Given that he is a former president and current presidential candidate, Secret Service agents were tasked with protecting Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania last month.

Yet a shocking new report states that it was actually a local law enforcement officer who forced would-be Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks to stop his attack. 

Audio analysis appears to confirm shot by SWAT officer

That's according to an article published by the Washington Post on Tuesday, which stated that a SWAT team officer initially returned fire on Crooks, who did not shoot again until he was killed by a Secret Service counter-sniper.

The paper cited two sources said to be familiar with efforts to investigate the assassination attempt as well as its analysis of video footage from the day in question.

An audio analysis expert pointed to a brief pause in the gunfire after which a final shot believed to have come from a Secret Service counter-sniper was fired.

The recording features eight shots being fired in quick succession, which corresponds with the eight empty shell casings recovered from the roof where Crooks' body was found.

A ninth shot can then be heard going off less than a second from when Crooks fired his eighth round. This is followed by a 10th and final shot that came after a 10-second delay.

Source: "Crooks slumped over, and he didn't fire another round"

One of the Post's sources is a local law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity while the other is Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger.

"I don't know if the officer actually hit Crooks and don’t believe he fired the neutralizing shot," the district attorney was quoted as saying.

However, Goldinger went on to express his belief that the local officer's intervention forced Crooks to momentarily halt his attack until the Secret Service could respond.

Meanwhile, the law enforcement source said there "was definitely some sort of reaction" after the SWAT officer shot as "Crooks slumped over, and he didn't fire another round."

FBI confirms that local officer opened fire

"Anything that disrupts an active shooter can keep the situation from being significantly more catastrophic," the official went on to point out.

Meanwhile, the FBI confirmed to the Post that a Butler County police officer did in fact discharge his weapon at Crooks.

It added that the officer's firearm has been taken to the FBI’s laboratory in Quantico, Virginia to undergo further analysis.