As the nation remains in shock following the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, the local officer who first made contact with shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks is being declared a hero by the sheriff, per the New York Post.
In an interview with the outlet, Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe says that his officer saved Trump’s life and has called online critics “a**holes.” He insisted that the Butler Township police officer’s intervention delayed Crooks’ timing.
The officer was recruited to assist the Secret Service during the rally on Saturday.
“Can you imagine 10 seconds before that? That the president was looking straight ahead and where that bullet could have potentially landed,” said Slupe.
Crooks was positioned on the top of a manufacturing plant roof around 130 yards away from the stage where Trump was speaking to thousands of supporters when the officer approached him. Crooks had a clear shot of Trump.
A fellow policeman lifted the officer on the roof and was hanging from the roof when he saw Crooks, who aimed his semi-automatic assault rifle at him.
“Right now, (the shooter is) training on the president. These guys breach the roof,” Slupe said of the two officers. “So he turns around and potentially eliminates that threat. The officer is like ‘I’m dead or I drop. I drop.’ He turns back around,” he said of the shooter.
Hellbound and Down 