WILSON COUNTY –&nbsp;The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI), the Neodesha Police Department, and the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office positively identified the man whose skeletal remains were found in rural Wilson County, and have made an arrest connected to the case, according to a media release from the KBI.

The victim was identified as Levi Ellis, 39, of Neodesha. An autopsy was conducted on his remains.

KBI agents, with assistance from officers with the Neodesha Police Department, developed a suspect in the case. An arrest warrant was issued for first-degree murder connected to the death of Ellis.

Just after 1 p.m. Tuesday, officers from the Broken Arrow Police Department in Oklahoma arrested Joseph D. Ferraro, 56, of Neodesha, at the Clarion Hotel at 2600 N. Aspen Ave. in Broken Arrow.

He was booked into the Tulsa County Jail in Tulsa. Extradition will be pursued. The investigation is ongoing.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/10/1727820537934.png" alt="Ferraro photo Tulsa County" />
 <figcaption>Ferraro photo Tulsa County</figcaption>
 </figure>WILSON COUNTY –&nbsp;The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI), the Neodesha Police Department, and the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office positively identified the man whose skeletal remains were found in rural Wilson County, and have made an arrest connected to the case, according to a media release from the KBI.The victim was identified as Levi Ellis, 39, of Neodesha. An autopsy was conducted on his remains.KBI agents, with assistance from officers with the Neodesha Police Department, developed a suspect in the case. An arrest warrant was issued for first-degree murder connected to the death of Ellis.Just after 1 p.m. Tuesday, officers from the Broken Arrow Police Department in Oklahoma arrested Joseph D. Ferraro, 56, of Neodesha, at the Clarion Hotel at 2600 N. Aspen Ave. in Broken Arrow.He was booked into the Tulsa County Jail in Tulsa. Extradition will be pursued. The investigation is ongoing.

Police ID remains found in Kan., arrest murder suspect at hotel

SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement have a suspect in custody after he fired a rifle at undercover officers&nbsp;during a surveillance mission tied to recent armed robberies in the area.

On Saturday, Wichita Police Department officers were in an unmarked vehicle n the 1400 block of N. Grove, monitoring a residence connected to the investigation of multiple recent armed robberies, according to Police Department spokesman Andrew Ford.&nbsp; A silver vehicle, suspected to be involved in the crimes, was parked at the residence. 

Officers observed individuals enter the vehicle, drive away, and promptly initiated a traffic stop, detaining the individuals for questioning. 

Meanwhile, officers continued their surveillance of the target residence. As they remained stationed near the northwest corner of 14th and Grove, an unknown man approached the unmarked vehicle, attempting to peer inside. The man then turned back towards the residence, engaging in conversation with another individual.

Shortly thereafter, a second man emerged from the residence carrying a rifle. Without warning, he pointed the weapon in the direction of the officers and fired one round. The officer in the unmarked vehicle immediately retreated, tactically repositioning and establishing a perimeter around the residence.

The suspect, later identified according to Sedgwick County Booking records as 54-year-old Mark K. Maples, armed with a rifle, retreated back inside the home and barricaded himself within the property. Officers on the scene attempted to make verbal contact, urging the Maples to surrender peacefully, but their efforts were initially met with no response. 

SWAT and the Negotiation Team were deployed, and after a standoff, the Maples was taken into custody without further incident. Upon securing the residence, officers recovered a rifle believed to have been used in the incident.&nbsp; Maples is being held on requested charges that include criminal discharge of a firearm and aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1727726336829.png" alt="Maples photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>Maples photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement have a suspect in custody after he fired a rifle at undercover officers&nbsp;during a surveillance mission tied to recent armed robberies in the area.On Saturday, Wichita Police Department officers were in an unmarked vehicle n the 1400 block of N. Grove, monitoring a residence connected to the investigation of multiple recent armed robberies, according to Police Department spokesman Andrew Ford.&nbsp; A silver vehicle, suspected to be involved in the crimes, was parked at the residence. Officers observed individuals enter the vehicle, drive away, and promptly initiated a traffic stop, detaining the individuals for questioning. Meanwhile, officers continued their surveillance of the target residence. As they remained stationed near the northwest corner of 14th and Grove, an unknown man approached the unmarked vehicle, attempting to peer inside. The man then turned back towards the residence, engaging in conversation with another individual.Shortly thereafter, a second man emerged from the residence carrying a rifle. Without warning, he pointed the weapon in the direction of the officers and fired one round. The officer in the unmarked vehicle immediately retreated, tactically repositioning and establishing a perimeter around the residence.The suspect, later identified according to Sedgwick County Booking records as 54-year-old Mark K. Maples, armed with a rifle, retreated back inside the home and barricaded himself within the property. Officers on the scene attempted to make verbal contact, urging the Maples to surrender peacefully, but their efforts were initially met with no response. SWAT and the Negotiation Team were deployed, and after a standoff, the Maples was taken into custody without further incident. Upon securing the residence, officers recovered a rifle believed to have been used in the incident.&nbsp; Maples is being held on requested charges that include criminal discharge of a firearm and aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer.

Kan. armed robbery suspect fired rifle at undercover officers

Join Bill Pollard as he discusses the who, where and why of numerous forts from his book, "Forts and Posts in Territorial Kansas." Pollard previously spoke at the Museum about forts and posts in Kansas during the Civil War. In this presentation, he turns back the clock to explore earlier forts. Pollard, a former Kansan, earned his MS in journalism from the University of Kansas. He’s an active historian and an award-winning author.

This free presentation is offered via Zoom only, Thursday, October 3, 5:30-6:30 pm. Register for your Zoom link at&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="http://www.smokyhillmuseum.org/">www.smokyhillmuseum.org</a>.

The Smoky Hill Museum is a nationally accredited history museum, in the heart of downtown Salina, Kansas. This FREE museum is open Tuesday-Friday 11-5, Saturday 10-5. Also, be sure to stop by the Museum Store&nbsp;for a wide variety of regional and Kansas products, local artwork and gifts for all ages.

For needed accommodations, please call Nona Miller at 309-5776 between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.&nbsp; Every effort will be made to accommodate known disabilities. For material or speech access, please call at least 5 working days prior to the event.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1727705258475.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Join Bill Pollard as he discusses the who, where and why of numerous forts from his book, "Forts and Posts in Territorial Kansas." Pollard previously spoke at the Museum about forts and posts in Kansas during the Civil War. In this presentation, he turns back the clock to explore earlier forts. Pollard, a former Kansan, earned his MS in journalism from the University of Kansas. He’s an active historian and an award-winning author.This free presentation is offered via Zoom only, Thursday, October 3, 5:30-6:30 pm. Register for your Zoom link at&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="http://www.smokyhillmuseum.org/">www.smokyhillmuseum.org</a>.The Smoky Hill Museum is a nationally accredited history museum, in the heart of downtown Salina, Kansas. This FREE museum is open Tuesday-Friday 11-5, Saturday 10-5. Also, be sure to stop by the Museum Store&nbsp;for a wide variety of regional and Kansas products, local artwork and gifts for all ages.For needed accommodations, please call Nona Miller at 309-5776 between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.&nbsp; Every effort will be made to accommodate known disabilities. For material or speech access, please call at least 5 working days prior to the event.

Bill Pollard to explore early Kansas forts in free Smoky Hill Museum presentation

&nbsp;JACKSON COUNTY (JASO) —Law enforcement are investigating a suspect on drug allegations.

Shortly before 8a.m. Sept. 26, a Sheriff’s Deputy conducted a traffic stop on a 2003 Acura LT on U.S. Hwy 75 and 214th Road near Holton for multiple alleged traffic infractions, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.

Upon contacting the occupants of the vehicle, the driver was identified as Paula Louise Michael, 61, of Topeka, Kansas. During the course of the traffic stop a Jackson County Sheriff’s K9 alerted to the odor of illegal narcotics within the vehicle. A probable cause search of the vehicle was conducted and resulted in the discovery of illegal narcotics and drug paraphernalia.

Michael was arrested and booked into the Jackson County Jail on requested charges of possession of methamphetamine, a hallucinogenic drug, and possession of drug paraphernalia.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1727468514804.png" alt="Michael-photo Jackson Co." />
 <figcaption>Michael-photo Jackson Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>&nbsp;JACKSON COUNTY (JASO) —Law enforcement are investigating a suspect on drug allegations.Shortly before 8a.m. Sept. 26, a Sheriff’s Deputy conducted a traffic stop on a 2003 Acura LT on U.S. Hwy 75 and 214th Road near Holton for multiple alleged traffic infractions, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.Upon contacting the occupants of the vehicle, the driver was identified as Paula Louise Michael, 61, of Topeka, Kansas. During the course of the traffic stop a Jackson County Sheriff’s K9 alerted to the odor of illegal narcotics within the vehicle. A probable cause search of the vehicle was conducted and resulted in the discovery of illegal narcotics and drug paraphernalia.Michael was arrested and booked into the Jackson County Jail on requested charges of possession of methamphetamine, a hallucinogenic drug, and possession of drug paraphernalia.&nbsp;

Kansas sheriff's K9 found drugs during traffic stop

JACKSON COUNTY– Law enforcement are investigating a wanted suspect on new drug allegations.&nbsp;

Just after 3:30 p.m. September 26, a Sheriff’s Deputy conducted a traffic stop on a Ford Taurus for multiple alleged traffic infractions near 118th road on U.S. Hwy 75, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.

