A 'unique' command set up contributed to security failure at Trump shooting: Secret Service

Roughly 30 seconds before shots were fired at former President Donald Trump last month, a local police officer radioed that he spotted a man with a gun. But that information never made it to the Secret Service because the agents were stationed in a different command post from their local partners and did not have access to the same radio traffic.

"That was unique," Ronald Rowe Jr., the acting director of the Secret Service, said Friday.

"We have to rethink where we put our security rooms and we are in fact doing that now moving forward," he said.

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The revelation struck at one of the central mysteries in the aftermath of the July 13 assassination attempt — Why was Trump not removed from the stage after police spotted a gunman on a rooftop less than 150 yards away?

The would-be assassin, Thomas Crooks, 20, opened fire minutes into Trump’s speech, injuring the former president’s ear, killing one person in the crowd and injuring two others.

The Secret Service has faced intense scrutiny in the wake of the incident.

The initial criticism centered on the failure to secure the building the gunman used. The Secret Service initially blamed local law enforcement but later conceded it was ultimately the agency's responsibility to ensure the building was covered.

Earlier this week, Rowe acknowledged that there was a 30-second window from when police spotted Crooks to when Crooks opened fire. On Friday, Rowe went into detail for the first time on the communication failures that played out that day.

Secret Service personnel were in one command post, with a member of the Pennsylvania State Police,