e92f5998-fa31-4133-bd16-bd108abb7b58.mp4
01:29
– Source:
cnn
Two former FBI agents have expressed surprise that the rooftop where a gunman fired multiple shots at a Trump rally had not been secured given how close it was to the stage.
Authorities say the building rooftop where the gunman fired the shots from was just outside the venue where former President Donald Trump held a rally Saturday. A CNN analysis showed the rooftop was about 400 to 500 feet (120 to 150 meters) from Trump.
The FBI identified the gunman as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. He was killed by Secret Service agents.
Steve Moore, a retired FBI supervisory special agent who worked as a counter sniper for two years, told CNN the rooftop should have been guarded.
Another retired FBI field agent, Bobby Chacon, also told CNN Sunday he was surprised no one was guarding the rooftop, which he called “the perfect perch.”
Moore said that “the fact that somebody allowed that roof to be unmonitored, unguarded” could have been a flaw in planning or execution.
“They could have planned for that roof and maybe something happened in the planning or in the execution of the plan where it was left unguarded,” he said.
While Secret Service agents may have been alerted to the location of the shooter, they could have had a “very obstructed view,” Moore added.
Moore says he expects “drastic changes” in security procedures as a result of the shooting, including extending perimeters and securing rally venues more carefully.