During the course of the traffic stop, a K9 detected the odor of illegal drugs or narcotics within the vehicle. A passenger of the vehicle was identified as Steven Christopher Lee, 49, of Topeka.&nbsp; It was discovered Lee was wanted by the U.S. Marshals Service. &nbsp;A probable cause search was conducted of the vehicle and resulted in the discovery of methamphetamine, and drug paraphernalia.

Lee was arrested and booked into the Jackson County Jail on requested charges of possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1727431578389.png" alt="Lee-photo Jackson County" />
 <figcaption>Lee-photo Jackson County</figcaption>
 </figure>JACKSON COUNTY– Law enforcement are investigating a wanted suspect on new drug allegations.&nbsp;Just after 3:30 p.m. September 26, a Sheriff’s Deputy conducted a traffic stop on a Ford Taurus for multiple alleged traffic infractions near 118th road on U.S. Hwy 75, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.During the course of the traffic stop, a K9 detected the odor of illegal drugs or narcotics within the vehicle. A passenger of the vehicle was identified as Steven Christopher Lee, 49, of Topeka.&nbsp; It was discovered Lee was wanted by the U.S. Marshals Service. &nbsp;A probable cause search was conducted of the vehicle and resulted in the discovery of methamphetamine, and drug paraphernalia.Lee was arrested and booked into the Jackson County Jail on requested charges of possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.

Suspect wanted by U.S. Marshals captured during Kan. traffic stop

In nearly two years, Kansas has received $18.2 million in taxes from sports books

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/tim-carpenter/">TIM CARPENTER</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a>

TOPEKA — The Kansas budget director said Thursday passage of a proposed Missouri constitutional amendment in November allowing legal sports wagering would cut into Kansas’ gaming tax revenue.

Adam Proffitt, who serves as secretary of the Kansas Department of Administration and as budget director under Gov. Laura Kelly, said adoption of the Missouri amendment would carve into cross-border betting by Missouri residents. He didn’t offer an estimate of the revenue shift.

“I would be naive to say that it wouldn’t have any impact,” Proffitt said during an economic outlook conference at Washburn University. “We’d like to keep that money in Kansas.”

Under Kansas law, people placing the bets must be present in Kansas even if making the wager through an online platform through DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, ESPN BET, Fanatics or Caesars.

“I live in the Kansas City metro and on some Sunday mornings about 11:30, if I drive toward State Line (Road), there’s a host of cars literally lined up on the Kansas side — they’re on their phones placing bets on football games,” Proffitt said.

On Sept. 1, 2022, Kelly placed the first legal sports bet in Kansas. She wagered $15 — to match quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ jersey number — on the Kansas City Chiefs winning Super Bowl LVII. On Feb. 12, 2023, Kelly proved herself an adept sports gambler. The Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles for the championship, and the governor won $150.

In nearly two years of government-sanctioned sports wagering in Kansas, the state has drawn $18.2 million in tax revenue. Tax in Kansas during August was $657,000, an increase from $484,000 in August 2023.

Gambling platforms authorized to operate in Kansas have documented revenue of $182 million on $4.1 billion in wagering since launching in 2022.

Proponents of Missouri Amendment 2 released an economic study indicating total tax revenue in the state would total $4.7 million in the initial year of operation, but grow to $38.7 million in the fifth year.

Missouri voters will decide the sports betting constitutional initiative Nov. 5. If approved, Missouri regulators would be directed to set up a sports gambling network by December 2024.

Overall, Proffitt said the state general fund in the current fiscal year had authorized expenditures of $10.5 billion on forecasted revenue of $9.7 billion. The state’s cash reserves would cushion that spending hit, he said.

“So, we’re spending more than we take in,” he said. “Really critical to note, we had a lot of one-time projects scheduled. We have a strong ending balance.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1727472070746.jpeg" alt=" Adam Proffitt, the budget director under Gov. Laura Kelly, said during an economic outlook conference at Washburn University that passage of a Missouri constitutional amendment legalizing sports wagering would reduce Kansas' gambling revenue once Missouri residents in the Kansas City area had an alternative to driving across the state line to place online bets. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption> Adam Proffitt, the budget director under Gov. Laura Kelly, said during an economic outlook conference at Washburn University that passage of a Missouri constitutional amendment legalizing sports wagering would reduce Kansas' gambling revenue once Missouri residents in the Kansas City area had an alternative to driving across the state line to place online bets. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>In nearly two years, Kansas has received $18.2 million in taxes from sports books</h2>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/tim-carpenter/">TIM CARPENTER</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA — The Kansas budget director said Thursday passage of a proposed Missouri constitutional amendment in November allowing legal sports wagering would cut into Kansas’ gaming tax revenue.Adam Proffitt, who serves as secretary of the Kansas Department of Administration and as budget director under Gov. Laura Kelly, said adoption of the Missouri amendment would carve into cross-border betting by Missouri residents. He didn’t offer an estimate of the revenue shift.“I would be naive to say that it wouldn’t have any impact,” Proffitt said during an economic outlook conference at Washburn University. “We’d like to keep that money in Kansas.”Under Kansas law, people placing the bets must be present in Kansas even if making the wager through an online platform through DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, ESPN BET, Fanatics or Caesars.“I live in the Kansas City metro and on some Sunday mornings about 11:30, if I drive toward State Line (Road), there’s a host of cars literally lined up on the Kansas side — they’re on their phones placing bets on football games,” Proffitt said.On Sept. 1, 2022, Kelly placed the first legal sports bet in Kansas. She wagered $15 — to match quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ jersey number — on the Kansas City Chiefs winning Super Bowl LVII. On Feb. 12, 2023, Kelly proved herself an adept sports gambler. The Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles for the championship, and the governor won $150.In nearly two years of government-sanctioned sports wagering in Kansas, the state has drawn $18.2 million in tax revenue. Tax in Kansas during August was $657,000, an increase from $484,000 in August 2023.Gambling platforms authorized to operate in Kansas have documented revenue of $182 million on $4.1 billion in wagering since launching in 2022.Proponents of Missouri Amendment 2 released an economic study indicating total tax revenue in the state would total $4.7 million in the initial year of operation, but grow to $38.7 million in the fifth year.Missouri voters will decide the sports betting constitutional initiative Nov. 5. If approved, Missouri regulators would be directed to set up a sports gambling network by December 2024.Overall, Proffitt said the state general fund in the current fiscal year had authorized expenditures of $10.5 billion on forecasted revenue of $9.7 billion. The state’s cash reserves would cushion that spending hit, he said.“So, we’re spending more than we take in,” he said. “Really critical to note, we had a lot of one-time projects scheduled. We have a strong ending balance.”

Passage of Mo. sports betting amendment will squeeze Kan. gaming revenue

SEDGWICK COUNTY —A Kansas woman convicted in the methadone death of her 2-year-old son is going to prison for the rest of her life.

On Wednesday&nbsp;District Judge Jeffrey Goering sentenced 28-year-old Kimberly Compass to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.

In May of 2021, a jury convicted Compass of first-degree felony murder after her 2-year-old son died from ingesting methadone in a Wichita motel on May 31, 2019. Prosecutors accused Compass of mishandling three bottles of methadone, which had been prescribed to help her kick a heroin habit.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/5/1621892806239.png" alt="Compass was originally booked into jail in August of 2019- photo Sedgwick County Jail" />
 <figcaption>Compass was originally booked into jail in August of 2019- photo Sedgwick County Jail</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY —A Kansas woman convicted in the methadone death of her 2-year-old son is going to prison for the rest of her life.On Wednesday&nbsp;District Judge Jeffrey Goering sentenced 28-year-old Kimberly Compass to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.In May of 2021, a jury convicted Compass of first-degree felony murder after her 2-year-old son died from ingesting methadone in a Wichita motel on May 31, 2019. Prosecutors accused Compass of mishandling three bottles of methadone, which had been prescribed to help her kick a heroin habit.

Kan. mother going to prison for  toddler son’s methadone death

Rolling Hills Zoo is gearing up for an exciting evening with its annual WILD ABOUT CRAFTS! The Sip &amp; Sell Craft Fair will take place on Saturday, October 5, from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. at <a href="https://www.rollinghillszoo.org/">Rolling Hills Zoo</a>.

Admission to the event is $5 per person and offers a unique shopping experience with local artisans and vendors displaying a variety of handmade goods, perfect for the fall season.

Attendees can look forward to discovering various crafts, including handcrafted soaps, lotions, custom apparel, jewelry, and homemade treats. The event will feature well-known brands such as Scentsy, Paparazzi Jewelry, Osborne Books, and Color Street Nails, alongside many other local vendors.

In addition to the shopping experience, food and beverages will be available throughout the event. A food truck will be on hand to offer delicious meals, while those 21 and older can enjoy wine slushies and margaritas from the cash bar.

