The Abandonment Of Posts In The Overwatch Building Is Difficult To Accept

If Crooks in fact took a post mortem shot to the leg, it could only have come from the north of him. Ignoring the sound analysis not supporting a 400 yard shot, the only shot to me that would have made sense for the grandstand is after Crooks sat up to face the west crowd, the kill shot.

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I would think at the very least it could be heard in that bodycam footage for BWC2-122110. If you could hear “Let me see your hands!”, you ought to be able to hear a gunshot.

If that is a gunshot wound, it does look odd, and we have to try to attribute it to either shot 9 or 10, as I don’t see any evidence to go off an 11th ‘highly suppressed’ shot.

If it is not a gunshot wound, perhaps he could have skinned his knee/shin whilst climbing atop the AGR complex, or he could have lost his footing at some point in his trek across the complex and done the same. Another thought is that he was on a dirty roof, kneeling and crawling in a manner that would associate his knees and exposed legs to a lot of dirt and grime. He could have merely knelt in something, and this is the remaining dirt residue.
It is very hard to tell.

Exactly.
This is the best video I know of, showing a part of Crooks movements/positions in the sequence between his last shot #8 and the last counter sniper shot #10. It shows a part of the video originaly taken by Jon Malis. If you want to check it for yourself without the enhancements, BigTim posted the original version in a dropbox here at PP Video – Dropbox
You can see, that the kill shot almost certainly came in when Crooks was again in a lay down position aiming at the rally site. Therefore (beside the audio analysis doesn’t support it) the kill shot didn’t come from the grandstand.
According to his movements after shot 9 and before shot 10, I think he took his 8 shots from one roof lane further to the east side than he was finally lying down dead.

https://x.com/TeresaSkaggs5/status/1822277316824682698

if you’re not on X, download the video here
Online Video Downloader and Converter [Updated 2024] (savethevideo.com)

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Well, that is a horse of a different color. I hadn’t seen that last reposition before. Thanks for sharing it.

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If shot 9 really came from the Butler SWAT operator on the ground, as suggested by Congressman Clay Higgins, there is just no way this bullet could have hit Crooks knee without him making a handstand.

For the 10th shot: Not sure what’s the exact height profile between Crooks roof position and the Hercules 1 southern barn roof position (taking into account their rifle stand what adds an extra 3 to 4 feet)

depending on Crooks exact position at the moment he got shot, there might be a trajectory from the southern barn. But this scenario is contradicted by @bigtim seeing the bullet entry at upper calf and exit above the knee, that would be the other way round. So here we are :thinking:


graphic taken from Mike Bell’s video (enhanced with the red arrow)

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It just seems like roof gunk. There’s no reason to research it as a gunshot at this time since nobody has evidence of any post death gunshots fired at Crooks.

He crawled on the roof at multiple spots: getting onto it from the AC, possibly when moving between buildings, and we know he crawled on the last roof and lay prone.

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Can you imagine if his head was down and he raised the rifle above his head, the stock could be damaged, but could he shoot so accurately?

Here is a good quality source of the Jon Malis video in full length, with credit to @bigtim
Video – Dropbox
The Cop walking into the picture at 1m03s is Mr. bodycam BWC2-122109, pretty sure it’s Sergeant Thomas (Tom) Vensel.

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Thanks!

No, but I could imagine the bullet went through his head and impacted the stock when exiting at the upper part of his neck (below his right ear). But I’m sure there are people in this forum with much more expertise in this specific topic.

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@sorey

I’ve got another rabbit for you to pull out of your hat. I have not seen one bit of evidence, other than the Butler Detail Plan, that confirms a Butler ESU counter-sniper was in fact stationed at the smaller east grandstand on the day of the event. Have you seen any evidence to that effect?

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Why do you think the stock would be over his shoulder or stuck out behind his abdomen/torso?

If it’s braced against his shoulder at the roof line, then it makes sense that shot 9 could have clipped it.

I don’t think there’s any scenario where the shot 10 leaving the back of his neck could then strike the rifle.

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Exactly, there is the Washington Regional S.W.A.T.
image

then there is the Butler County ESU
image

and finally the Beaver County ESU
image
According to the patch they were wearing on their backs, Beaver County also seem to use the term ESU / SWAT for their unit.
image

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I was asking myself that as well a while ago when Grassley released the documents. I checked in the full length RSBN livestream but also couldn’t find any evidence that Butler ESU Sniper(s) was physically stationed at the eastern grandstand.
There might be some more videos of attenders available by now. But even if one could find something about the situation in the eastern grandstand, would that mean a big gain for the overall picture?

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I really cannot envision a shot that hits this part of his rifle that does not also penetrate his body, from nearly any angle. So, then the nearest I can come for a solution to this is the face shot that exited his neck, then rocking his stock. Even at angles that offer direct line of sight to this position of his rifle seem to me as though they would penetrate the shooter as well as the rifle. If shot 9 clipped his rifle, how did it miss Crooks? If shot 10 entered the face and exited the neck, how did it miss the stock pressed to the shoulder mere inches from his neck? If the stock were hit first, how would it then somehow bypass Crooks entirely? Or are we just going with it was the single luckiest shot in the world, hit the stock at the exact perfect angle, without doing anything to the shooter.

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Bullets can do weird damage though and can definitely deflect. So it may have been a strike, split of the material, and deflect- no body shot occurring.

Thanks, guys…puzzling. :thinking: These would be the only other two locations that would make sense for the correct angle and the 400-yard shot. I’m going to stop in and talk to the people at M & R Power Equipment when I’m down there next week. Maybe the 400-yard shot is bull :poop: . It just sticks with me because its been repeated so often.

It’s a loose end for me, but in the grander scheme of things, it lends support to the lack of available resources.

“A security operations plan had placed each of the three counter-snipers inside of the building looking out of windows toward the rally, with none stationed on its roof. Due to a lack of manpower, the men did not have spotters assigned to them, as would be standard operating procedure.” (Source: Beaver Countian)

This was the last look at the grandstands I found in RSBN’s full day broadcast.

OK, going completely outside the box. Don’t take this as more than fantasy.

What if Crooks lifted his head off the stock, still against his shoulder?
What if shot #9 went under his chin, missing his neck, and hit the stock going away from him?

That could explain damage to the rifle and the claim shot #9 hit the stock.

The CS is sitting behind the rifle. I just measured myself, 6’+ long torso. From the seat of my chair to top my shoulder is 26". I think 2’ added to the roof peak height is a reasonable #.

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Where is that building located from the RSBN image?