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Notes -
The local sniper team was said to be hanging out inside the building right next to the roof Crooks was on -- another one of those oddly insider 4chan videos seems to show them checking out one of the upstairs rooms pre-event, and that they would have been practically on top of him if they'd looked out the window.
So certainly it would have been possible for one of them to take a poke at him with his patrol rifle, but if they had done so there will be 4-5 .223 holes in him (not to mention the roof he was on) in addition to the big one from the SS sniper.
This spacial analysis claims 4 sniper teams - two from the USSS, both with somewhat impaired lines of sight, and one or two police teams, including one they think was in the building but with window views that also didn't cover the roof, and the other which they think was much further away, but they didn't sound very sure about it. The article is nice because they have some of their own drone footage they used and also shows what they believe to be the window vantage you describe.
I found the source for that video; it's apparently Rep. Eli Crane, who also happens to be a retired Navy Seal. (!?) So the video is made post shooting; he actually drove over there to investigate himself:
https://twitter.com/rawsalerts/status/1815467636114768242
There is clearly full view of the roof in question from the windows in question -- the NYT reconstruction seems to be looking out of the one at the very end (not the same as the video), but even if that's where the other team was stationed it would still be a trivial (~100 ft) shot just by leaning out the window. No need for suppressing fire from that location; you could terminate the threat very easily.
Great find!
As you point out, the fundamental question is one of awareness and communication. The key questions going forward almost all have to do with who knew what, and when. As you point out, leaning out the window would let you see him, but would they know to lean? Did some people assume that the entire roof was observed when it clearly was only a portion? The video obviously disproves the "roof was slanted and therefore dangerous" but I don't think almost anyone took that cope seriously in the first place despite who shared it.
Edit: I should add that there's also a second line of inquiry equally worth pursuing, though it's not new -- who approved and set up the plan in the first place? For example, was putting a team in the water tower actually viable/practical?
I would think the gunfire breaking out ~100 ft away would be a big clue?
I mean he was shot dead within a matter of seconds. The potent and important questions all deal with the situation before any shots are fired…
The 'anomaly' (it's not clear that there actually is one) I'm talking about here is the two different-sounding sets of semi-auto fire -- these are like 5-10s apart? Which is more than enough time for somebody to lean out the window and hose down the guy on the roof within spitting distance. If of course that person were actually doing overwatch at the time, which the 'local snipers' were supposed to be doing, from inside the building.
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My assessment from the audio is that someone did take a poke at him with a semi-auto rifle, and presumably there will be brass on the ground and (potentially) bullet holes in him or the building to verify that.
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