems in the immediate case they waited until the shooter got off at least 3 rounds and maybe 8 in two bursts before they shot him. (I also noticed that the Secret Service team at the convention was all tall males, maybe the "A Team")
The hesitancy of the Secret Service snipers was entirely understandable if you take in the consideration the fact that local police were operating from the building. They wouldn't want to kill a cop by accident. It's a really hard-to-believe situation. A criminal was committing murder literally on the very spot where law enforcement has gathered.
Sorry folks, I wrote that comment late at night and incorrectly described the locations of Mr Comparatore and the two other casualties. I should have written that Mr Comparatore was in the bleachers on the right hand side of Trump and the two other casualties were in the bleachers on the left hand side of Trump. And although both the casualties on Trump's LHS could indeed have been shot by Crooks, it was the same bullet which hit both of them, and since they were on opposite sides of the bleachers, the trajectory of that bullet was obviously from the direction of the water tower and not from Crooks' location.
We saw video of the Secret Service on a similar roof with a powerful looking rifle with scopes and stand facing the roof the alleged shooter was on. That shooter would have needed patience and Time to set up such a precise shot just to clip Trump's ear and the SS on the other roof would have had a clear shot to disable Crooks before he could fire a shot with an AR-15.
The news media displayed the NYT photo we are told is the bullet that grazed Trump's ear milliseconds earlier. I just accepted it without question until I took the Time to study the photo more closely. That may have been the bullet that killed the Fire Chief, but it's impossible it's the bullet that hit Trump. Here's the photo: https://x.com/HarazGhanbari/status/1812280749745410196/photo/1
If it is a bullet, it's way below Trump's lower ear lobe when the blood comes from Trump's upper ear suggesting the bullet that supposedly hit Trump came from a 2nd shooter.
Like I respect your writing Stephen, I also follow Brian at The New Atlas whose analysis of weapons and events is reliable. You might agree with his analysis of the alleged attempted assassination of Trump.
Coming just 2 days before the Republican Convention and Judge Cannon dismissing the secret documents charge against him the Day the Convention and the propaganda benefits to him, it's almost like a movie script.
What concerns me is Sen. Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican, saying in an floor speech Monday. “On Saturday, the devil came to Pennsylvania holding a rifle, but an American lion got back up on his feet and he roared.” The Trump base is essentially made up of Christian Nationalists and using terms like "the devil" is an orchestrated effort to portray Trump as the 2nd coming of Christ. Senator Scott didn't characterize Trump as "an American lion" willy-nilly. One of the other titles of Christ Jesus is "The Lion" of the tribe of Judea.
I think Trump was told by his Christian backers to include and speak the spirit of Isaiah's Prophecy into the World when he threatened North Korea "with FIRE and FURY like the world has never seen" in 2017.
Isaiah 66
When Republicans claim to be all GOOD and Democrats all EVIL as they have been doing for years since Trump lost in 2020, and US NATO POWER claims to be all GOOD and Russia/Putin all EVIL, is a leading indicator THIS Material World is at the precipice of THE LAST DAYS that cannot be wished away. It takes a vigilant Citizenry as Eisenhower said so long ago.
you kind of mixed metaphors here ...Trump and coming of Christ and issues with the shooter scenario (e.g. time line). If there was a second shooter there ought to be some hard evidence (photographic) but no one has any (yet). There also should be a ballistic analysis of the recovered rounds. Presumably the FBI is doing that. (I won't deal with the other matter as it is outside of my expertise.)
Stephen, didn't you see the picture the MSM has TOLD us is a NYT PHOTO of THE bullet that clipped Trump's ear? That's HARD EVIDENCE it is NOT the bullet that clipped Trump's ear.
I'm sorry I got you off track mentioning Senator Scott essentially conveying to all those Republican Christians Trump is the return of Christ.
Your reply does compel me to restate this in my comment, "Coming just 2 days before the Republican Convention and Judge Cannon dismissing the secret documents charge against him the Day the Convention and the propaganda benefits to him, it's almost like a movie script.
