• finley@lemm.ee
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    5 months ago

    tbf, Crooks was shooting from 130m away with little/no experience

      • kautau@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Yeah this wasn’t some spec ops vet, it was a 20 year old kid that just watched a cop retreat down the stairs to radio for help, he knew he had seconds, was probably shaking like crazy, and was shooting a store bought ar-15, and as you said, knew he either pulled the trigger and died, or didn’t, and then also probably died

        • person420@lemmynsfw.com
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          5 months ago

          I’m not sure I like this thinking. It’s almost making an excuse for the shooter. They could have decided not to shoot at any point. The very fact they made it long enough to shoot with so many eyes on them shows they had a way out without dying.

          I know it’s a weird argument considering your comment was really about something else, but assuming this was mental illness people have to know that it’s never too late. That they could always get help.

          • jaybone@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            I’m not sure I like this thinking. Cops shoot people because they think their cell phone is a gun. Admittedly the SS should be more professional than your average street cop.

    • BigBananaDealer@lemm.ee
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      5 months ago

      i dont get this narrative. little to no experience and hes inches away from a killing headshot at that distance. thats fucking hard as hell to do

      • finley@lemm.ee
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        5 months ago

        someone in another thread was like, “he had a scope!” and i’m like, “so? have you ever shot through a scope? it’s not like a video game where scope guarantees a headshot. it just makes it a bit easier.”

        130m is really far, and an AR-15 isn’t even a sniper rifle. the fact he hit trump at all is pretty amazing.

        • tux7350@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          Woah, naw 130 meters is not far at all for an AR-15. Max effective range for a point target is 500 meters, meaning you can accurately hit an average sized person at that range. If you have something like a standard issued trijicon ACOG RCO, look at the BDC (Bullet Drop Compensation) lines go all the way to 800m. Interestingly enough too, the width of those lines is the width of an average person’s shoulders at that range.

          • Waraugh@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            5 months ago

            Their comments on the AR accuracy are blowing my mind. I hit all 40 targets and got marksman with the M16 and I never touched a gun before when we went to the range to qualify, a few others did also and everyone hit pretty damn accurately up to 300 yards away all on iron sights. And a properly sighted scope helps significantly, especially if you’ve planned your shot in advance. The only way someone thinks a sniper rifle is needed for those ranges surely has to be ignorant of what it’s like to shoot one of these guns.

            • BeMoreCareful@lemmy.world
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              5 months ago

              To be fair, you also had literal professionals teaching you, and armorers prepared the guns.

              There are a lot of variables outside of someone freaking out and not knowing how to hold a gun.

              • psycho_driver@lemmy.world
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                5 months ago

                Yeah my first time at a range for a beginner’s class my wife and I took our gun (A Springfield Armory 9mm, can’t remember the specific model) and of course they supplied us with a .22 handgun. Our first round my wife does pretty good with her shots with our 9mm. I’m low on almost all of mine. “Haha psycho_driver looks like your wife’s wearing the holster in your family.” We trade off for the next round and I’m nailing center and my wife’s shooting low. Their gun sights were off pretty bad and that was at something like 50’ targets. They swapped that gun out and the rest of the day went pretty good. I ended up with the highest accuracy out of that bunch.

            • FrostyCaveman@lemm.ee
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              5 months ago

              I’m a complete ignoramus at guns, and am bad at FPS games. This thread is really eye opening, I had no idea these things were remotely this accurate

            • DogWater@lemmy.world
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              5 months ago

              Gray zone warfare might be for you. The bullet mechanics are the best in any game I’ve ever seen.

              Riloe on YouTube just did a video about it.

        • IMongoose@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          One report has a cop surprising him too, and he pointed the gun at the cop. So it was turn around for cop > turn back around > aim > fire. I don’t think I’ve seen the time between the cop and firing but I think it was quick. Dude was probably shaking like crazy.

        • DogWater@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          This is…not entirely accurate. 200 yards is WELL within 556x45’s effective range. Like by a lot. At that range your bullet isn’t even dropping more than 4 inches.

          It’s not that it’s a super easy shot for a novice, but saying that it’s remarkable that he even hit him because of the range is crazy.

          It’s remarkable because of the stress and lack of training.

          • finley@lemm.ee
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            5 months ago

            It’s remarkable because of the stress and lack of training.

            That’s what I’m talking about. Anyone with little experience can take a much longer shot than that (at a range, at a stationary target, when they are calm, cool, and collected), but consider his target, the scoping he was doing, and that he was already being followed/tracked, he was probably freaked the hell out. It’s incredible that he got a single shot as close as he did.

            It’s also an absolute and ridiculous security failure that he got a shot off at all.

    • Jiggle_Physics@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Also, a local police officer was alerted to him. The cop then went up there, where he says Crooks pointed his rifle at him and he retreated to get help. So this added a bunch of stress and dramatically cut the time frame to take his shot. I think this may have played into the miss, assuming what the cop was reported saying, is what happened

      • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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        5 months ago

        That’s a massive fuckup if there was someone on the roof with a rifle, and that wasn’t communicated to the secret service.

        • Jiggle_Physics@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          IIRC one saw him up there scoping around, but thought it may be SS, as their plans weren’t well communicated to the lowest ranks, the cops on the ground. However, when other people described him one cop went up there. He started shooting immediately afterward. So he may have notified them ASAP, like on his radio, but it was too late. Crooks spot got blown and it forced him to act.

          Or so this seems to be the narrative at this early point

      • finley@lemm.ee
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        5 months ago

        i read another post that really pissed me off about the cops’ response. apparently, they saw him scoping out buildings with a rangefinder for a while beforehand, and watched him set up and take the shot without doing much to stop him.

        https://lemm.ee/post/37259086