Police

Donald Trump's assassination attempt has put law enforcement under even more scrutiny ... 'cause now, we know the shooter was spotted on the roof for a LONG time before firing.

According to multiple outlets ... during Thursday's briefing with U.S. Senators, the Secret Service revealed they spotted shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks on the roof preparing to shoot Donald Trump 20 minutes before he fired the first bullet.

The official timeline, according to ABC News, TMC first came to the Secret Service's attention as a person of interest at 5:10 PM ET on Saturday, more than an hour before the shooting.

Cops in South Florida are on the hunt for a man they say attacked and raped a woman who was rollerblading near the beach -- and there's surveillance video that purportedly depicts it.

Miami Beach PD says they're in search of a suspect they claim sexually battered a young woman early Tuesday morning who was cruising down the sidewalk near the beach on skates -- where this man snuck up behind her and pounced.

WSVN 7 News obtained surveillance video that captures the man in the act -- and it's horrifying to see ... as it appears to show exactly what police say happened here.

Rener Gracie -- whose family is credited with creating Brazilian jiu-jitsu -- is teaching cops a new restraint that he says is safer than a chokehold, and he demonstrated on one of our own to hit the point home.

The MMA legend joined us on "TMZ Live" Tuesday and broke down the move, which he calls the "SafeWrap" ... trotting out an exhibition of sorts by deploying it on a TMZ staffer who played guinea pig for the demo.

Rener is now teaching his move to the NYPD ... explaining that it can take down a noncomplying suspect safely and effectively ... even if they are armed.

1:54 PM PT -- Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... the shooting Tuesday was completely unrelated to the RNC -- and the reason Secret Service was on the ground was because agents happened to be in the area and simply rendered aid.

A homeless man was reportedly shot and killed not far from the Republican National Convention -- and while it doesn't seem tied to Donald Trump ... cops were out in force.

The shooting took place Tuesday in Milwaukee, about a mile outside the Fiserv Forum -- where there's a wide perimeter of security ... and where a police officer from Columbus, OH opened fire on a man -- who, according to eyewitnesses, was a vagrant in town.

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle is speaking out for the first time following the assassination attempt on Donald Trump ... calling the whole ordeal "unacceptable."

The longtime member of the Secret Service -- who became director in September 2022 -- addressed Saturday's shooting with ABC News correspondent Pierre Thomas on Monday. As Cheatle put it ... she has taken full responsibility for the attack, making it clear the incident should've "never happened."

She added ... "The buck stops with me. I am the director of the Secret Service, and I need to make sure that we are performing a review and that we are giving resources to our personnel as necessary."

The alleged Gilgo Beach killer has been charged with the deaths of 6 people -- but many believe the body count is way higher, which begs the question of a possible police coverup.

TMZ Studios' new series, "Strange & Suspicious," dives into weird and unexplained stories -- and here, we’re looking into whether cops may have swept things under the rug in the years-long case ... especially since human remains of 11 different people were found in the area between 1993-2011.

The team dives deep into this ... noting Rex Heuermann also owned places in South Carolina and Las Vegas, the latter being a hot spot for sex workers -- exactly the kind of victims he's accused of killing. So, the fact he allegedly murdered only 6 victims on Long Island doesn't hold up, at least that's how some of the 'S & S' crew feel.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation raided what appeared to be the home of the gunman who tried to assassinate Donald Trump at his Pennsylvania campaign rally Saturday.

According to CBS News ... FBI agents and local law enforcement descended on the Bethel Park residence of now-deceased 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks late last evening. Public records show that a man by the same name and age lived at that location.

During the raid, federal agents closed down streets in the area and neighbors were evacuated from their houses.

The shooter who tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump at his Pennsylvania rally Saturday has been identified by authorities.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation named 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks as the gunman who opened fire at Trump from a rooftop near the prospective Republican presidential nominee's campaign rally in Butler, PA.

FBI officials provided no other information about Crooks or his motive but said the investigation into him was ongoing.

The feds probing Matthew Perry's death are "confident" they have the goods to take down the people who helped him obtain the ketamine that contributed to his death ... TMZ has learned.