With over 40 vendors offering unique items and gifts, WILD ABOUT CRAFTS! is the perfect autumn outing for friends and families alike. Don't miss this opportunity to support local crafters while enjoying a fun and festive evening at Rolling Hills Zoo.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1727355302827.jpeg" alt="WildAboutCrafts-Logo.jpg" />
 <figcaption>WildAboutCrafts-Logo.jpg</figcaption>
 </figure>SubmittedRolling Hills Zoo is gearing up for an exciting evening with its annual WILD ABOUT CRAFTS! The Sip &amp; Sell Craft Fair will take place on Saturday, October 5, from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. at <a href="https://www.rollinghillszoo.org/">Rolling Hills Zoo</a>.Admission to the event is $5 per person and offers a unique shopping experience with local artisans and vendors displaying a variety of handmade goods, perfect for the fall season.Attendees can look forward to discovering various crafts, including handcrafted soaps, lotions, custom apparel, jewelry, and homemade treats. The event will feature well-known brands such as Scentsy, Paparazzi Jewelry, Osborne Books, and Color Street Nails, alongside many other local vendors.In addition to the shopping experience, food and beverages will be available throughout the event. A food truck will be on hand to offer delicious meals, while those 21 and older can enjoy wine slushies and margaritas from the cash bar.With over 40 vendors offering unique items and gifts, WILD ABOUT CRAFTS! is the perfect autumn outing for friends and families alike. Don't miss this opportunity to support local crafters while enjoying a fun and festive evening at Rolling Hills Zoo.

Rolling Hills Zoo to host 'Wild About Crafts!' Sip & Sell Craft Fair on October 5

SEDGWICK COUNTY — The suspect involved in a shooting near a school on Monday has been moved from the hospital to jail, according to <a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/InmateSearch/Details.aspx?Id=752257">Sedgwick County Booking records.</a>

Vincent Solomon is being held on <a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/InmateSearch/Details.aspx?Id=752257">requested charges</a> of attempted murder, aggravated battery, domestic battery, criminal restraint, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer, criminal use of weapons and interference with law enforcement, according to online jail records.

Just after 9a.m. Monday, Sedgwick County Emergency Communications began to receive reports of a shooting outside Cessna Elementary School, 2101 West 45th Street South in Wichita, according to a statement from Police Chief Joe Sullivan during a Tuesday afternoon news conference.

The call was broadcast on all law enforcement radio channels. A Sedgwick County Deputy heard the call and responded. When the deputy arrived, he located a 46-year-old man from Wichita who was armed with a handgun. The man made statements that the deputy would kill him while pointing the gun at the deputy, according to Sullivan.

The suspect than ran to and laid on top of a 30-year-old woman. The deputy gave commands for the man to drop his gun and observed the suspect place the gun to the woman's head.

In defense of the woman, the deputy fired his gun twice. The suspect would not let go of the woman. The deputy then attempted to disarm the man physically. It took two Wichita Police officers and the deputy to disarm the suspect.

Investigators have learned that the man and woman live together and have children together. The couple had an argument in a vehicle on the way to the school which led to the suspect shooting the woman multiple times. The woman ran toward the school and the suspect chased her. A Wichita Public School staff member saw the suspect with the gun approaching the school and pulled the door of the school shut and locked it so the suspect could not get inside.

EMS transported the suspect and the woman to an area hospital. Both are expected to survive, according to Sullivan.&nbsp;

The Advanced Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT) was activated to conduct this investigation. ALERT team investigators will present the facts of this case to the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office for formal charging consideration.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1727347075515.png" alt="Solomon -photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>Solomon -photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY — The suspect involved in a shooting near a school on Monday has been moved from the hospital to jail, according to <a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/InmateSearch/Details.aspx?Id=752257">Sedgwick County Booking records.</a>Vincent Solomon is being held on <a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/InmateSearch/Details.aspx?Id=752257">requested charges</a> of attempted murder, aggravated battery, domestic battery, criminal restraint, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer, criminal use of weapons and interference with law enforcement, according to online jail records.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1727210527551.png" alt="Image from security camera shows Solomon chasing the woman, after she had been shot, as they approach the entrance to the school.- image from Wichita Police" />
 <figcaption>Image from security camera shows Solomon chasing the woman, after she had been shot, as they approach the entrance to the school.- image from Wichita Police</figcaption>
 </figure>Just after 9a.m. Monday, Sedgwick County Emergency Communications began to receive reports of a shooting outside Cessna Elementary School, 2101 West 45th Street South in Wichita, according to a statement from Police Chief Joe Sullivan during a Tuesday afternoon news conference.The call was broadcast on all law enforcement radio channels. A Sedgwick County Deputy heard the call and responded. When the deputy arrived, he located a 46-year-old man from Wichita who was armed with a handgun. The man made statements that the deputy would kill him while pointing the gun at the deputy, according to Sullivan.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1727106753444.png" alt="Police on the scene near the school-photo courtesy KWCH" />
 <figcaption>Police on the scene near the school-photo courtesy KWCH</figcaption>
 </figure>The suspect than ran to and laid on top of a 30-year-old woman. The deputy gave commands for the man to drop his gun and observed the suspect place the gun to the woman's head.In defense of the woman, the deputy fired his gun twice. The suspect would not let go of the woman. The deputy then attempted to disarm the man physically. It took two Wichita Police officers and the deputy to disarm the suspect.Investigators have learned that the man and woman live together and have children together. The couple had an argument in a vehicle on the way to the school which led to the suspect shooting the woman multiple times. The woman ran toward the school and the suspect chased her. A Wichita Public School staff member saw the suspect with the gun approaching the school and pulled the door of the school shut and locked it so the suspect could not get inside.EMS transported the suspect and the woman to an area hospital. Both are expected to survive, according to Sullivan.&nbsp;The Advanced Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT) was activated to conduct this investigation. ALERT team investigators will present the facts of this case to the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office for formal charging consideration.

Kan. suspect who shot woman near school moved from hospital to jail

WASHINGTON (AP) — The acting director of the Secret Service was incensed at what had happened that July evening. “What I saw made me ashamed,” Ronald Rowe Jr. said. “I cannot defend why that roof was not better secured.”

<a href="https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/USSS-HSGAC-Interim-Report-Executive-Summary.pdf">Click here to read </a>the full report

The unguarded roof, easily within shooting distance of the rally stage, is just one of the myriad questions behind the worst Secret Service security failure in decades. The more that investigators unpack from that day, the more missed opportunities that could have prevented the attack are revealed.

As the United States grapples with a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-fbi-assassination-attempt-fee81d8bcf737bfcde2ee8e5cea88465">second attempt</a>&nbsp;on Donald Trump’s life, in Florida, there remains a reckoning to be done from the Pennsylvania shooting on July 13 that killed one man and wounded three — the ex-president among them.

The Secret Service is a well-funded, historically elite force with a mission to keep presidents and other higher-ups safe — whether they're out for a bicycle ride, attending a world summit, visiting a war zone or campaigning.

But at the farm show grounds, a young nursing home aide with a rifle he borrowed from his dad outmaneuvered authorities for more than 90 minutes before firing the shots that came millimeters from killing Trump. More than two months later, everyone still wants to know:

—When rallygoers reported a man skittering on the squat rooftop of a nearby building, why didn’t anyone in law enforcement move faster?

—Why did the Secret Service exclude that building from its security perimeter, leaving it to local police, and why did the local force not station someone on the roof?

—Why could local law enforcement agencies not communicate in real time with Secret Service agents when they’re supposed to be working together?

—Why did the Secret Service decline offers by local police to use their surveillance drone at the site? And why did Secret Service agents not deploy a system that would have told them an unauthorized drone was aloft — the gunman's — until it was too late?

One overarching question may never be answered. And in these poisonous times, with the November presidential election closing in and a second attempt on Trump’s life just days in the past, it is urgent: What possessed 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks to try to kill the former president? The public is no closer to that answer than in the immediate aftermath.

This anatomy of an attempted assassination is based on an AP review of dozens of documents, text messages and video, a congressional report and a Secret Service report on the failures, plus interviews on the record and from law enforcement officials who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity to discuss investigations that are still getting going.

Rowe sat there under the bright lights, his mouth pressed into a thin line. His voice was thick with anger as senators laid into him and his agents — questioning how on Earth some guy was able to get on top of a nearby roof as the rally was going on and fire off eight rounds, grazing Trump’s ear and ripping into three others, killing one of them.

Rowe’s voice grew louder at the July 30 Senate hearing as he squared off with lawmakers who wanted him to fire somebody — anybody — who had been on the ground that day. It wasn’t enough for them that the agency's chief, Kim Cheatle, had resigned a week earlier. But Rowe dug in.

“I will not rush to judgment," he said, snapping at a senator. “People will be held accountable, and I will do so with integrity.”

He wasn’t blaming anyone in particular, though he did throw some not-so-subtle shade at the Pennsylvania police officers who were supposed to be guarding the building complex in question.

But he also wasn’t trying to play down his agency's epic failure as it became slowly clearer to local officers that Crooks wasn’t just an oddball with a backpack. Local police did finger-pointing of their own, citing communications breakdowns that began when the face-to-face meeting the Secret Service said would happen with them before the event never did.

Secret Service agents in the line of duty have been equipped since the 1940s with various gadgets enabling them to communicate remotely in real time. Back when everyday people had to find a phone booth, these agents could be seen wearing wired earbuds or talking up their sleeves.

Yet when a man outside the perimeter of metal detectors and Secret Service scrutiny raised suspicions, then fears, then his rifle on the roof, the agency's local police backups could not get word directly to the agents closest to Trump or the federal snipers on other rooftops in time to hustle him off the stage or take down the gunman.

Last week, the Secret Service released a five-page document summarizing conclusions in a report not yet completed. Among the findings: The Secret Service did not give clear guidance to local law enforcement partners at the rally. It did not correct line-of-sight problems that left Trump open to sniper fire. And some of the agents on duty that day were complacent.

A bipartisan report from the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee made public Wednesday was more blunt if not scathing. It found “USSS failures in planning, communications, security, and allocation of resources for the July 13, 2024, Butler rally were foreseeable, preventable, and directly related to the events resulting in the assassination attempt that day.”

