It might also just be the only snipers there are pictures of and so they are being shown as the “snipers”.
Also, yes, that building is the fail point. Full stop. What happened can’t happen because it was so easy to prevent. Law enforcement/secret service totally failed the person they were supposed to protect. The finger pointing has already began between the two.
I was going to say more but full stop should mean full stop.
They were. We can quibble over “long before” but can agree on long enough. My point above is in the direction doesn’t equal pointed at the shooter; or know that he was in fact a “hot” target they should shoot in the head asap.
This picture was before the shooting in the direction of the shooter. In at least the seconds before the shots, the snipers had their eyes on the scopes. There is a video out there that shows it.
So we have a cop who was chased off the roof by having a gun pointed at him, by a guy who is very clearly up to no good. A conspicuous signal to others (at least) is vitally important But his “instinctual training” prevents him from firing some shots (say, into the ground)?
I don’t know, but from what I can tell the shooting happened very close in time to that cop falling (possibly less than a minute or seconds).
What would shooting a gun, on the ground behind the building 150+ yards away, into the ground do? Make someone look to the roof? It’s just noise that’s hard to locate where it came from. It’s also absolutely going to be the focal point of everyone’s attention - on the ground instead of on the roof. And possibly get him shot in the head as a nut shooting a gun, badge or no badge.
You radio in what you know and hope it’s communicated fast enough. It wasn’t.
Which is a good reason to instinctively radio an alert prior to investigating a person seen on the roof. This was a high profile target they were guarding.
So that’s the rub, right? Prior to that cop investigating (seeing the gun), it would be a “possible” armed suspect on roof, will confirm. After investigating, it was confirmed he was armed. There’s no reason to believe both were not communicated (and no reason to believe anything was communicated). We don’t know. The timeline is unclear (but it’s in minutes). But, again, it’s a tough call to shoot a kid in the head if you just suspect they have a gun (assuming you have a clear angle and can identify a weapon)**.
You’d really need to know how many times they get “suspected person” info chatter at these events. Do you rush Trump/whoever, every time that goes out on the radio?
I’ve seen pictures of the building and it has a built on ladder at the “back” (opposite side of the Stage). I can’t confirm it’s authentic. Anyone confirm that/see that picture? It would put the ladder/cop at the back of the building is all.
**I’m basing this off of reading about other “incidents” were secret service were about to shoot people who were other cops/normal people/not threats at all.
I am no ballistics expert, so if there is anyone, can they help me here? I’m trying to figure out how good of a shot the shooter took. I know, he literally hit his target in the head, but was that what he was aiming at?
Upthread, there was a post indicating the shooter was a member of a gun club with a 200 yard range. So, let’s assume he practiced there and had his rifle sighted for a 200 yard shot. Now, the actual shot was only 125 yards, or so. That would make the bullet rise, correct? (that is, the shot would be higher than the sights predicted) Add to that, he was aiming downward, which would also make the shot go high. Just a guess, but say the roof was 50 feet off the ground and Trump’s head was 10 (stage height plus Trump’s height). That’s a drop of 40 feet.
Now, one might expect the shooter to be aiming for the center of mass of the victim. OK, he was not a pro with pro training, so more likely mid-chest, or about one foot below where he hit the target. Let’s ignore the possibility of body armor since we are talking late afternoon in southern PA in July and a 78 year-old man. I suspect body armor capable of stopping a rifle shot would be too hot, not to mention it is obvious that he wasn’t from the video evidence.
My question is would being 75 yards closer and 40 feet above what you were sighted-in for result in the shot being 1-1.5 feet higher than where it was aimed?
