PITTSBURGH – After Pennsylvania police leaders revealed there were at least two other suspicious individuals besides would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks spotted at the July 13 Trump rally, experts tell Fox News Digital that reports of “suspicious” or “unusual” people at Secret Service events are common.

Pennsylvania’s State Police commissioner, Col. Christopher Paris, testified before the House Homeland Security Committee this week that at least two other suspicious individuals were identified at the rally before Crooks launched his attempt on the life of former President Trump. 

Actual “threats” are rare, and the gunman is believed to have acted alone. But the state police commissioner’s testimony raised new questions about different aspects of the attempted assassination of Trump.

TRUMP SHOOTER WAS NOT ONLY SUSPICIOUS PERSON AT BUTLER RALLY: PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE COMMISSIONER

Paris told lawmakers that before the deadly rally, he asked the Secret Service about a building where Crooks would later climb up and open fire. 

“We were told that Butler [Emergency Services Unit] ESU was responsible for that area, by several Secret Service agents on that walk-through,” he said. County leaders have disputed that statement.

Legislators spent days grilling law enforcement leaders on the rally’s security failures and several have visited the scene, about an hour’s drive north of Pittsburgh, in person. Within days of testifying Monday, U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned.

WATCH: Butler Township commissioner says Trump rally police were ‘strictly for traffic control’

Paris testified in front of the House Homeland Security Committee this week that at least two other people had been deemed suspicious in addition to Crooks. The would-be assassin became “even more suspicious” after authorities saw him with a range finder, he said.

“The [counter-sniper] teams were not focused in that area because they believed that the building’s rooftop/roof access was covered. It wasn’t till he started firing that they then turn their attention over there.”

— Bill Gage, retired Secret Service agent

He was also wearing a backpack and moving around outside the perimeter, prompting police to keep an eye on him. Officers approached but he ran off.

“There was a text thread that was going — they took a photo of him at some point when he utilized the range finder,” he told lawmakers. “The suspicion was heightened… I know from an interview that was immediately relayed in the command post to the Secret Service.”

TRUMP SHOOTING: TIMELINE OF ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

Thomas Matthew Crooks is alleged to be the shooter in the assassination attempt on former President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)

A person can be flagged as suspicious or unusual for a number of reasons, and the Secret Service has investigators in the field to rapidly assess such an individual, experts say.

“‘Suspicious person’? Not uncommon. Very low bar. ‘Genuine threat’? Much rarer, and Crooks progressed to the latter,” said Paul Mauro, a retired NYPD inspector. 

Crooks was initially seen without a weapon, so authorities deemed him suspicious at that time, but not a full-blown threat, Paris testified.

“They were out looking for him when he began shooting. They were just a few seconds too late.”

— Bill Gage, retired Secret Service agent

“Every single event I worked, which is thousands, there were suspicious people and events that have to be investigated,” said Bill Gage, a retired Secret Service agent and a consultant at Safehaven Security Group.

Authorities approach the suspected gunman where he fell after the U.S. Secret Service returned fire after an apparent assassination attempt on former President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)

WHISTLEBLOWER REVEALS WHY TRUMP RALLY OFFICER ASSIGNED TO SHOOTER’S PERCH MOVED

Police and the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) also may have differing definitions of what exactly constitutes a suspicious person, he said.

“Why did the director of PSP [Pennsylvania State Police] label them as suspicious? Did they approach an officer and ask for Trump’s autograph? A local might think that’s suspicious, but to USSS it’s kinda normal,” he said. “Or was someone sort of the proverbial long trench coat on a hot day?” 

Gage said that while Paris was forthcoming in his testimony, the answers he gave raise entirely new questions.

“Crooks ‘ran off’ from the officer when confronted? That’s very odd behavior at an event,” he said. “Running from the police and you have a backpack? Was that info relayed to the command post? What was the command post told?”

A law enforcement officer reacts during former President Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Gage also wanted to know more about the “text thread” that law enforcement officers were said to be using to communicate regarding Crooks’ initial sighting and disappearance.

OFFICER REPORTED MAN AT TRUMP RALLY WITH RANGE-FINDER 30 MINS BEFORE ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT: SOURCE

“And that Crooks was on the roof for three minutes? Three minutes is an eternity for a sniper,” he said. “The CS teams were not focused in that area because they believed that the building’s rooftop/roof access was covered. It wasn’t till he started firing that they then turn their attention over there.”

Former President Trump is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

For Mauro, the burning question is about where county personnel were stationed as the Secret Service and local partners tried to track Crooks down once action was deemed necessary.

“Did anyone remain in that second floor observation post or not?” he pondered, referring to a vantage point near where Crooks opened fire.

Releasing the operational plan to congressional investigators would help clear up lingering confusion about who was placed where, and why the security breach was allowed to happen, he added.

