Thomas Matthew Crooks’ autopsy test results emerge as sniper commander details moment Trump’s would-be assassin was shot

Shocking details about Donald Trump’s deadly July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, are emerging.

Law enforcement witnesses, many of whom were present at the rally during the shooting, described the gruesome aspects that unfolded during the messy day at a public hearing.

That includes the exact moment gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was taken out by a sniper just seconds after shooting the former president.

The officials expressed regret over the death and carnage that followed that day, and the shortcomings in preparation and communication with the U.S. Secret Service that preceded it.

In addition, the long-awaited results of a series of tests performed during Crooks’ autopsy are finally released.

Commander Edward Lenz of the Butler County Emergency Services Unit, Patrolman Drew Blasko of the Butler Township Police Department, Lt. John D. Herold of the Pennsylvania State Police and Patrick Sullivan attend a House Task Force on the hearing into the attempted murder of Donald J. .Trump

Opening the hearing, Trump Assassination Task Force Chairman Mike Kelly, R-Pa., said the Secret Service’s miscommunication led to confusion.

He compared it to the agency playing a game of telephone during the crisis.

Kelly told the witnesses that he wanted clarity about the tragic events of July 13 and that he could let them begin.

Mr. Edward Lenz, Adams Township Police Sergeant, Commander of the Butler County Emergency Services Unit (ESU) opened the hearing with his testimony.

He was in charge of a large 44-member emergency unit that closely assisted the Secret Service, with more officers than the agency requested.

His wife, a medical professional, even helped some of the injured that day, he added.

Lenz testified that at no point during the preparation was the local ESU asked to secure the AGR complex from which Thomas Matthew Crooks shot.

They were also not asked to put anyone on the roof.

However, they did have a sniper in the shed near Trump.

Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump, is surrounded by United States Secret Service agents during a campaign rally, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania

He described how that sniper shot Crooks six seconds after the first shots rang out at the former president.

The ESU sniper under his command shot at Crooks from 110 yards, he testified.

“When shots rang out, he was able to quickly identify where the shots were coming from,” Lenz told the panel.

“He observed the shooter, shouldered his rifle, acquired his target and fired one shot at the shooter, causing him to flinch and momentarily fall out of harm’s way.”

That person saw Crook’s recoil through his sights after shooting, indicating the 20-year-old was hit by the bullet, or at least scared.

Lenz testified that the ESU shooter was “very confident” the shot hit the target.

But seconds after Crooks disappeared following the first volley, the 20-year-old reappeared and was immediately shot again, this time fatally by the Secret Service.

Lenz said there were “no guidelines” from the Secret Service on where to station his ESU operators.

They also were not given information about the agency’s rules of engagement, Lenz said.

Lenz recounted how his team of ESU Secret Service operators received scant instructions on where to station the officers

And Crooks’ body showed signs that the Secret Service sniper’s bullet was the one that killed the shooter.

Dr. Allegheny County Medical Examiner Ariel Goldschmidt, who performed the autopsy on Thomas Matthew Crooks, confirmed Thursday that he was killed by the sniper.

Goldschmidt confirmed that gunshot residue samples were taken.

He determined that Crooks died as a result of a high-velocity gunshot wound to the head after performing the autopsy the morning of July 14.

The entry wound was just above Crooks’ lip, he testified.

Then on July 22, his body was taken to the funeral home on the orders of the provincial coroner.

Goldschmidt also revealed that before examining the body, it had been x-rayed and processed by the FBI.

The medical examiner also said he does not believe Crooks’ body was hit by a ninth or tenth shot when Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., pressed whether additional wounds had been discovered during the autopsy.

Previously, Higgins released an independent report showing that the stock of Crooks’ gun could have been hit by gunfire and that shrapnel resulting from the attack could have injured the shooter.

But the doctor dismissed that suggestion during Thursday’s hearing.

Higgins had also raised issues he encountered after trying to view Crooks’ body on August 5 as part of his own personal inspection.

The former police commissioner said his request to view the body “caused a stir and revealed a disturbing fact.”

That’s when he learned that the FBI had “released the body for cremation 10 days” after the July 13 shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Higgins says “no one knew” the body had been returned to the family, including the coroner and local police. He writes that the coroner still had “legal authority over the body” when the FBI made this decision, accusing the agency of “obstruction.”

Pennsylvania State Police Lieutenant John D. Herold, the officer in charge of the state police on July 13, also testified.

Pennsylvania State Police Lieutenant John Herold attends a House Task Force hearing on the attempted assassination of Donald J. Trump

During the hearing, he said that 20 members of his team were present to support the Secret Service, and that his office provided everything the agency requested.

He also said his team was not charged with securing the AGR building from which Crooks shot the former president.

The panel also played unseen footage of local law enforcement officers trying to confront Crooks before the shooting.

The video shows dashcam footage from a police car showing an officer trying to climb onto the roof.

Then the officer frantically jumps down from the AGR roof building.

He appears to injure his ankle and hurriedly staggers away, apparently scared.

It was previously reported that an officer saw Crooks on the roof and tried to approach him before the 20-year-old opened fire, and the video corroborated the story.