Before the shooting, everything felt typical

It was designed to be a typical Trump rally — outdoors at the Butler Farm Show grounds with big red barns, wide-open fields and bleacher seating.

Butler County, on the western edge of a presidential swing state, is a Trump stronghold. In a place where turnout hovers around an impressive 80%, Trump won with about 66% of the vote in both 2016 and 2020. The rural area north of Pittsburgh has notoriously bad cell service, which made police communications even worse in the crisis to come. The Secret Service did not bring a system to boost device signals in such places.

Three days after the rally was announced, Crooks registered to attend. He also searched online for “how far away was Oswald from Kennedy?”

Lee Harvey Oswald shot and killed President John F. Kennedy in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, while he was riding in an open convertible. Oswald concealed himself on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository. The Warren Commission determined he was 265.3 feet from Kennedy when he fired the fatal shot.

Crooks would fire from about double that distance. But guns have evolved since then, and the AR-style weapon Crooks borrowed from his father shoots faster and more easily than anything Oswald had on him.

On July 7, Crooks made the trip from his Bethel Park home, just south of Pittsburgh, to the Butler Farm Show grounds, and was there for about 20 minutes. FBI investigators say he was casing the area. The day before the rally, he practiced shooting at a local sports club.

On July 13, he returned to the grounds and stayed for about 70 minutes before going home. At 1:30 p.m., his dad gave him the rifle, thinking his son was headed back to the club to practice shooting. Twenty-five minutes later Crooks was buying 50 rounds of ammunition.

He parked at a gas station lot about a third of a mile from the rally, dressed in camo shorts, a black belt and a gray T-shirt with the logo of a YouTube channel dedicated to firearms. He rode a bicycle to the grounds and carried a big backpack.

Agents have cracked into his phone, searched his laptop and interviewed hundreds of people. Yet the FBI says his motive remains unknown.

Crooks was described by classmates at Bethel Park High School as smart but standoffish, often seen wearing headphones and sitting alone at lunch looking at his phone. Some said he was often mocked by other students for the clothes he wore, which included hunting outfits, and for wearing a mask even after the COVID-19 pandemic had subsided.

“He sat by himself, didn’t talk to anyone, didn’t even try to make conversation,” said 17-year-old Liam Campbell, echoing the comments of classmates who remembered the shooter. “He was an odd kid,” but nothing about him seemed dangerous, he added. “Just a normal person who seemed like he didn’t like talking to people."

After graduating high school in 2022, Crooks went on to the Community College of Allegheny County, earning an associate’s degree with honors in engineering science this past May. He also worked at a nursing home as a dietary aide.

Crooks had been registered as a Republican voter, according to state records. But there was also a $15 donation to a progressive group recorded under “Thomas Crooks” in January 2021.

Authorities received many reports beforehand

There were roughly 155 law enforcement officers at the rally that day. That included a Secret Service counter-sniper team, a Butler County SWAT team and uniformed officers. Hundreds of Trump supporters gathered to hear him speak.

The FBI says that after Crooks turned up at the site on that sunny Saturday afternoon, he flew a drone for about 11 minutes up and around the area and was getting the view directly on the controller he used. The Secret Service did not deploy its drone-detection system until later in the afternoon. And the advance team that scouts the venue ahead of time requested additional technology before the rally, but those requests were denied.

The first reported sighting of Crooks was at 4:26 p.m., more than 1½ hours before Trump would begin speaking. A Beaver County sniper team member noticed Crooks at a picnic table, thought he was acting suspiciously, and alerted other local snipers who were posted inside the AGR building complex. “He knows you guys are up there,” the sniper texted the others. “He’s sitting to the direct right on a picnic table about 50 yards from the exit.”

At 5:38 p.m., a Beaver County sniper, stationed inside the building where Crooks would later shoot from the roof, sent photos of Crooks to the local team’s group chat. "I did see him with a rangefinder looking towards the stage. If you wanna notify SS snipers to look out. I lost sight of him.” He also said there was a bike with a backpack nearby that wasn’t seen earlier.

Secret Service sniper teams were posted on the roof closest to where Trump was to speak, but officials say the teams were never notified.

At 5:45 p.m., a local sniper recommended that the command post, where team leaders were stationed, be alerted about Crooks. There were two posts; the Secret Service agents were only in one.

“They’re asking for a direction of travel,” one local sniper says.

“Not sure,” Beaver County SWAT sniper Gregory Nicol responded in a message at 6 p.m., about 11 minutes before Crooks would fire. “He was up against the building. If I had to guess toward the back. Away from the event.”

“I assumed that there would be somebody coming out to — you know, to speak with this individual or, you know, find out what’s going on,” Nicol later told ABC News.

The AGR (American Glass Research) complex is a warren of buildings, and Crooks eventually got to the roof of the building closest to the rally site. Nicol was trying to shadow Crooks from within the buildings but lost sight of him.

Footage shows Crooks walking back to his car, parked near where the other local snipers were parked. There were improvised explosive devices inside the car, but no one knew.

Bystanders saw Crooks again shortly after. They took mobile phone video of him pulling himself up to the top of the roof and slithering into position. They called the cops. These rally-goers were on alert for what the authorities either hadn't noticed or hadn't treated with the urgency that might have made a difference. You could say security in this moment was crowdsourced.

By 6:08 p.m., law enforcement had eyes on Crooks again. A Secret Service counter sniper saw law local officers running toward the building with their guns drawn, but he didn't think to alert Trump's protective detail to pull the GOP candidate from the stage.

Three minutes later, a local officer was hoisted up the squat roof by another officer, who saw Crooks with the rifle, laying down and pointing the weapon toward him. “He’s armed,” the officer radioed to his squad. “He’s got a long gun.”

That message did not make it to key Secret Service officials. The shots were fired 30 seconds later.

Trump changed — and didn't — after the attack

Days after the shooting, Trump spent more than 10 minutes of his speech to the Republican National Convention giving vivid detail of what happened to him on the “warm, beautiful day in the early evening in Butler Township in the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”

The crowd was rapt. Some in it would later don ear bandages like his in a show of support. Even some of Trump's fiercest critics conceded his turn on the stage in Butler had been masterful — raising his fist as blood trickled down his face, mouthing “fight” as he was hustled away.

That episode joins the history books on pages inhabited by Teddy Roosevelt, who was shot in the chest on his way to a campaign address in Milwaukee in 1912 and insisted on giving his&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&amp;club_id=991271&amp;module_id=338394">90-minute speech</a>&nbsp;before going to the hospital — an audacious display of Bull Mooseness.

In another 90-minute speech in Milwaukee more than a century later, Trump told his convention “the assassin’s bullet came within a quarter of an inch of taking my life.” It was not an exaggeration, or at least not much of one.

Those who tuned in at the start of his speech saw a man trying, for once, to reach a wider audience than his MAGA millions. “The discord and division in our society must be healed,” Trump said. “We must heal it quickly.”

He proclaimed: “I am running to be president for all of America, not half of America, because there is no victory in winning for half of America.”

That didn't last long. Most of the rest of his speech returned to standard operating procedure — the bombast, the falsehoods, the depictions of a United States rotting under Democrats.

President Joe Biden, who often cast Trump as a threat to democracy given his refusal to accept his 2020 election loss and his stoking of supporters who rampaged at the Capitol, asked Americans to turn the temperature down.

“Disagreement is inevitable in American democracy,” Biden said from the Oval Office, but politics should never devolve into a “killing field.”

“While we may disagree, we are not enemies,” Biden went on.

The temperature has not cooled since. After the episode at the golf course, Trump and his allies now are trying to lay blame directly on Democratic rhetoric for making him a literal target.

In that case, officials said, the suspect did not get off any shots, never had Trump in his line of sight and fled from the scene after a Secret Service agent spotted and fired at him. He was later captured.

By those measures, it was a more successful security operation than in Butler. Yet the Secret Service, once again, has much to answer for. The man was able to lurk on the perimeter of Trump's property for nearly 12 hours, police said, evading detection as he lay in wait with a rifle, scope, video camera and food.

Investigators have done more than 1,000 interviews. They’ve fielded more than 2,000 tips. In addition to getting into Crooks' phone, they've searched his home and sent the explosive devices found in his car to a lab for testing.

Yet deputy FBI Director Paul Abbate says authorities have had to grapple with a “general absence of other information to date." That means no motive has been identified, no co-conspirators found. The Secret Service shot and killed the gunman on the scene.

Law enforcement officers are trained to look for and assess suspicious-looking people. But they don’t arrest everyone they deem suspicious; most are harmless. On the day of the rally, they were tracking other people as well.

Crooks’ behavior didn’t rise to the level of alarm at first. Secret Service officers only were told about a suspicious person the local authorities were worried about. The counter sniper who saw the officers running with guns drawn never make the connection to get Trump off the stage. In these moments, officers are listening for escalatory words like “threat” or “gun.”

Such words came later, in the final seconds, but the message didn't land. There was no one radio frequency all the multi-agency officers could hop on. Instead, local officers had to radio the joint command center, where the Secret Service would relay messages to Trump's detail.

Even that failed, Rowe told lawmakers. "None of that information ever made it over our net.”

