Officers did not leave post to search for Trump shooter: DA

(NewsNation) — The district attorney in Butler County, Pennsylvania, said allegations officers left their posts to search for a shooter at a Trump rally are untrue.

District Attorney Richard Goldinger told NewsNation’s Brian Entin in an exclusive interview that the statements, which originated with a Pennsylvania State Police colonel, were inaccurate.

“They did not leave. They just couldn’t see where he was from where they were. The vantage point did not permit them to see where he was shooting from,” Goldinger said.

Goldinger’s statement comes as lawmakers and the country are attempting to understand how the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump happened. The Secret Service, state police and local law enforcement have all offered different narratives of the events on July 13 that led to the death of one rally attendee.

Pennsylvania State Police Col. Christopher Paris made his statement while testifying before Congress. Lawmakers have convened several hearings to attempt to determine how the shooting happened and why Secret Service agents did not act sooner to stop the gunman.

Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned Tuesday following an intense grilling on the agency’s preparation for the Butler rally. Trump was at a podium when shots were fired from a nearby roof, the former president being grazed on the ear while one rally guest was killed and two more critically injured.

The rooftop was outside the Secret Service perimeter but still less than 200 yards from the president. There have been conflicting reports about which agency was responsible for securing the area and many questions about how a gunman was able to get onto the roof.

There have also been reports that Secret Service snipers saw the gunman 20 minutes before the first shot was fired but did not engage. After the gunman began shooting, he was killed by a Secret Service counterassault team.

Investigators are still working to determine the motives of the shooter, with little evidence so far to indicate a clear political motive. In a rare show of bipartisanship, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have come down hard on officials in search of answers in the first failed public assassination attempt on a president since 1981.