After sending a photo of the would-be shooter to state police, two officers with the Butler County Emergency Services Unit, an agency trained in SWAT tactics, left their posts to search for Thomas Matthew Crooks on the ground about half an hour before the shooting at former President Donald Trump’s rally in Connoquenessing Township, according to testimony from Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Christopher Paris on Tuesday, July 23.

During a House Committee on Homeland Security hearing, Paris said the two law enforcement officers left their post at a second-story window in the AGR building. The post overlooked the roof from where the 20-year-old shooter and Bethel Park resident later opened fire, injuring Trump and two others and killing Buffalo Township resident Corey Comperatore.

“Had ESU maintained position in that window overlooking the roof, isn’t it true that they would have had a clean shot ... at Mr. Crooks as he was ascending the roof to his shooting position?” U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C., asked.

“I’m not prepared to say that because I don’t know the exact timeline of events,” Paris said.

Paris said the officers left the window to search for the suspicious person, later identified as Crooks, and alerted other law enforcement. Their search included two other local law enforcement members, he said.

Paris said Crooks was initially deemed by ESU to be suspicious because he was “milling around that area in front of the AGR building.” Crooks stood out because he did not enter the venue.

“At some point, he produced the range finder which heightened that suspicion,” Paris said.

“There was a text thread that was going — I’ve been briefed — between the ESU members,” he said. “They identified — they took a photo of him.”

Paris said state police in the command post received a call and text from the ESU team about Crooks that was then relayed to the Secret Service.

The messages were immediately relayed verbally by a member of the state police to the Secret Service in the command post, he said.

The state trooper was provided with a phone number to which they sent the photo of Crooks, Paris said.

“Our understanding was that was some element of the Secret Service,” Paris said.

During the rally, Paris said state police, Secret Service and Butler County ESU all communicated on different channels.

“The integration occurs — I can only speak for PSP — our integration occurs by us having somebody inside of the Secret Service command post,” Paris said. “For an incident of this magnitude, in theory, the more people you have on the same channel if there was a medical emergency, or a lost 6-year-old, and everybody keys up at once, it paralyzes your communication.”

He said officers searched for Crooks as “scores of people” made their way across the rally grounds. About 100 people required medical attention due to the heat that day, Paris said. A 6-year-old child was also reported missing during the event.

“They ... circumscribed the building to try and locate (Crooks),” Paris said. “It became apparent at some point that he was up on the roof.”

That was when one municipal officer hoisted another up to the roof, he said. Lt. Matthew Pearson with Butler Township police previously confirmed they were Butler Township officers.

“Once they realized (Crooks) was up on the roof, one boosted another one up, hanging from the ledge of the roof,” Paris said. “By the time that officer was boosted up on top of the roof, Crooks was on it. Almost in that final position that you saw. He had the (AR-15) out and he pointed it at the municipal officer who, suspended from the roof, was not in a position — feet dangling at that point — to draw a weapon or continue hoisting himself back up on that roof.”

Without a timeline, Paris estimated about two and a half to three minutes had spanned from the time the Butler Township officer hoisted himself up on the roof and the first gunshot rang out.

The officer let go and dropped down from the roof as some rally-goers began to film and shout that somebody was on the roof, Paris said. Other law enforcement officers around the building began to run, but they did not have a vantage point on the ground to see Crooks’ exact position on the roof, Paris said.

The investigation is still ongoing, Paris said, and a minute-by-minute timeline of the events leading up to the shooting is still being established. Paris, who was not at the rally on July 13, noted that state police was not aware of the Secret Service’s operation plan that day.

The state police has asked for the operation plan and has yet to receive it, he said.

“State police routinely exercise deference to the Secret Service to set the perimeter for an event like this,” Paris said.

Paris named other law enforcement agencies involved in the rally security, including the Butler County Sheriff’s Office and Allegheny County Police. Pittsburgh City Police assisted in the motorcade. About 30 state troopers were assigned to event, Paris said.

Members of Pennsylvania state and local law enforcement were invited to Tuesday’s hearing, which was announced Monday by House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark E. Green. Patrick Yoes, national president of the Fraternal Order of Police, also offered testimony.

The event followed a congressional hearing on Monday with former Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle, who resigned Tuesday morning.

“This is not an academic exercise,” Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., said during the Tuesday hearing with Paris and Yoes. “This is not something that the American people can wait 60 days for. With these gaps in information, there are conspiracy theories, there is disinformation and all of our safety is at risk. Political violence has escalated and we need to know these answers.”

Butler County District Attorney Rich Goldinger did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.