Here's another video with so many witnesses warning of a shooter in plenty of time for the SS to get Trump down.
You are the weapons expert. What do you think of the MSM line a 20 year old, without taking Time to precisely aim just to clip Trump's ear but not kill him, so he enters the Republican Convention Triumphantly?
I think it is absolutely demonstrated that there were many efforts to try and mobilize law enforcement to deal with the shooter (including Secret Service). We now know that the SS Snipers were alerted minutes ahead but did not take him out. My guess is they were seeking permission from the SS Command Center. We need to see transcripts of the SS communications.
That doesn't make sense either, Stephen, but again, you ignore the substance of my comment.
With the scopes on the SS rifle seeing someone on a roof with a rifle aiming in Trump's direction, they took precious Time to get permission from a higher up to shoot the shooter?
It makes sense under Secret Service rules of engagement. The sniper teams must follow the guidelines. Even in the military there are similar guidelines and restrictions on the use of force. You may not agree with them, but that is how it works.
Your plan of the site shows the line of fire parallel with the front of stage, so Trump would have to be looking 90° to the right of his audience (straight at the shooter) to have the bullet touch his ear but not his head.
Is he looking away from his audience and directly at the shooter when he grabs his ear?
Your question is central to the whole sequence of events and indicates to me that there is no way that the alleged 2nd shooter on the water tower was the one that took off the top of Trump's right ear. That shot could only have come from Crooks on the roof of the American Glass Research Co building and the reason that it clipped his ear rather than going through his right eye was because Trump turned his head fully to the right to look at the chart of illegal entries that was set up on the right side of the podium. I don't know why the shooter on the water tower didn't try and shoot Trump when he exposed himself with his iconic fist pump and can only assume that once Crooks was shot dead, the water tower sniper knew he would be spotted if he took a shot at Trump and decided against it.
There are some witnesses who claim a water tower shooter and another near a fence (probably the perimeter fence). A forensic analysis of the bullets fired may help sort this out, but we have no information yet whether shells and shell fragments have been collected and, assuming they have, what the findings may be.
Thanks for the response Stephen. I suspect that if there was a sniper on the water tower, he would have been an experienced professional and would probably have used one of those special bags for catching ejected bullet casings, but if the forensic team can find the actual bullet that struck the two people on the back row of the stands on Trump's left hand side then its calibre can be compared with Crooks' 5.56mm AR 15 rounds.
Probably not, as the (first) shooter was in an ideal position already. There are not many other buildings around that would offer similarly good opportunities.
However, the question is probably moot, as the location of the people that were hit -relative to Trump- resolves this question quite unambiguously.
I wonder if the policeman that climbed the ladder but jumped down when the shooter pointed his rifle at him, climbed back up when the shooting started and fired his pistol? And then the one shot fired from the counter sniper. That could account for the 3 shooter theory.
Wrong, wrong, wrong. Mr Comparatore was in the bleachers to the right of Trump and in the direct line of fire from Crooks' position. The other two casualties were in the back row of the bleachers to the left of Trump where the trajectory of the bullets were at an angle of at least 20 degrees to the shot which clipped Trump's ear. Those casualties can only be explained by a 2nd shooter firing from the top of the water tower.
One can see the rifle next to the dead shooter in the photo that circles the ladder. I'm sure I seen another image of it that was clearer and it does look like an AR-15 type rifle. I couldn't tell if there was a scope or not.
Interesting that the rifle is so far away from the body. Did he fling it away just before getting shot? It looks like he died immediately from the one shot.
I did not see a clear photo of the body with the gun so if you can point me to a source I would like that. I think police on the roof would have kicked the weapon away from the shooter as that is standard SOP, since while he looked dead, you never know.
After I posted I tried to find the photo and couldn't find it. I can't remember where I seen it, either here on substack or on X. I will try to find it laters.
I agree police could have kicked it away but It's interesting in the photo that there are no police around the body. So I was guessing it was before the police got onto the roof. But I'm not sure.
