Questions have been raised about how police and agents tasked with securing Donald Trump’s rallies allowed the gunman to be so close.
Thomas Matthew Crooks was able to gain access to the roof of a building near the Butler County Fairgrounds in Pennsylvania and shoot Trump from 130m (430 feet) away.
Secret Service Director Kimberley Cheatle told ABC News that local police officers were present inside and outside the building where Crooks was shot.
Local police deployed inside the building, including three snipers, allegedly saw him trying to climb onto the roof, BBC US partner CBS News reported, citing sources.
One spectator was killed and two others seriously injured in the shooting. Trump has an ear injury.
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said his agency was responsible for securing the perimeter of the venue, while local police were responsible for protecting outside areas, including a private building used by the shooter.
The local sheriff’s department referred the BBC’s questions to state police, who said they have no responsibility for the area where the building is located.
A spokesman told the BBC they provided “all the resources” requested by the Secret Service, including deploying 30 to 40 troops at the perimeter.
Many observers question how security plans collapsed, allowing the shooter unimpeded access to Trump.
The crowd said they spotted the suspect on a rooftop minutes before the shooting, and Butler County Sheriff Michael Sloop said a local security officer also spotted him but was unable to stop him.
The Sheriff admitted there was a “failure” in ensuring the home was safe but he believed no party was to blame.
It’s common for the U.S. Secret Service to rely on local police help when securing rallies, said Jason Russell, founder of Security Environment Consultants, who served as an agent from 2002 to 2010, including during the campaign .
“The Secret Service does not have unlimited resources to station agents everywhere,” he told the BBC.
He said agents typically identify campaign venues days in advance to develop security plans that are then shared with local police agencies.
Speaking at an event, he said communication had been held with every relevant agency. However, he added that the “10 seconds” in which the message was delivered may have only been enough for the gunman to fire a few shots.
The roof was a known breach before the event, according to NBC News, which cited two sources familiar with Secret Service operations.
Mr. Russell said Secret Service agents likely believed the building posed a threat and had asked local authorities to station personnel nearby to prevent access.
“For whatever reason, that didn’t happen,” he said.
One witness, Thomas Gleason, who served in the U.S. Army for 21 years as a paratrooper and ranger, said “higher security measures should be taken against long-range threats.”
“Look at the distance and vantage point, if someone tries to assassinate [Trump] This would be the most logical place to shoot,” he said.
The FBI has since taken over the role of lead investigator on the incident, and the shooting is now the subject of several other House and Senate investigations.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas called it a “failure” in security and told CNN that “an incident like this cannot happen again.”
U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Chettle said on Monday that her agency was working with federal and local police “to understand what happened, how it happened and how we can prevent something like this from happening again.”
She added that she would cooperate with any congressional investigation into the shooting.
“The buck stops with me,” she told ABC News, adding that she would not resign in the face of growing calls from some lawmakers.
Ms. Cheatle will face the House Oversight and Accountability Committee on July 22.
Republicans on the committee also called on the Secret Service to provide evidence, including internal communications, audio and video recordings, information to local law enforcement, maps, charts and pre-incident assessments.
