General Discussion

At 4:26 p.m., a local law enforcement countersniper ended his shift and spotted Crooks around the southernmost warehouse of a complex owned by AGR International,[64] in which police countersnipers were positioned. The countersniper texted his colleagues about Crooks, noting that Crooks might have known about the police presence inside the building. The New York Times described the text messages as suggesting that Crooks aroused police suspicion more than 90 minutes before the shooting. At 5:14, a countersniper still in the building saw Crooks directly underneath the warehouse and photographed him. The countersniper saw him "scoping out" the rooftop of the building and carrying a golf rangefinder, which particularly alarmed officers. The countersniper texted images of Crooks to other members of law enforcement before heading outside to find him and keep visual tabs on Crooks while backup arrived. Crooks ran from his position and evaded a search joined by four other local police officers. Law enforcement officers spotted Crooks between 20 minutes and 30 minutes before the shooting. Multiple local law enforcement officers identified Crooks and believed he might have been acting suspiciously near the event's magnetometer weapon detectors; they expressed their suspicions over radio, and the Secret Service was informed of this at some point.