It appears that a shot fired by a local law enforcement officer is the one that stopped the would-be assassin of Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, last year. Now, the Washington Post is out with the first extensive interview given by Aaron Zaliponi about how things went down that day. Zaliponi, a 46-year-old member of the Butler County SWAT team, recounts spotting the gunman on the roof of a building seconds after gunfire began. "Technically, I should have gone with my team," he says of fellow SWAT team members who fanned out. "I don't know what it was, but something told me to stay there." The story offers the following account once he spotted shooter Matthew Crooks:
- "Zaliponi raised his rifle, a standard-issue M4 SWAT rifle with a red-dot sight that had no magnification, meaning his target appeared no closer than it would have with the naked eye. He aimed for Crooks's chin, figuring it would be better to risk missing low—and hit Crooks's body or the roof—than miss high."
The former military combat vet is certain he struck his target. The gunman "jerked hard to the right and slumped over his weapon," he says. "It wasn't like he was ducking or flinching. Something smacked him. Whether it was my round hitting the buttstock or the buttstock exploding in his face, I know I hit him." Whatever happened, the gunman stopped shooting, and public officials have referred to Zaliponi's neutralizing round as the "ninth shot." Moments later, a Secret Service sniper fired the round believed to have killed the shooter. (Read the full story, which makes clear that the exact circumstances of how things played out are still being fleshed out.)
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