There is one thing that is certain...that ladder is more than 5ft tall! A 5ft tall "ladder" is a step ladder; it has a distinctive wedged frame design for stability. That ladder is a 10 footer and the styles appear to be parallel...it reaches the roof line whereas a 5 footer would not!
Maybe, the picture is very blurry so I can't be sure. The shooter reportedly bought a 5 foot ladder. I own one myself and use it around the house. There could be more than one ladder. A ten foot ladder is clumsy to drag around.
Just saw the aerial view photo Elon Musk posted (with labels) that show TWO ladders...the (10ft) SWAT ladder shown above, and the 5ft step that is on top of an air handler in the adjacent building (not shown above).
They Never found the 5 ft he bought.
You seriously gonna believe musk on anything??
No way I believe him. Musk claims he's been putting satellites into orbit around a round Earth. Everybody with a clue knows the Earth is flat! /s
"Only one shooter has been identified and the FBI says he acted alone."
I express no opinion regarding the shooter, how many shooters, his/her/their motives, etc. but the fact that the FBI reached its conclusion so quickly and definitely is very concerning.
Either they know more than they are telling us, or they have a preferred narrative that they want to get out in front of the public.
Maybe, but I have seen many such claims by law enforcement on the spur of the moment that proved to be wrong.
Wrong or self-serving.
We are being played as fools
The BBC has reported that “Special Agent Kevin Rojek said Crooks had not been carrying ID and that investigators used DNA to identify him.”.
This means they identified Crooks via DNA in less than eight hours after the shooting.
»»»»»»Who had Crooks’ DNA on file and why?«««««««<
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3gw58wv4e9o
.
Many law enforcement agencies, including at nearby Pittsburgh, have 90 minute DNA kits. The police also traced the gun ownership to Crook's father and no doubt got a sample from him to match. I believe they knew within a few hours the results but they no doubt already knew enough thanks to the gun's serial number and FBI gun registration database. There also is a story that the father had called police to say his AR-15 was missing and thought his son had it. So I don't think (at least not yet) that there is any deception here as to DNA identification.
Could be police tactics. Even if they knew a second shooter was involved, they may publically say there weren't any others involved to make them feel safe. In the meantime, the investigation continues and all their eyes are on the additional shooters. We never really know.
I want to follow the local LEO that provided supplemental security to the USSS. If they all start sucking starting Glocks, the fix is in. Another point, the infamous agent who could not revolver her service weapon, was she trained USSS or from another DHS agency assigned to fill a slot while trained agents were removed to other details.
The Body Team with #45/47 at the convention looked professional and the right size to do the job. I wonder if they were USSS or contractors?
Solid write-up. Keep on reporting on this until the truth comes out.
Word on the street is the Trump shooter was spotted by law enforcement nearly 30 min before shots fired. I've not been able to verify this with my sources yet.
https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/alleged-trump-shooter-spotted-by-law-enforcement-nearly-30-minutes-before-shots-fired-sources-say/Q6GIK5RP6RBY5PHIMYBNXRTEBI/
I'm no expert in transvestites, transgenders, genderqueers and whatnot because I make it a point not to run in those circles, but the media (who can't fully be trusted) have said that mass murderer Audrey-turned-Aiden Hale is a female-transition-to-male transgender. I don't plan to verify this at all.
I think you are correct about Hale. As you may know a judge has decided to not release the Manifesto written by Hale claiming the bereaved families own it under copyright protection. There must be a lot more to the story but I have not followed it carefully.
that's a very good report that WPXI reporter did! Wow, important info.
Excellent article. I am interested in your opinion of drones. I see small exploding drones killing plenty of troops in Ukraine. They're cheap, small and can be flown from well outside any security perimeter. How would you protect someone from such a risk?
There is a huge amount of research going on to try and solve the drone problem. Some of it includes jamming, but not all drones can be jammed. Some of it is different types of counter-drone weapons or technology. Drones are the best weapons the Ukrainians have against the Russians, and they use them by the tens of thousands. Meanwhile drone technology itself continues to evolve. I think we will soon see counter-drone drones capable of shooting down drones probably using fragmentation rounds.