Jason Woods, team leader for Beaver County’s Emergency Services Unit and SWAT sniper section, told ABC News his people had no contact with the agents on Trump’s security detail. “We were supposed to get a face-to-face briefing with the Secret Service members whenever they arrived, and that never happened,” Woods said. “So I think that was probably a pivotal point, where I started thinking things were wrong because it never happened. We had no communication — not until after the shooting.”

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-assassination-attempt-senate-report-secret-service-50af5692ca1489771144ac399d491e5e">The Senate committee report</a>&nbsp;is only preliminary and promises more details, but plainly states the massive Secret Service failures.

Congressional inquiries are bound to escalate in the hothouse of the presidential campaign and as law enforcement learns more. At the first one, Rowe, the acting Secret Service chief, implied that the local officers might bear some responsibility for the failure, too.

“Controlling high ground is something that’s a must for us whenever we go into a location,” Rowe said. “We made an assumption” that local teams were covering the AGR building.

“If they had just held their post and looked left," Rowe said, his voice trailing off. “Maybe.”

He didn't press the point much. Later, he told a news conference: “This was a Secret Service failure.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1727276767876.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The acting director of the Secret Service was incensed at what had happened that July evening. “What I saw made me ashamed,” Ronald Rowe Jr. said. “I cannot defend why that roof was not better secured.”<a href="https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/USSS-HSGAC-Interim-Report-Executive-Summary.pdf">Click here to read </a>the full reportThe unguarded roof, easily within shooting distance of the rally stage, is just one of the myriad questions behind the worst Secret Service security failure in decades. The more that investigators unpack from that day, the more missed opportunities that could have prevented the attack are revealed.As the United States grapples with a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-fbi-assassination-attempt-fee81d8bcf737bfcde2ee8e5cea88465">second attempt</a>&nbsp;on Donald Trump’s life, in Florida, there remains a reckoning to be done from the Pennsylvania shooting on July 13 that killed one man and wounded three — the ex-president among them.The Secret Service is a well-funded, historically elite force with a mission to keep presidents and other higher-ups safe — whether they're out for a bicycle ride, attending a world summit, visiting a war zone or campaigning.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/7/1720913971898.png" alt="Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)" />
 <figcaption>Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)</figcaption>
 </figure>But at the farm show grounds, a young nursing home aide with a rifle he borrowed from his dad outmaneuvered authorities for more than 90 minutes before firing the shots that came millimeters from killing Trump. More than two months later, everyone still wants to know:—When rallygoers reported a man skittering on the squat rooftop of a nearby building, why didn’t anyone in law enforcement move faster?—Why did the Secret Service exclude that building from its security perimeter, leaving it to local police, and why did the local force not station someone on the roof?—Why could local law enforcement agencies not communicate in real time with Secret Service agents when they’re supposed to be working together?—Why did the Secret Service decline offers by local police to use their surveillance drone at the site? And why did Secret Service agents not deploy a system that would have told them an unauthorized drone was aloft — the gunman's — until it was too late?One overarching question may never be answered. And in these poisonous times, with the November presidential election closing in and a second attempt on Trump’s life just days in the past, it is urgent: What possessed 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks to try to kill the former president? The public is no closer to that answer than in the immediate aftermath.This anatomy of an attempted assassination is based on an AP review of dozens of documents, text messages and video, a congressional report and a Secret Service report on the failures, plus interviews on the record and from law enforcement officials who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity to discuss investigations that are still getting going.<h2>The Secret Service faces a reckoning</h2>Rowe sat there under the bright lights, his mouth pressed into a thin line. His voice was thick with anger as senators laid into him and his agents — questioning how on Earth some guy was able to get on top of a nearby roof as the rally was going on and fire off eight rounds, grazing Trump’s ear and ripping into three others, killing one of them.Rowe’s voice grew louder at the July 30 Senate hearing as he squared off with lawmakers who wanted him to fire somebody — anybody — who had been on the ground that day. It wasn’t enough for them that the agency's chief, Kim Cheatle, had resigned a week earlier. But Rowe dug in.“I will not rush to judgment," he said, snapping at a senator. “People will be held accountable, and I will do so with integrity.”He wasn’t blaming anyone in particular, though he did throw some not-so-subtle shade at the Pennsylvania police officers who were supposed to be guarding the building complex in question.But he also wasn’t trying to play down his agency's epic failure as it became slowly clearer to local officers that Crooks wasn’t just an oddball with a backpack. Local police did finger-pointing of their own, citing communications breakdowns that began when the face-to-face meeting the Secret Service said would happen with them before the event never did.Secret Service agents in the line of duty have been equipped since the 1940s with various gadgets enabling them to communicate remotely in real time. Back when everyday people had to find a phone booth, these agents could be seen wearing wired earbuds or talking up their sleeves.Yet when a man outside the perimeter of metal detectors and Secret Service scrutiny raised suspicions, then fears, then his rifle on the roof, the agency's local police backups could not get word directly to the agents closest to Trump or the federal snipers on other rooftops in time to hustle him off the stage or take down the gunman.Last week, the Secret Service released a five-page document summarizing conclusions in a report not yet completed. Among the findings: The Secret Service did not give clear guidance to local law enforcement partners at the rally. It did not correct line-of-sight problems that left Trump open to sniper fire. And some of the agents on duty that day were complacent.A bipartisan report from the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee made public Wednesday was more blunt if not scathing. It found “USSS failures in planning, communications, security, and allocation of resources for the July 13, 2024, Butler rally were foreseeable, preventable, and directly related to the events resulting in the assassination attempt that day.”<h2>Before the shooting, everything felt typical</h2>It was designed to be a typical Trump rally — outdoors at the Butler Farm Show grounds with big red barns, wide-open fields and bleacher seating.Butler County, on the western edge of a presidential swing state, is a Trump stronghold. In a place where turnout hovers around an impressive 80%, Trump won with about 66% of the vote in both 2016 and 2020. The rural area north of Pittsburgh has notoriously bad cell service, which made police communications even worse in the crisis to come. The Secret Service did not bring a system to boost device signals in such places.Three days after the rally was announced, Crooks registered to attend. He also searched online for “how far away was Oswald from Kennedy?”Lee Harvey Oswald shot and killed President John F. Kennedy in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, while he was riding in an open convertible. Oswald concealed himself on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository. The Warren Commission determined he was 265.3 feet from Kennedy when he fired the fatal shot.Crooks would fire from about double that distance. But guns have evolved since then, and the AR-style weapon Crooks borrowed from his father shoots faster and more easily than anything Oswald had on him.On July 7, Crooks made the trip from his Bethel Park home, just south of Pittsburgh, to the Butler Farm Show grounds, and was there for about 20 minutes. FBI investigators say he was casing the area. The day before the rally, he practiced shooting at a local sports club.On July 13, he returned to the grounds and stayed for about 70 minutes before going home. At 1:30 p.m., his dad gave him the rifle, thinking his son was headed back to the club to practice shooting. Twenty-five minutes later Crooks was buying 50 rounds of ammunition.He parked at a gas station lot about a third of a mile from the rally, dressed in camo shorts, a black belt and a gray T-shirt with the logo of a YouTube channel dedicated to firearms. He rode a bicycle to the grounds and carried a big backpack.Agents have cracked into his phone, searched his laptop and interviewed hundreds of people. Yet the FBI says his motive remains unknown.Crooks was described by classmates at Bethel Park High School as smart but standoffish, often seen wearing headphones and sitting alone at lunch looking at his phone. Some said he was often mocked by other students for the clothes he wore, which included hunting outfits, and for wearing a mask even after the COVID-19 pandemic had subsided.“He sat by himself, didn’t talk to anyone, didn’t even try to make conversation,” said 17-year-old Liam Campbell, echoing the comments of classmates who remembered the shooter. “He was an odd kid,” but nothing about him seemed dangerous, he added. “Just a normal person who seemed like he didn’t like talking to people."After graduating high school in 2022, Crooks went on to the Community College of Allegheny County, earning an associate’s degree with honors in engineering science this past May. He also worked at a nursing home as a dietary aide.Crooks had been registered as a Republican voter, according to state records. But there was also a $15 donation to a progressive group recorded under “Thomas Crooks” in January 2021.<h2>Authorities received many reports beforehand</h2>There were roughly 155 law enforcement officers at the rally that day. That included a Secret Service counter-sniper team, a Butler County SWAT team and uniformed officers. Hundreds of Trump supporters gathered to hear him speak.The FBI says that after Crooks turned up at the site on that sunny Saturday afternoon, he flew a drone for about 11 minutes up and around the area and was getting the view directly on the controller he used. The Secret Service did not deploy its drone-detection system until later in the afternoon. And the advance team that scouts the venue ahead of time requested additional technology before the rally, but those requests were denied.The first reported sighting of Crooks was at 4:26 p.m., more than 1½ hours before Trump would begin speaking. A Beaver County sniper team member noticed Crooks at a picnic table, thought he was acting suspiciously, and alerted other local snipers who were posted inside the AGR building complex. “He knows you guys are up there,” the sniper texted the others. “He’s sitting to the direct right on a picnic table about 50 yards from the exit.”At 5:38 p.m., a Beaver County sniper, stationed inside the building where Crooks would later shoot from the roof, sent photos of Crooks to the local team’s group chat. "I did see him with a rangefinder looking towards the stage. If you wanna notify SS snipers to look out. I lost sight of him.” He also said there was a bike with a backpack nearby that wasn’t seen earlier.Secret Service sniper teams were posted on the roof closest to where Trump was to speak, but officials say the teams were never notified.At 5:45 p.m., a local sniper recommended that the command post, where team leaders were stationed, be alerted about Crooks. There were two posts; the Secret Service agents were only in one.“They’re asking for a direction of travel,” one local sniper says.“Not sure,” Beaver County SWAT sniper Gregory Nicol responded in a message at 6 p.m., about 11 minutes before Crooks would fire. “He was up against the building. If I had to guess toward the back. Away from the event.”“I assumed that there would be somebody coming out to — you know, to speak with this individual or, you know, find out what’s going on,” Nicol later told ABC News.The AGR (American Glass Research) complex is a warren of buildings, and Crooks eventually got to the roof of the building closest to the rally site. Nicol was trying to shadow Crooks from within the buildings but lost sight of him.Footage shows Crooks walking back to his car, parked near where the other local snipers were parked. There were improvised explosive devices inside the car, but no one knew.Bystanders saw Crooks again shortly after. They took mobile phone video of him pulling himself up to the top of the roof and slithering into position. They called the cops. These rally-goers were on alert for what the authorities either hadn't noticed or hadn't treated with the urgency that might have made a difference. You could say security in this moment was crowdsourced.By 6:08 p.m., law enforcement had eyes on Crooks again. A Secret Service counter sniper saw law local officers running toward the building with their guns drawn, but he didn't think to alert Trump's protective detail to pull the GOP candidate from the stage.Three minutes later, a local officer was hoisted up the squat roof by another officer, who saw Crooks with the rifle, laying down and pointing the weapon toward him. “He’s armed,” the officer radioed to his squad. “He’s got a long gun.”That message did not make it to key Secret Service officials. The shots were fired 30 seconds later.<h2>Trump changed — and didn't — after the attack</h2>Days after the shooting, Trump spent more than 10 minutes of his speech to the Republican National Convention giving vivid detail of what happened to him on the “warm, beautiful day in the early evening in Butler Township in the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”The crowd was rapt. Some in it would later don ear bandages like his in a show of support. Even some of Trump's fiercest critics conceded his turn on the stage in Butler had been masterful — raising his fist as blood trickled down his face, mouthing “fight” as he was hustled away.That episode joins the history books on pages inhabited by Teddy Roosevelt, who was shot in the chest on his way to a campaign address in Milwaukee in 1912 and insisted on giving his&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&amp;club_id=991271&amp;module_id=338394">90-minute speech</a>&nbsp;before going to the hospital — an audacious display of Bull Mooseness.In another 90-minute speech in Milwaukee more than a century later, Trump told his convention “the assassin’s bullet came within a quarter of an inch of taking my life.” It was not an exaggeration, or at least not much of one.Those who tuned in at the start of his speech saw a man trying, for once, to reach a wider audience than his MAGA millions. “The discord and division in our society must be healed,” Trump said. “We must heal it quickly.”He proclaimed: “I am running to be president for all of America, not half of America, because there is no victory in winning for half of America.”That didn't last long. Most of the rest of his speech returned to standard operating procedure — the bombast, the falsehoods, the depictions of a United States rotting under Democrats.President Joe Biden, who often cast Trump as a threat to democracy given his refusal to accept his 2020 election loss and his stoking of supporters who rampaged at the Capitol, asked Americans to turn the temperature down.“Disagreement is inevitable in American democracy,” Biden said from the Oval Office, but politics should never devolve into a “killing field.”“While we may disagree, we are not enemies,” Biden went on.The temperature has not cooled since. After the episode at the golf course, Trump and his allies now are trying to lay blame directly on Democratic rhetoric for making him a literal target.In that case, officials said, the suspect did not get off any shots, never had Trump in his line of sight and fled from the scene after a Secret Service agent spotted and fired at him. He was later captured.By those measures, it was a more successful security operation than in Butler. Yet the Secret Service, once again, has much to answer for. The man was able to lurk on the perimeter of Trump's property for nearly 12 hours, police said, evading detection as he lay in wait with a rifle, scope, video camera and food.<h2>The investigation goes on</h2>Investigators have done more than 1,000 interviews. They’ve fielded more than 2,000 tips. In addition to getting into Crooks' phone, they've searched his home and sent the explosive devices found in his car to a lab for testing.Yet deputy FBI Director Paul Abbate says authorities have had to grapple with a “general absence of other information to date." That means no motive has been identified, no co-conspirators found. The Secret Service shot and killed the gunman on the scene.Law enforcement officers are trained to look for and assess suspicious-looking people. But they don’t arrest everyone they deem suspicious; most are harmless. On the day of the rally, they were tracking other people as well.Crooks’ behavior didn’t rise to the level of alarm at first. Secret Service officers only were told about a suspicious person the local authorities were worried about. The counter sniper who saw the officers running with guns drawn never make the connection to get Trump off the stage. In these moments, officers are listening for escalatory words like “threat” or “gun.”Such words came later, in the final seconds, but the message didn't land. There was no one radio frequency all the multi-agency officers could hop on. Instead, local officers had to radio the joint command center, where the Secret Service would relay messages to Trump's detail.Even that failed, Rowe told lawmakers. "None of that information ever made it over our net.”Jason Woods, team leader for Beaver County’s Emergency Services Unit and SWAT sniper section, told ABC News his people had no contact with the agents on Trump’s security detail. “We were supposed to get a face-to-face briefing with the Secret Service members whenever they arrived, and that never happened,” Woods said. “So I think that was probably a pivotal point, where I started thinking things were wrong because it never happened. We had no communication — not until after the shooting.”<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-assassination-attempt-senate-report-secret-service-50af5692ca1489771144ac399d491e5e">The Senate committee report</a>&nbsp;is only preliminary and promises more details, but plainly states the massive Secret Service failures.Congressional inquiries are bound to escalate in the hothouse of the presidential campaign and as law enforcement learns more. At the first one, Rowe, the acting Secret Service chief, implied that the local officers might bear some responsibility for the failure, too.“Controlling high ground is something that’s a must for us whenever we go into a location,” Rowe said. “We made an assumption” that local teams were covering the AGR building.“If they had just held their post and looked left," Rowe said, his voice trailing off. “Maybe.”He didn't press the point much. Later, he told a news conference: “This was a Secret Service failure.”