During her own testimony this week, Cheatle confirmed Crooks had been spotted outside the secure perimeter prior to the shooting and said authorities had been alerted to reports of a suspicious person “somewhere between two and five times.” At another point in her testimony, she said she believed Crooks acted alone.

FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 5, 2023. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Crooks was elevated from a suspicious person to an actual threat “seconds before the gunfire started,” she added. Cheatle later stepped down after bipartisan calls for her resignation.

FBI Director Christopher Wray also testified on Capitol Hill, revealing some of the information investigators have been able to glean off of Crooks’ phone and laptop.

Crooks was researching prior presidential assassinations — including by searching Google for the phrase, “how far away was Oswald from Kennedy?” — on the same day he registered to attend the rally.

“Starting somewhere around July 6 or so, he became very focused on former President Trump and this rally,” he said. 

In a statement, the FBI later said the investigation into Crooks was a top priority.

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“Since the day of the attack, the FBI has been consistent and clear that the shooting was an attempted assassination of former President Trump which resulted in his injury, as well as the death of a heroic father and the injuries of several other victims,” a spokesperson said. “This was a heinous attack and the FBI is devoting enormous resources to learn everything possible about the shooter and what led to his act of violence. The FBI’s Shooting Reconstruction Team continues to examine evidence from the scene, including bullet fragments, and the investigation remains ongoing.”

While the 20-year-old failed to kill the GOP presidential candidate, he did kill a bystander named Corey Comperatore, 50, and wound at least two others in the audience, David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74. Trump, who ducked for cover and was later pictured with blood on the right side of his head, said he had been struck in the ear.

Trump told Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime” this week that the Secret Service allowed him to walk out on stage without warning him there was anyone suspicious lurking on the outskirts of the rally.

Fox News’ Christina Coulter and Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.

It sounds like the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees may be doing more than competing on the field.

Boston and New York are in the middle of a three-game series at Fenway Park but the 2024 Major League Baseball trade deadline also is just a few days away and the two rivals have been linked to some of the same players.

The deadline will pass on July 30th and the Red Sox and Yankees both reportedly have been pursuing Miami Marlins All-Star Tanner Scott, according to The Athletic’s Jim Bowden.

“Scott is the best left-handed closer available on the trade market and he will be dealt over the next 24 hours, according to Major League sources,” Bowden said. “He’s a late-innings difference-maker, whether he’s used as a closer or set-up reliever. He could end up in the American League East, as the Yankees, (Baltimore Orioles), and Red Sox have all been pursuing him, along with other contenders.”

It’s not hard to see why the Red Sox have shown interest in Scott. Boston’s bullpen hasn’t performed as expected since the second half of the season kicked off and it is thin on left-handed relievers. Scott is one of Major League Baseball’s best left-handed relievers and immediately would give the Red Sox another dynamic option with swing-and-miss stuff toward the end of games.

The Red Sox have struggled since the All-Star break but adding another top-tier reliever could help change their fortunes. Don’t count them out on Scott yet.

More MLB: Red Sox Could Make Big Move For All-Star Slugger According To Insider

PITTSBURGH — Following the third day of Pittsburgh Steelers’ training camp, wide receiver Van Jefferson stayed on the field. He and fellow WR Calvin Austin III took turns catching passes from the Jugs machine and trying to deflect one another’s receptions.

Jefferson didn’t just catch a few balls after practice, he caught 300. Yes, you read that right, 300 footballs after practice. When he finally did leave the field, he was asked where this routine came from. To the surprise of the scrum, Jefferson informed the media that he learned about this practice from Steelers’ and NFL great, Antonio Brown.

“One of the equipment guys said, ‘You know, AB used to catch like 300 every day after practice.’ I just took that from them,” he said. “I think he’s one of the best to ever play in the NFL, so shoot, why not follow what he did?”

It’s a great train of thought for Jefferson, who is looking to have his best offensive season since the 2021 campaign with the Los Angeles Rams. That season, he collected 50 receptions for 802 yards and six touchdowns, all career highs. In the years since, his production’s declined steadily, but this season is his best opportunity to change that.

Which is why a new routine makes sense for Jefferson. Before arriving in Pittsburgh, catching hundreds of balls after practice was not on his schedule. Now, it’s a way for him to show determination and contribute to a determined group of pass-catchers.

Determination is a quality that the Steelers’ wide receiver room shares. It’s one of the main things that Van Jefferson sees in his teammates at the position. When asked how to summarize the team’s WR room, Jefferson chose his words carefully.

“Hungry,” he said. “All of us are just hungry to get out on the field and show what we can do.”

Jefferson continues to bring that hunger every day of training camp, and the wide receiver room will hopefully follow suit. In the meantime, you can catch Jefferson emulating AB and catching 300 balls once practice ends.

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