The US special services had two photos of the gunman in the assassination attempt against US former president presidential candidate Donald Trump 57 minutes before the attempt, but did not take sufficient measures to protect the politician, reports The New York Times, publishing the screenshots of the respective text messages between the law enforcement countersniper team.

Thomas Crooks, 20,who shot Trump, was spotted earlier—1 hour 45 minutes before the first shot.

Released reports indicate that the gunman knew where law enforcement snipers were located and was "often one step ahead of security forces, and in particular the Secret Service."

After police lost sight of a suspicious man walking around the fairgrounds with a backpack and a rangefinder, they began searching for him and believed the gunman climbed onto a roof overlooking the stage and the former president, but at the same time allowed Trump to speak.

“In the end, Mr. Trump was spared not by the vast law-enforcement contingent protecting him, but by chance. He turned his head, and Mr. Crooks’s first bullet whizzed by close enough to graze his ear,” added The New York Times.