Multiple failures, multiple investigations: Unraveling the attempted assassination of Donald Trump

BUTLER, Pa. (news agencies) — The young man was pacing around the edges of the Donald Trump campaign rally, shouldering a big backpack and peering into the lens of a rangefinder toward the rooftops behind the stage where the former president would stand.

His behavior was so odd, so unlike that of the other rallygoers, that local law enforcement took notice, radioed their concerns and snapped a photo. But then he vanished.

The image was circulated by officers stationed outside the security perimeter on that hot, sunny Saturday afternoon. But the man didn’t appear again until witnesses saw him climbing up the side of a squat manufacturing building that was within 135 meters (157 yards) from the stage.

That’s where he opened fire, six minutes after Trump began speaking, in an attempt to assassinate the presumptive GOP presidential nominee. The gunman killed one rallygoer and seriously wounded two others. Trump suffered an ear injury but was not seriously hurt, appearing just days later at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee with a bandage over the wound.

Now come the questions, and there are plenty. Multiple investigations have been launched, both into the crime itself and how law enforcement allowed it to happen. It’s becoming increasingly clear this was a complicated failure involving multiple missteps and at least nine local and federal law enforcement divisions that were supposed to be working together. Law enforcement has also warned of the potential for copycat attacks and more violence.

This story is based on interviews with eight law enforcement officials, some of whom spoke to media on condition of anonymity to discuss the investigations into the attempt on Trump’s life.

The Secret Service always partners with local law enforcement when a president, political candidate or other high-level official comes to town, and Saturday’s rally was no different. An advance team comes early to scope out the scene and identify potential areas of concern. They order vehicles moved. They set up barriers. They block off roads.