Police K9 unit led cops to Thomas Crooks's explosive-laden van as video footage shows them searching and then towing would-be Trump assassin's vehicle away

This is the moment police descended on Donald Trump shooter Thomas Crooks’s van which he had abandoned on a side road near the Butler, Pennsylvania, fairground on which the former president’s rally was held Saturday.

Obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com the footage clearly shows officers searching the battered white vehicle from which they removed explosives after they were led across fields to its location by their K9 unit.

Local resident Cheyenne Thoma whose husband Billy recorded the scenes told DailyMail.com, ‘We could hear the dogs barking across the fields. They picked up his scent apparently and that’s what led them to the van.’

Thoma revealed that investigators had later asked for footage from the family’s ring doorbell only to learn that it had not been recording earlier that day.

Another told DailyMail.com that they had not realized who the van belonged to or its significance to the shocking events of Saturday afternoon until much later.

Officers searched the battered white vehicle from which they removed explosives after they were led across fields to its location by their K9 unit

Local resident Cheyenne Thoma whose husband Billy recorded the scenes told DailyMail.com that the dogs had picked up his scent 

The homeowner who asked not to be named said, ‘We were just told it was a suspicious vehicle and that was that. It’s really shocking to think how close it all was to us.’

Other footage recorded by Thoma shows the white vehicle, it’s back doors apparently damaged with primer applied, being taken away on a tow truck in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Crooks, seen here in 2021 climbed onto the roof of a building near the the rally and shot Trump, while also killing retired volunteer fire chief Corey Comperatore

A police cruiser follows on as investigators carried out what were the very early stages of the ongoing investigation into Crooks, 20, his motivations and just how he managed to get close enough to fire what was so very nearly a fatal shot at former President Trump.

After law enforcement took down the would-be assassin, a remote detonator was found alongside his cell phone.  

A picture first published by Pittsburgh's WPXI showed the detonator, a rectangular grey device with a keypad similar to a television remote control. 

The 20-year-old has also since appeared in disturbing footage taken just an hour before he unleashed a volley of shots on the Trump rally. 

In the harrowing clip, Crooks does not appear to be holding the AR-style rifle that he had used to shoot Trump through the ear. 

The cameraman said he had been trying to capture the large crowd waiting to watch the Republican nominee speak, but later realized he had caught a more terrifying detail in the background. 

Crooks is believed to have been firing from about 165 yards when his bullet struck Trump in the right ear. The former president is seen in the immediate aftermath of the shooting

The last picture of would-be assassin Thomas Crooks, taken less than an hour before he was shot and killed by a Secret Service marksman. It was circulated to law enforcement as a suspicious sighting at the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania

Trump was still wearing the bandage on his wounded ear when he appeared at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Wednesday

After law enforcement took down the would-be assassin, a remote detonator, seen here, was found alongside his cell phone 

It has also since emerged that the gunman's father called cops on the day of the shooting after Crooks didn't return from a routine trip to a local gun range. 

While his concerned family made calls to cops, Crooks climbed onto the roof of a building near the the rally and shot Trump, while also killing retired volunteer fire chief Corey Comperatore. 

Crooks had told his boss he needed the day off from work Saturday and gave colleagues a final chilling message: That he would be back on Sunday. 

Crooks is believed to have been firing from about 165 yards when his bullet struck Trump in the right ear. 

The latest bombshell developments raised more questions about the massive security failures that led to the attempted assassination of the former president. 

The FBI said they were investigating it as a potential act of domestic terrorism but the absence of a clear ideological motive led conspiracy theories to flourish.

Investigators believe that Crooks acted alone and have confirmed that there is no social media presence that would indicate the attack was politically motivated.