The audio analysis in this write-up is just wrong. The first three shots have the exact same echo signature and time of delay as the next five shots.
You also missed out on your analysis that there are three shots fired after the first eight, coming from two different angles and locations.
For a brief rundown of another, more correct analysis, visit: https://x.com/459Crimes/status/1813224687456997887
Here are the times of the shots, starting at the sound of the initial shot fire:
gun 1 | Shot #1-0.000ms
gun 1 | Shot #2-0.857ms
gun 1 | Shot #3-1.535ms
gun 1 | Shot #4-4.318ms
gun 1 | Shot #5-4.575ms
gun 1 | Shot #6-4.786ms
gun 1 | Shot #7-4.938ms
gun 1 | Shot #8-5.088ms
gun 2 | Shot #9-5.800ms
gun 3 | Shot #10-5.936ms
gun 2 | Shot #11-15.789ms
BBC interview of an eye witness that was 50 feet away from a shooter. He and his buddies were yelling at the police pointing to the shooter before he fired.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj3DQKHihKg
From Glenn Greenwald:
Here is another cell phone video showing the shooter crawling up the roof and people calling to the secret service and police that there is a shooter on the roof for 53 seconds.
https://rumble.com/v572vwt-system-update-297.html
34:11 Mark
Glenn Greenwald also reported that the EMT at the event called in that a suspicious person was on the roof 30 minutes before the gunfire.
The CIA/FBI/Secret Service/Capital Police/Congress must not be involved in the investigation. Otherwise it will be a coverup.
I think there is clear evidence that the Secret Service sniper team had ID'd the shooter some minutes before they fired. It seems like they were advised by radio and were prepared, but they didn't shoot until the shooter fired a number of rounds. I presume they were asking for permission.
Is it the case that the Secret Service has to wait for the assailant to act before responding? Does the Secret Service need to get a so-called "green light" before he can shoot? Both seem to be contrary to the duty of protection. Whether it involves communication equipment failures or failures to communicate instructions clearly and effectively does not absolve the errors made with the advance team planning nor the blatant mistake of not securing a building within 500 feet of President Trump. You would think and hope with the sophisticated technology, weaponry ,surveillance systems and training that these errors in planning and judgement would never occur. It was only by the grace of God that our country is not in a worse civil turmoil than it already is.
Experts on the Secret Service say that the rules of engagement are there has to be a real threat of serious bodily harm and/or threat of death. What this appears to me in practice is they wait for the shooter to shoot. I have no way to confirm this is the case, but it seems in the immediate case they waited until the shooter got off at least 3 rounds and maybe 8 in two bursts before they shot him. (I also noticed that the Secret Service team at the convention was all tall males, maybe the "A Team")
The hesitancy of the Secret Service snipers was entirely understandable if you take in the consideration the fact that local police were operating from the building. They wouldn't want to kill a cop by accident. It's a really hard-to-believe situation. A criminal was committing murder literally on the very spot where law enforcement has gathered.
Sorry folks, I wrote that comment late at night and incorrectly described the locations of Mr Comparatore and the two other casualties. I should have written that Mr Comparatore was in the bleachers on the right hand side of Trump and the two other casualties were in the bleachers on the left hand side of Trump. And although both the casualties on Trump's LHS could indeed have been shot by Crooks, it was the same bullet which hit both of them, and since they were on opposite sides of the bleachers, the trajectory of that bullet was obviously from the direction of the water tower and not from Crooks' location.
Thanks for the correction and update. The water tower issue is still outstanding and unresolved.
It's now on YouTube if anybody thinks it's baloney. https://youtu.be/E-GPSKxiR9w?si=cCMGbwhm0YqNObsi
It's incredibly interesting that they shorted his stock a few days before
https://www.caclubindia.com/assets/austin-private-wealth-shorting-trump-stock/
We saw video of the Secret Service on a similar roof with a powerful looking rifle with scopes and stand facing the roof the alleged shooter was on. That shooter would have needed patience and Time to set up such a precise shot just to clip Trump's ear and the SS on the other roof would have had a clear shot to disable Crooks before he could fire a shot with an AR-15.
