Excellent point! Why, after getting fragged by shot #9, would Crooks sit up and look West 8-9 seconds later?
Screenshot from 5:27-28 in Mike Bell’s video.
If - this is the big “if” here - before getting fragged by #9 Crooks thought he might get shot at (e.g. by SS snipers), then once he got fragged, the ensuing 8-9 seconds were an eternity for him to process the increased level of risk and to protect himself better than just staying prone (which is how he was in D Stewart video). So to have this eternity to process and then do the opposite, sit up and look away from SS snipers cased earlier, is inconceivable! So the premise must be false.
The implication must be just your point @bumblebeeez. When Crooks got fragged by shot #9, he was not expecting to be shot at. Even 8-9 seconds later, given his riskier positioning, he still did not expect to be shot at, because otherwise why would he then sit up and expose himself further … despite shot #9 being old history. This does strongly suggest total confusion.
Ok, so Crooks was not expecting to be shot at, got surprised… here’s the curious aspect of what happened 8-9 seconds later when he sat up … he also looked West toward crowd. He turned up and West at that severe moment of danger and confusion, this suggests that Crooks was trying to find someone in the crowd on the western side of AGR 6!
As in, “Hey you over there! This is not how it was supposed to happen, how you told me it would go! What’s going on?”
If this is what prompted Crooks to sit up and look West - to find someone on the western grounds who could guide him in his confusion - then who might that person(s) be, around that tree?