US media reports suggest that there may have been communication failures between the Secret Service and the local law enforcement leading up to the attempted assassination of former US President Donald Trump earlier this month.
Trump suffered an injury when a gunman, identified as Thomas Crooks, opened fire at the former president while he was speaking at a Republican presidential election campaign rally in Pennsylvania on July 13.
ABC News broadcast an interview on Monday with a local SWAT team who were supplementing efforts to ensure Trump’s security alongside the Secret Service.
One of the team’s officers said his team and the Secret Service agents were supposed to have a face-to-face briefing when the agents arrived at the site, but that never happened.
The New York Times also reported that the gunman aroused police suspicion more than 90 minutes before the shooting. A counter-sniper with local law enforcement took photographs of Crooks and shared them with his colleagues. But it appears that the information was not promptly shared with the Secret Service.
The FBI said on Monday that it has conducted over 450 interviews as part of its investigation into the incident. It added that Trump also agreed to be interviewed.
It has come to light that Crooks joined a training course at a local shooting club last September. Earlier this year, he also reportedly bought chemicals used to make explosives and other items online under an alias.