The news media displayed the NYT photo we are told is the bullet that grazed Trump's ear milliseconds earlier. I just accepted it without question until I took the Time to study the photo more closely. That may have been the bullet that killed the Fire Chief, but it's impossible it's the bullet that hit Trump. Here's the photo: https://x.com/HarazGhanbari/status/1812280749745410196/photo/1
If it is a bullet, it's way below Trump's lower ear lobe when the blood comes from Trump's upper ear suggesting the bullet that supposedly hit Trump came from a 2nd shooter.
Like I respect your writing Stephen, I also follow Brian at The New Atlas whose analysis of weapons and events is reliable. You might agree with his analysis of the alleged attempted assassination of Trump.
Coming just 2 days before the Republican Convention and Judge Cannon dismissing the secret documents charge against him the Day the Convention and the propaganda benefits to him, it's almost like a movie script.
https://rumble.com/v56w7ud-trump-assassination-attempt-security-lapses-manipulating-public-perception.html
What concerns me is Sen. Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican, saying in an floor speech Monday. “On Saturday, the devil came to Pennsylvania holding a rifle, but an American lion got back up on his feet and he roared.” The Trump base is essentially made up of Christian Nationalists and using terms like "the devil" is an orchestrated effort to portray Trump as the 2nd coming of Christ. Senator Scott didn't characterize Trump as "an American lion" willy-nilly. One of the other titles of Christ Jesus is "The Lion" of the tribe of Judea.
I think Trump was told by his Christian backers to include and speak the spirit of Isaiah's Prophecy into the World when he threatened North Korea "with FIRE and FURY like the world has never seen" in 2017.
Isaiah 66
When Republicans claim to be all GOOD and Democrats all EVIL as they have been doing for years since Trump lost in 2020, and US NATO POWER claims to be all GOOD and Russia/Putin all EVIL, is a leading indicator THIS Material World is at the precipice of THE LAST DAYS that cannot be wished away. It takes a vigilant Citizenry as Eisenhower said so long ago.
you kind of mixed metaphors here ...Trump and coming of Christ and issues with the shooter scenario (e.g. time line). If there was a second shooter there ought to be some hard evidence (photographic) but no one has any (yet). There also should be a ballistic analysis of the recovered rounds. Presumably the FBI is doing that. (I won't deal with the other matter as it is outside of my expertise.)
Stephen, didn't you see the picture the MSM has TOLD us is a NYT PHOTO of THE bullet that clipped Trump's ear? That's HARD EVIDENCE it is NOT the bullet that clipped Trump's ear.
I'm sorry I got you off track mentioning Senator Scott essentially conveying to all those Republican Christians Trump is the return of Christ.
Your reply does compel me to restate this in my comment, "Coming just 2 days before the Republican Convention and Judge Cannon dismissing the secret documents charge against him the Day the Convention and the propaganda benefits to him, it's almost like a movie script.
https://rumble.com/v56w7ud-trump-assassination-attempt-security-lapses-manipulating-public-perception.html
Here's another video with so many witnesses warning of a shooter in plenty of time for the SS to get Trump down.
You are the weapons expert. What do you think of the MSM line a 20 year old, without taking Time to precisely aim just to clip Trump's ear but not kill him, so he enters the Republican Convention Triumphantly?
https://petermcculloughmd.substack.com/p/detailed-analysis-of-trump-assassination
I think it is absolutely demonstrated that there were many efforts to try and mobilize law enforcement to deal with the shooter (including Secret Service). We now know that the SS Snipers were alerted minutes ahead but did not take him out. My guess is they were seeking permission from the SS Command Center. We need to see transcripts of the SS communications.
That doesn't make sense either, Stephen, but again, you ignore the substance of my comment.
With the scopes on the SS rifle seeing someone on a roof with a rifle aiming in Trump's direction, they took precious Time to get permission from a higher up to shoot the shooter?