DEA agents launched their Perry death investigation after the L.A. County Medical Examiner determined the "Friends" star died from drowning in his hot tub after taking ketamine, a dissociative anesthetic that has some hallucinogenic effects.

Our sources tell us ... the feds are aiming to charge the suspects with drug distribution resulting in death or great bodily injury, which carries a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison.

A Los Angeles man is in custody after cops say he was caught on surveillance video dropping a 7-month-old puppy down an apartment staircase.

The clip is horrifying, so watch at your own discretion -- in the video, a shirtless man cops identified as 27-year-old Joeboury Coleman is seen grabbing the dog by the collar, taking it to the stairway railing, and then callously dropping the animal.

Concerned residents at the Koreatown residence alerted the LAPD to videos posted on social media ... leading to his arrest.

Brendan DuBois, a best-selling New York Times author and former "Jeopardy!" champ, was arrested Wednesday in New Hampshire on child porn charges.

DuBois turned himself in to authorities Wednesday -- this after the Exeter Police Department executed a search warrant on his home following a joint investigation with the Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce which kicked off in March.

DuBois has been hit with 6 felony Class A complaints of possession of child pornography.

An alleged drunk driver in New York careened through a nail salon at top speed ... and, the unbelievable moment was caught on video.

The shocking clip -- published by the New York Post -- shows the car speeding out of a Long Island parking lot late last month, but instead of turning onto the main road, it dashes straight across the street toward a strip mall.

The car jumps the curb and keeps on moving, before eventually crashing into Hawaii Nail & Spa ... reportedly killing four people including an off-duty NYPD officer, and injuring nine others.

Danny Trejo's infamous Fourth of July brawl is now with authorities as cops investigate it as a potential hate crime -- especially after the actor claimed he and his buddy were targeted because of their race.

LAPD sources tell TMZ a battery/hate crimes report has been filed to investigate the incident at the Sunland-Tujunga parade last week ... and authorities are aiming to get to the bottom of what happened.

We're told when cops arrived on scene, most people involved had already booked it ... and those who remained didn't want to lodge a complaint.

9:30 AM PT -- Josh Klinghoffer's attorney, Andrew Brettler, tells TMZ ... "It was a tragic accident. After Josh struck this pedestrian in the intersection, he immediately pulled over, stopped the car, called 911 and waited until police and the ambulance arrived. Obviously, he's cooperating with the police throughout the traffic investigation. This was purely a tragic accident."

Former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Josh Klinghoffer is being sued for wrongful death and for allegedly being behind the wheel of a car that ran over and killed a pedestrian.

According to a new lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Josh was driving a black GMC Yukon in Alhambra, CA back in March when he made a left turn and ran into a pedestrian who was using a crosswalk.

A juror in the Karen Read mistrial now confirms what the defense claimed earlier this week -- that the jury voted unanimously to acquit her on 2nd-degree murder -- and the juror told the defense team it would be "unjust" to retry her.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the juror described the last day of the trial as a "whirlwind" and "very confusing." After the judge declared a mistrial, jurors were loaded on a bus and the jurors were wondering, "Is anyone going to know that we acquitted [Karen Read] on Count 1 and 3? No one ever asked about those counts."

As we first reported ... Read was acquitted on charges of murder and leaving the scene of an accident by a unanimous vote of 12-0 in her favor. But, the jury was deadlocked on the last charge – vehicular manslaughter – voting 9-3 in favor of a guilty verdict. For a conviction on the vehicular manslaughter charge, the jury needed to be unanimous.

Karen Read may be tried again for the death of her boyfriend after the judge declared a mistrial, but murder charges may not be on the table ... because according to the defense, the vote on the murder charge was 12 - 0, IN FAVOR OF ACQUITTAL!

Read's lawyer, Alan Jackson, has just filed docs arguing prosecuting Read for 2nd-degree murder a second time would amount to double jeopardy. Shockingly, when the judge declared the mistrial, she didn't say anything about the jury's vote on the murder charge.

We've also learned the jury was unanimous in favor of acquittal on the charge of leaving the scene of an accident where there was injury or death. The only charge on which the jury was deadlocked was vehicular manslaughter, where the jury apparently voted 9 - 3 in favor of guilt.