Read new report on failures that led to assassination attempt on Trump

WASHINGTON (AP) — A man who authorities say&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-fbi-assassination-attempt-fee81d8bcf737bfcde2ee8e5cea88465">staked out Donald Trump for 12 hours on his golf course in Florida</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-assassination-attempt-florida-fbi-justice-department-1295144a65f46059ce39b4ccd7288fbc">wrote of his desire to kill him</a>&nbsp;was indicted Tuesday on an attempted assassination charge.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-routh-assassination-attempt-ukraine-suspicions-florida-530098c668f283d8a38eb5dd5570f1b2">Ryan Wesley Routh</a>&nbsp;had been initially charged with two federal firearms offenses. The upgraded charges contained in a five-count indictment reflect the Justice Department's assessment that he methodically plotted to kill the Republican nominee, aiming a rifle through the shrubbery surrounding Trump's West Palm Beach golf course on an afternoon Trump was playing on it. Routh left behind a note in which he described his intention, prosecutors said.

Court records show the case has been assigned to Aileen Cannon, a Trump-appointed federal judge who&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-classified-documents-delay-trial-election-83be6fb5362e7bb2b7aaf6371a9acabf">generated intense scrutiny</a>&nbsp;for her handling of a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-justice-department-indictment-classified-documents-miami-8315a5b23c18f27083ed64eef21efff3">criminal case charging Trump with illegally hoarding classified documents</a>&nbsp;at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-classified-documents-smith-c66d5ffb7ba86c1b991f95e89bdeba0c">She dismissed that case in July</a>, a decision now being appealed by special counsel Jack Smith's team.

The attempted assassination indictment had been foreshadowed during a court hearing Monday in which prosecutors successfully argued for the 58-year-old Routh to remain behind bars as a flight risk and a threat to public safety.

They alleged that he had written of his plans to kill Trump in a handwritten note months before his Sept. 15 arrest in which he referred to his actions as a failed “assassination attempt on Donald Trump” and offered $150,000 for anyone who could “finish the job.” That note was in a box that Routh had apparently dropped off at the home of an unidentified witness months before his arrest.

After the attempted assassination, the person opened the box, took a photograph of the front page of the letter — addressed “Dear World” — and contacted law enforcement.

Prosecutors also said Routh kept in his car a handwritten list of venues at which Trump had appeared or was expected to be present in August, September and October.

The charge of attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate carries a potential life sentence in the event of a conviction. Other charges in the indictment include assaulting a federal officer, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and the two original firearms charges he faced last week.

The potential shooting was thwarted when a member of Trump’s Secret Service protective detail spotted a partially obscured man's face and a rifle barrel protruding through the golf course fence line, ahead of where Trump was playing. The agent fired in the direction of Routh, who sped away and was stopped by law enforcement in a neighboring county.

Routh did not fire any rounds and did not have Trump in his line of sight, officials have said. He left behind a digital camera, a backpack, a loaded SKS-style rifle with a scope and a plastic bag containing food.

The arrest came two months after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-vp-vance-rubio-7c7ba6b99b5f38d2d840ed95b2fdc3e5">Trump was shot and wounded in the ear in an assassination attempt</a>&nbsp;during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-secret-service-assassination-attempt-campaign-7dca5e30730287f46cceaa35437f0d47">The Secret Service has acknowledged failings</a>&nbsp;leading up to that shooting but has said that security worked as it should have to thwart a potential attack in Florida.

