A sound analysis of the New York Timescarried out with the help of an expert, suggests that the suspect fired eight shots.
Two videos broadcast on social networks and authenticated by the New York Times appear to show the body of the person suspected of shooting former President Donald J. Trump lying motionless on the roof of a building, about 150 yards north of where Mr. Trump was speaking.
The location of the body is consistent with the origin of the gunfire. Sound analysis of the gunfire determined that it came from approximately the same distance as the body on the roof. Mr. Trump’s visible wound to his right ear and his position when he was shot are also consistent.
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the suspected shooter “fired multiple shots toward the scene from an elevated position outside the rally.” The suspect was killed, the Secret Service said.
The sound analysis of the gunshots was carried out by the New York Times and Robert C. Maher, a gunshot acoustics expert at Montana State University in Bozeman. It found that two bursts of gunfire were fired. Both the first burst of three shots and the second burst of five shots were fired about 100 to 118 yards from the C-SPAN microphone into which Mr. Trump was speaking. The distance corresponds to where the suspect’s body was. The lack of significant difference between the eight shots suggests that they were likely all from the same weapon, Mr. Maher said.
A witness told the BBC he saw a gunman dressed in “beige, dull-coloured clothing” climbing onto the roof of a building in the same compound seen in the videos. The witness, identified as Greg, said he tried to alert police to the man’s presence minutes before the shooting began.
This article was originally published in the New York Times.