On July 13, gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on a Trump rally in Butler, PA, from an elevated vantage point in an attempted assassination of the former president..The shooting killed a rally attendee, identified as retired fire chief Corey Comperatore, and critically wounded two more. Trump was grazed by a bullet on his right ear and evacuated from the area..Crooks was killed by counter-snipers approximately 10 seconds after first opening fire..We have a full SITREP of the incident, but this piece will focus on breaking down the assassination attempt through geolocation of photos and videos taken at the scene..VENUE.Starting off, the venue of the rally was located at the Butler Farm Show grounds in Butler, Pennsylvania (Geo: 40.856, -79.9708)..GUNMAN POSITION.Crooks positioned himself on the southern most building of AGR International Inc., which is located some 150 yards directly north of the rally venue (Geo: 40.8582743, -79.9708108)..Witnesses told BBC and NBC that they witnessed Crooks climb onto the roof and attempted to alert nearby authorities several minutes before the shooting took place..Law enforcement officials have told AP that a local police officer attempted to confront Crooks, reporting that "One local police officer climbed to the roof and encountered Crooks, who pointed his rifle at the officer. The officer retreated down the ladder, and Crooks quickly took a shot toward Trump.".TARGETS.Crooks let off a total of eight shots, which grazed Trump, who was speaking at the center podium, critically wounded two attendees, and killed Comperatore, who has been hailed as hero for shielding his family from the gunfire..Comperatore was located in the grandstands closest to Crooks' position (Geo: 40.8572625, -79.9707343)..Gunfire also struck a tractor/crane that was located next to the furthest grandstand. The bullet impact severed a hydraulic line, causing hydraulic fluid to spray out onto other rally goers (Geo: 40.8567427, -79.9709174), which can be seen in the first linked tweet..SNIPER TEAMS.At least three counter-sniper teams (CST) were present at the fairgrounds at the time of the shooting. Crooks was killed by a single bullet to the head approximately 10 seconds after first opening fire..Two Secret Service CSTs were located on top of barns directly behind the podium and are visible in most media footage (CST1 Geo:40.8570815, -79.9703391/ CST2 Geo: 40.8567054, -79.9705449). They can be seen armed with Secret Service JARs, which are custom 300 Win Mag Remingtons built on an AIAX chassis..A third counter sniper position was revealed to Atlas News via Instagram user @artie_simms, located on a building some 335 yards from Crooks' position..It appears that all three CSTs had a clear line of sight towards Crooks' location, however, it is important to note that the roof Crooks' was located on was slanted, providing a level of concealment and cover.
On July 13, gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on a Trump rally in Butler, PA, from an elevated vantage point in an attempted assassination of the former president..The shooting killed a rally attendee, identified as retired fire chief Corey Comperatore, and critically wounded two more. Trump was grazed by a bullet on his right ear and evacuated from the area..Crooks was killed by counter-snipers approximately 10 seconds after first opening fire..We have a full SITREP of the incident, but this piece will focus on breaking down the assassination attempt through geolocation of photos and videos taken at the scene..VENUE.Starting off, the venue of the rally was located at the Butler Farm Show grounds in Butler, Pennsylvania (Geo: 40.856, -79.9708)..GUNMAN POSITION.Crooks positioned himself on the southern most building of AGR International Inc., which is located some 150 yards directly north of the rally venue (Geo: 40.8582743, -79.9708108)..Witnesses told BBC and NBC that they witnessed Crooks climb onto the roof and attempted to alert nearby authorities several minutes before the shooting took place..Law enforcement officials have told AP that a local police officer attempted to confront Crooks, reporting that "One local police officer climbed to the roof and encountered Crooks, who pointed his rifle at the officer. The officer retreated down the ladder, and Crooks quickly took a shot toward Trump.".TARGETS.Crooks let off a total of eight shots, which grazed Trump, who was speaking at the center podium, critically wounded two attendees, and killed Comperatore, who has been hailed as hero for shielding his family from the gunfire..Comperatore was located in the grandstands closest to Crooks' position (Geo: 40.8572625, -79.9707343)..Gunfire also struck a tractor/crane that was located next to the furthest grandstand. The bullet impact severed a hydraulic line, causing hydraulic fluid to spray out onto other rally goers (Geo: 40.8567427, -79.9709174), which can be seen in the first linked tweet..SNIPER TEAMS.At least three counter-sniper teams (CST) were present at the fairgrounds at the time of the shooting. Crooks was killed by a single bullet to the head approximately 10 seconds after first opening fire..Two Secret Service CSTs were located on top of barns directly behind the podium and are visible in most media footage (CST1 Geo:40.8570815, -79.9703391/ CST2 Geo: 40.8567054, -79.9705449). They can be seen armed with Secret Service JARs, which are custom 300 Win Mag Remingtons built on an AIAX chassis..A third counter sniper position was revealed to Atlas News via Instagram user @artie_simms, located on a building some 335 yards from Crooks' position..It appears that all three CSTs had a clear line of sight towards Crooks' location, however, it is important to note that the roof Crooks' was located on was slanted, providing a level of concealment and cover.
