Secret Service Director Says Local Police Were Inside Building Used by Trump Shooter

US Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle is seen in a file photo. (Kamil Krzaczynski/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)

U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said Tuesday that local police officers were inside a building as a shooter on the roof opened fire on former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania on Saturday.

“There was local police in that building—there was local police in the area that were responsible for the outer perimeter of the building,” she told ABC News in an exclusive interview, referring to officers with the Butler Police Department.

The director, who confirmed in the interview that she doesn’t plan to resign from her position, said that her agency “did share support for that particular site” and confirmed the Secret Service “was responsible for the inner perimeter” of the rally where former President Trump spoke.

Her agency also sought assistance from local police to secure the outer perimeter, indicating that security of the building used by the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was being handled by the local police department.

The Secret Service is the entity that is charged with protecting U.S. leaders, including former presidents and vice presidents as well as members of their families. But at times, the agency will work with local or state law enforcement partners to provide security.

“The Secret Service is tasked with the tremendous responsibility of protecting the current and former leaders of our democracy,” Ms. Cheatle said in a statement, her first since the Saturday assassination attempt. “It is a responsibility that I take incredibly seriously, and I am committed to fulfilling that mission.”

Video footage taken from the scene around the rally as well as witnesses who spoke with The Epoch Times indicate that a man with a gun was spotted on the roof of the building prior to the assassination attempt. Some said they alerted police officers to the individual. Responding to those reports, Ms. Cheatle said that there was a “very short period of time” between the reports of the shooter and when he opened fire.

“Seeking that person out, finding them, identifying them, and eventually neutralizing them took place in a very short period of time, and it makes it very difficult,” the agency director said.

The Epoch Times contacted the Butler Police Department and Secret Service for comment Tuesday.

Amid the controversy over which agency or department should have handled security for the building, the Secret Service released a statement early on Tuesday morning denying claims that it is assigning blame and shirking responsibility.

“Our agency relies on the support of courageous police officers and local partners. We are deeply grateful for their unwavering commitment and bravery. Any suggestion otherwise is simply not true,” Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.

But the Fraternal Order of Police, a police union, mounted a defense of the Butler Police Department in the wake of the federal agency’s statements about the rally security.

“Whatever happened in Butler, this was not a failure of the local, state, or federal officers on the ground who responded to the shots fired at former President Trump. They acted heroically and put their lives on the line to protect everyone at the event and we must recognize that,” Fraternal Order of Police President Patrick Yoes said in a statement. “This is a failure at the management or command level who failed to secure an obvious weakness in the security of this event.”

In a news conference Saturday after the assassination attempt, reporters asked Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Colonel George Bivens which agency was responsible for security at the rally site.

“Secret Service always has the lead on securing something like this, but then they work very closely … I hate to use the word routine, but it is a fairly routine matter for all of our agencies to work jointly with the Secret Service,” Mr. Bivens told reporters, adding that the venue, potential threats, and resources factor into those decisions.

“But they’re the lead in that security,” he said.

After the incident, the former president said that a bullet fired by shooter, identified by the FBI as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, pierced his upper right ear. He attended the first night of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Monday, appearing unharmed other than a large bandage across the ear.

State police officials confirmed that Corey Comperatore, 50, was shot and killed in the incident while he attempted to shield members of his family from the gunfire. Two others were injured and are said to be in stable condition, officials said.