It makes sense under Secret Service rules of engagement. The sniper teams must follow the guidelines. Even in the military there are similar guidelines and restrictions on the use of force. You may not agree with them, but that is how it works.
Abracadabra.
https://x.com/luken_van/status/1813284644957163538
ladder on the repair truck is the wrong color and the wrong type
Your plan of the site shows the line of fire parallel with the front of stage, so Trump would have to be looking 90° to the right of his audience (straight at the shooter) to have the bullet touch his ear but not his head.
Is he looking away from his audience and directly at the shooter when he grabs his ear?
good question/observation
need to get some ballistic experts to review
Your question is central to the whole sequence of events and indicates to me that there is no way that the alleged 2nd shooter on the water tower was the one that took off the top of Trump's right ear. That shot could only have come from Crooks on the roof of the American Glass Research Co building and the reason that it clipped his ear rather than going through his right eye was because Trump turned his head fully to the right to look at the chart of illegal entries that was set up on the right side of the podium. I don't know why the shooter on the water tower didn't try and shoot Trump when he exposed himself with his iconic fist pump and can only assume that once Crooks was shot dead, the water tower sniper knew he would be spotted if he took a shot at Trump and decided against it.
There are some witnesses who claim a water tower shooter and another near a fence (probably the perimeter fence). A forensic analysis of the bullets fired may help sort this out, but we have no information yet whether shells and shell fragments have been collected and, assuming they have, what the findings may be.
Thanks for the response Stephen. I suspect that if there was a sniper on the water tower, he would have been an experienced professional and would probably have used one of those special bags for catching ejected bullet casings, but if the forensic team can find the actual bullet that struck the two people on the back row of the stands on Trump's left hand side then its calibre can be compared with Crooks' 5.56mm AR 15 rounds.
to me the big question is whether a forensic analysis is underway
A second shooter? Hmm.
Probably not, as the (first) shooter was in an ideal position already. There are not many other buildings around that would offer similarly good opportunities.
However, the question is probably moot, as the location of the people that were hit -relative to Trump- resolves this question quite unambiguously.
https://assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com/hub/i/r/2024/07/16/5f22cfc4-8281-4221-8ea2-c5c775ab9ac8/thumbnail/620x349/569a599d302058b95867a130c8d2b077/jpg-rallymap-715update-feet-injured-bug-pad.jpg?v=5710b2ed1cee1bdfd30cb9c02455b43d
As you can see, the wounded were located behind Trump as seen from the (first) shooter, exactly where they would be if there was only one shooter.
I wonder if the policeman that climbed the ladder but jumped down when the shooter pointed his rifle at him, climbed back up when the shooting started and fired his pistol? And then the one shot fired from the counter sniper. That could account for the 3 shooter theory.
Maybe?
interesting observation but there is no information anyone climbed back up while the firing was going on (it lasted 15 seconds)
Wrong, wrong, wrong. Mr Comparatore was in the bleachers to the right of Trump and in the direct line of fire from Crooks' position. The other two casualties were in the back row of the bleachers to the left of Trump where the trajectory of the bullets were at an angle of at least 20 degrees to the shot which clipped Trump's ear. Those casualties can only be explained by a 2nd shooter firing from the top of the water tower.
There is now a very blurry video of the water tower suggesting a second shooter.
Great report Mr Bryen.
One can see the rifle next to the dead shooter in the photo that circles the ladder. I'm sure I seen another image of it that was clearer and it does look like an AR-15 type rifle. I couldn't tell if there was a scope or not.
Interesting that the rifle is so far away from the body. Did he fling it away just before getting shot? It looks like he died immediately from the one shot.
I did not see a clear photo of the body with the gun so if you can point me to a source I would like that. I think police on the roof would have kicked the weapon away from the shooter as that is standard SOP, since while he looked dead, you never know.
After I posted I tried to find the photo and couldn't find it. I can't remember where I seen it, either here on substack or on X. I will try to find it laters.
I agree police could have kicked it away but It's interesting in the photo that there are no police around the body. So I was guessing it was before the police got onto the roof. But I'm not sure.