Thomas Matthew Crooks paused shooting at former president Donald Trump after a local law enforcement officer assigned to a SWAT team returned fire, and Crooks did not shoot again before he was killed by a Secret Service counter-sniper, according to two officials familiar with the investigation into the assassination attempt.
The shot from the local officer caused the would-be assassin to temporarily recoil from his perch on a rooftop, according to the two officials and a Washington Post analysis of video evidence. Crooks’ retreat coincided with a 10-second pause in shooting, according to audio experts who examined the gunshots, a critical period that ended when the Secret Service counter-sniper shot and killed him.
It has been reported that a local officer fired at Crooks; however, the analysis suggests the officer may have played a more important role than previously known in responding to the attack at a July 13 rally in Pennsylvania.
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