The initial charges Routh faced in a criminal complaint accused him of illegally possessing his gun in spite of multiple felony convictions and with possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number. It is common for prosecutors to bring preliminary and easily provable charges upon an arrest and then add more serious offenses later as the investigation develops.

The FBI had said at the outset that it was investigating the episode as an apparent assassination attempt, but the absence of an immediate charge to that effect&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-assassination-attempt-fbi-florida-ryan-routh-desantis-f0852cfc0dcb3d66d3d051838e63276c">opened the door for Florida's Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis</a>&nbsp;to announce his own state-level investigation that he said could produce more serious charges.

Trump, seeking to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the investigation and the Justice Department more broadly, complained Monday — before the attempted assassination charge was brought — that federal prosecutors were “mishandling and downplaying” the case by bringing charges that were a “slap on the wrist.”

Asked Tuesday at an unrelated press conference about Trump’s criticism, Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department “would spare no resources to ensure accountability” in the case.

“All of our top priority should be ensuring that accountability occurs in this case and that those who run for office and their families are safe and protected,” Garland said.

The Justice Department also said Monday that authorities who searched Routh's car found six cellphones, including one that showed a Google search of how to travel from Palm Beach County to Mexico.

A notebook found in his car was filled with criticism of the Russian and Chinese governments and notes about how to join the war on behalf of Ukraine.

In addition, prosecutors have cited a book authored by Routh last year in which he lambasted Trump’s approach to foreign policy, including in Ukraine. In the book, he wrote that Iran was “free to assassinate Trump” for having left the nuclear deal.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1726536262473.png" alt="Routh during his arrest -photo Martin County Sheriff" />
 <figcaption>Routh during his arrest -photo Martin County Sheriff</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — A man who authorities say&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-fbi-assassination-attempt-fee81d8bcf737bfcde2ee8e5cea88465">staked out Donald Trump for 12 hours on his golf course in Florida</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-assassination-attempt-florida-fbi-justice-department-1295144a65f46059ce39b4ccd7288fbc">wrote of his desire to kill him</a>&nbsp;was indicted Tuesday on an attempted assassination charge.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-routh-assassination-attempt-ukraine-suspicions-florida-530098c668f283d8a38eb5dd5570f1b2">Ryan Wesley Routh</a>&nbsp;had been initially charged with two federal firearms offenses. The upgraded charges contained in a five-count indictment reflect the Justice Department's assessment that he methodically plotted to kill the Republican nominee, aiming a rifle through the shrubbery surrounding Trump's West Palm Beach golf course on an afternoon Trump was playing on it. Routh left behind a note in which he described his intention, prosecutors said.Court records show the case has been assigned to Aileen Cannon, a Trump-appointed federal judge who&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-classified-documents-delay-trial-election-83be6fb5362e7bb2b7aaf6371a9acabf">generated intense scrutiny</a>&nbsp;for her handling of a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-justice-department-indictment-classified-documents-miami-8315a5b23c18f27083ed64eef21efff3">criminal case charging Trump with illegally hoarding classified documents</a>&nbsp;at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-classified-documents-smith-c66d5ffb7ba86c1b991f95e89bdeba0c">She dismissed that case in July</a>, a decision now being appealed by special counsel Jack Smith's team.The attempted assassination indictment had been foreshadowed during a court hearing Monday in which prosecutors successfully argued for the 58-year-old Routh to remain behind bars as a flight risk and a threat to public safety.They alleged that he had written of his plans to kill Trump in a handwritten note months before his Sept. 15 arrest in which he referred to his actions as a failed “assassination attempt on Donald Trump” and offered $150,000 for anyone who could “finish the job.” That note was in a box that Routh had apparently dropped off at the home of an unidentified witness months before his arrest.After the attempted assassination, the person opened the box, took a photograph of the front page of the letter — addressed “Dear World” — and contacted law enforcement.Prosecutors also said Routh kept in his car a handwritten list of venues at which Trump had appeared or was expected to be present in August, September and October.The charge of attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate carries a potential life sentence in the event of a conviction. Other charges in the indictment include assaulting a federal officer, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and the two original firearms charges he faced last week.The potential shooting was thwarted when a member of Trump’s Secret Service protective detail spotted a partially obscured man's face and a rifle barrel protruding through the golf course fence line, ahead of where Trump was playing. The agent fired in the direction of Routh, who sped away and was stopped by law enforcement in a neighboring county.Routh did not fire any rounds and did not have Trump in his line of sight, officials have said. He left behind a digital camera, a backpack, a loaded SKS-style rifle with a scope and a plastic bag containing food.The arrest came two months after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-vp-vance-rubio-7c7ba6b99b5f38d2d840ed95b2fdc3e5">Trump was shot and wounded in the ear in an assassination attempt</a>&nbsp;during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-secret-service-assassination-attempt-campaign-7dca5e30730287f46cceaa35437f0d47">The Secret Service has acknowledged failings</a>&nbsp;leading up to that shooting but has said that security worked as it should have to thwart a potential attack in Florida.The initial charges Routh faced in a criminal complaint accused him of illegally possessing his gun in spite of multiple felony convictions and with possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number. It is common for prosecutors to bring preliminary and easily provable charges upon an arrest and then add more serious offenses later as the investigation develops.The FBI had said at the outset that it was investigating the episode as an apparent assassination attempt, but the absence of an immediate charge to that effect&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-assassination-attempt-fbi-florida-ryan-routh-desantis-f0852cfc0dcb3d66d3d051838e63276c">opened the door for Florida's Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis</a>&nbsp;to announce his own state-level investigation that he said could produce more serious charges.Trump, seeking to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the investigation and the Justice Department more broadly, complained Monday — before the attempted assassination charge was brought — that federal prosecutors were “mishandling and downplaying” the case by bringing charges that were a “slap on the wrist.”Asked Tuesday at an unrelated press conference about Trump’s criticism, Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department “would spare no resources to ensure accountability” in the case.“All of our top priority should be ensuring that accountability occurs in this case and that those who run for office and their families are safe and protected,” Garland said.The Justice Department also said Monday that authorities who searched Routh's car found six cellphones, including one that showed a Google search of how to travel from Palm Beach County to Mexico.A notebook found in his car was filled with criticism of the Russian and Chinese governments and notes about how to join the war on behalf of Ukraine.In addition, prosecutors have cited a book authored by Routh last year in which he lambasted Trump’s approach to foreign policy, including in Ukraine. In the book, he wrote that Iran was “free to assassinate Trump” for having left the nuclear deal.

New charges against man who staked out Trump at Florida golf course 

SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement investigating a fatal shooting have identified the victim as&nbsp;38-year-old Daryl Clark of Wichita, according to Wichita Police Department spokesman Andrew Ford.

Just after 5:30p.m. Sunday, police were dispatched to a shooting at an apartment complex in 3500 block of Inwood in Wichita, according to&nbsp; Ford.

Officers learned that a verbal altercation had taken place between Clark and a female suspect later identified as 35-year-old Mercedes Muldrew. The argument escalated when she reportedly began physically assaulting the Clark.

The situation further escalated when the Muldrew brandished a handgun and fired one shot, striking Clark in the chest.&nbsp; &nbsp;EMS transported him to an area hospital, where he was pronounced deceased at 6:22 p.m., according to Ford.

The suspect,<a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/InmateSearch/Details.aspx?Id=415507"> identified according to Sedgwick Count</a>y booking records as 35-year-old Mercedes Muldrew, was taken into custody at the scene without further incident. She is being held on a requested charge of first degree murder, according to online jail records.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1727111287181.png" alt="MULDREW photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>MULDREW photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement investigating a fatal shooting have identified the victim as&nbsp;38-year-old Daryl Clark of Wichita, according to Wichita Police Department spokesman Andrew Ford.Just after 5:30p.m. Sunday, police were dispatched to a shooting at an apartment complex in 3500 block of Inwood in Wichita, according to&nbsp; Ford.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1727129407850.png" alt="Police on the scene of the investigation-photo courtesy KWCH" />
 <figcaption>Police on the scene of the investigation-photo courtesy KWCH</figcaption>
 </figure>Officers learned that a verbal altercation had taken place between Clark and a female suspect later identified as 35-year-old Mercedes Muldrew. The argument escalated when she reportedly began physically assaulting the Clark.The situation further escalated when the Muldrew brandished a handgun and fired one shot, striking Clark in the chest.&nbsp; &nbsp;EMS transported him to an area hospital, where he was pronounced deceased at 6:22 p.m., according to Ford.The suspect,<a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/InmateSearch/Details.aspx?Id=415507"> identified according to Sedgwick Count</a>y booking records as 35-year-old Mercedes Muldrew, was taken into custody at the scene without further incident. She is being held on a requested charge of first degree murder, according to online jail records.

Police ID victim in deadly Kansas apartment shooting

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The man accused in the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-fbi-assassination-attempt-fee81d8bcf737bfcde2ee8e5cea88465">apparent assassination attempt of Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;at a golf course in Florida left behind a note detailing his plans to kill the former president and kept in his car a handwritten list of dates and venues where Trump was to appear, the Justice Department said Monday.

Trump complained that the current holding charges against the man were too light, but prosecutors indicated much more serious charges were coming.

The new allegations about the note were included in a detention memo filed ahead of a hearing Monday at which federal prosecutors argued that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-routh-assassination-attempt-ukraine-suspicions-florida-530098c668f283d8a38eb5dd5570f1b2">Ryan Wesley Routh</a>&nbsp;should remain locked up as a flight risk and a threat to public safety. U.S. Magistrate Ryon McCabe agreed, saying the “weight of the evidence against the defendant is strong” and ordered him to stay behind bars.

The latest details were meant to bolster the Justice Department's contention that the 58-year-old suspect had engaged in a premeditated plan to kill Trump, a plot officials say was thwarted by a Secret Service agent who spotted a rifle poking out of shrubbery on the West Palm Beach golf course where Trump was playing and then opened fire in Routh's direction.

The note describing Routh's plans was placed in a box that he dropped off months earlier at the home of an unidentified person who did not open it until after last Sunday's arrest, prosecutors said.

The box also contained ammunition, a metal pipe, building materials, tools, phones and various letters. The person who received the box and contacted law enforcement was not identified in the Justice Department's detention memo and was described only as a “civilian witness.”

One note Routh left, addressed “Dear World,” appears to have been premised on the idea that the assassination attempt would be unsuccessful.

“This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I failed you. I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster. It is up to you now to finish the job; and I will offer $150,000 to whomever can complete the job,” the note said, according to prosecutors.

The letter offers “substantial evidence of his intent,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Dispoto said in court Monday.

"That's the message he wanted to send to the world in advance of this incident” he said.

In a statement, Trump accused the Justice Department of “mishandling and downplaying” the apparent assassination attempt by bringing charges that were a “slap on the wrist.”

Routh is currently charged with illegally possessing his gun in spite of multiple felony convictions, including two charges of possessing stolen goods in 2002 in North Carolina, and with possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number. But Dispoto said in court Monday that prosecutors would pursue additional charges before a grand jury accusing him of having tried to “assassinate a major political candidate” — charges that would warrant life in prison in the event of a conviction.

It is common for prosecutors to file more easily provable charges as an immediate placeholder before adding more significant allegations as the case proceeds.

Trump also claimed that the Justice Department has a conflict of interest in prosecuting this case since, under the supervision of a special counsel, it is simultaneously pursuing cases charging him with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-indicted-jan-6-investigation-special-counsel-debb59bb7a4d9f93f7e2dace01feccdc">plotting to overturn the 2020 election</a>&nbsp;and with hoarding&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-justice-department-indictment-classified-documents-miami-8315a5b23c18f27083ed64eef21efff3">classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.</a>&nbsp;He signaled support for a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-assassination-attempt-fbi-florida-ryan-routh-desantis-f0852cfc0dcb3d66d3d051838e63276c">separate state-level criminal investigation</a>&nbsp;announced last week by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Kristy Militello, an assistant federal public defender representing Routh, asked during Monday's hearing for Routh to be permitted to live with his sister in Greensboro, N.C., as the case moves forward. She argued that prosecutors had failed to show that he was a threat to the community and noted his track record of habitually showing up for court appearance throughout decades of legal troubles,

Besides the note, prosecutors also cited cellphone records indicating that Routh traveled to West Palm Beach from Greensboro in mid-August, and that he was near Trump’s golf club and the former president’s Mar-a-Lago residence “on multiple days and times” between August 18 and the day of the apparent attempted assassination.

He was arrested on September 15 after a Secret Service agent who was scoping the Trump International Golf Club for potential security threats saw a partially obscured man's face, and the barrel of a semiautomatic rifle, aimed directly at him. The agent fired at Routh, who sped away before being stopped by officials in a neighboring county, leaving behind a loaded rifle, digital camera, a backpack and a reusable shopping bag that was hanging from a chain link fence.

The FBI has previously said Routh had camped outside the golf course for 12 hours before his arrest. The Secret Service has said Routh did not fire any shots and never had Trump in his line of sight.

The Justice Department also said Monday that authorities who searched his car found six cellphones, including one that showed a Google search of how to travel from Palm Beach County to Mexico.

They also found a list with dates in August, September and October and venues where Trump had appeared or was scheduled to, according to prosecutors. A notebook found in his car was filled with criticism of the Russian and Chinese governments and notes about how to join the war on behalf of Ukraine.

In addition, the detention memo cites a book authored by Routh last year in which he lambasted Trump's approach to foreign policy, including in Ukraine. In the book, he wrote that Iran was “free to assassinate Trump” for having left the nuclear deal.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1726536262473.png" alt="Ryan Wesley Routh at his arrest&nbsp; Sept. 15-photo Martin County Sheriff" />
 <figcaption>Ryan Wesley Routh at his arrest&nbsp; Sept. 15-photo Martin County Sheriff</figcaption>
 </figure>WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The man accused in the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-fbi-assassination-attempt-fee81d8bcf737bfcde2ee8e5cea88465">apparent assassination attempt of Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;at a golf course in Florida left behind a note detailing his plans to kill the former president and kept in his car a handwritten list of dates and venues where Trump was to appear, the Justice Department said Monday.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1727103871883.png" alt="Image U.S. Department of Justice" />
 <figcaption>Image U.S. Department of Justice</figcaption>
 </figure>Trump complained that the current holding charges against the man were too light, but prosecutors indicated much more serious charges were coming.The new allegations about the note were included in a detention memo filed ahead of a hearing Monday at which federal prosecutors argued that&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-routh-assassination-attempt-ukraine-suspicions-florida-530098c668f283d8a38eb5dd5570f1b2">Ryan Wesley Routh</a>&nbsp;should remain locked up as a flight risk and a threat to public safety. U.S. Magistrate Ryon McCabe agreed, saying the “weight of the evidence against the defendant is strong” and ordered him to stay behind bars.The latest details were meant to bolster the Justice Department's contention that the 58-year-old suspect had engaged in a premeditated plan to kill Trump, a plot officials say was thwarted by a Secret Service agent who spotted a rifle poking out of shrubbery on the West Palm Beach golf course where Trump was playing and then opened fire in Routh's direction.The note describing Routh's plans was placed in a box that he dropped off months earlier at the home of an unidentified person who did not open it until after last Sunday's arrest, prosecutors said.The box also contained ammunition, a metal pipe, building materials, tools, phones and various letters. The person who received the box and contacted law enforcement was not identified in the Justice Department's detention memo and was described only as a “civilian witness.”One note Routh left, addressed “Dear World,” appears to have been premised on the idea that the assassination attempt would be unsuccessful.“This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I failed you. I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster. It is up to you now to finish the job; and I will offer $150,000 to whomever can complete the job,” the note said, according to prosecutors.The letter offers “substantial evidence of his intent,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Dispoto said in court Monday."That's the message he wanted to send to the world in advance of this incident” he said.In a statement, Trump accused the Justice Department of “mishandling and downplaying” the apparent assassination attempt by bringing charges that were a “slap on the wrist.”Routh is currently charged with illegally possessing his gun in spite of multiple felony convictions, including two charges of possessing stolen goods in 2002 in North Carolina, and with possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number. But Dispoto said in court Monday that prosecutors would pursue additional charges before a grand jury accusing him of having tried to “assassinate a major political candidate” — charges that would warrant life in prison in the event of a conviction.It is common for prosecutors to file more easily provable charges as an immediate placeholder before adding more significant allegations as the case proceeds.Trump also claimed that the Justice Department has a conflict of interest in prosecuting this case since, under the supervision of a special counsel, it is simultaneously pursuing cases charging him with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-indicted-jan-6-investigation-special-counsel-debb59bb7a4d9f93f7e2dace01feccdc">plotting to overturn the 2020 election</a>&nbsp;and with hoarding&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-justice-department-indictment-classified-documents-miami-8315a5b23c18f27083ed64eef21efff3">classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.</a>&nbsp;He signaled support for a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-assassination-attempt-fbi-florida-ryan-routh-desantis-f0852cfc0dcb3d66d3d051838e63276c">separate state-level criminal investigation</a>&nbsp;announced last week by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.Kristy Militello, an assistant federal public defender representing Routh, asked during Monday's hearing for Routh to be permitted to live with his sister in Greensboro, N.C., as the case moves forward. She argued that prosecutors had failed to show that he was a threat to the community and noted his track record of habitually showing up for court appearance throughout decades of legal troubles,Besides the note, prosecutors also cited cellphone records indicating that Routh traveled to West Palm Beach from Greensboro in mid-August, and that he was near Trump’s golf club and the former president’s Mar-a-Lago residence “on multiple days and times” between August 18 and the day of the apparent attempted assassination.He was arrested on September 15 after a Secret Service agent who was scoping the Trump International Golf Club for potential security threats saw a partially obscured man's face, and the barrel of a semiautomatic rifle, aimed directly at him. The agent fired at Routh, who sped away before being stopped by officials in a neighboring county, leaving behind a loaded rifle, digital camera, a backpack and a reusable shopping bag that was hanging from a chain link fence.The FBI has previously said Routh had camped outside the golf course for 12 hours before his arrest. The Secret Service has said Routh did not fire any shots and never had Trump in his line of sight.The Justice Department also said Monday that authorities who searched his car found six cellphones, including one that showed a Google search of how to travel from Palm Beach County to Mexico.They also found a list with dates in August, September and October and venues where Trump had appeared or was scheduled to, according to prosecutors. A notebook found in his car was filled with criticism of the Russian and Chinese governments and notes about how to join the war on behalf of Ukraine.In addition, the detention memo cites a book authored by Routh last year in which he lambasted Trump's approach to foreign policy, including in Ukraine. In the book, he wrote that Iran was “free to assassinate Trump” for having left the nuclear deal.