Comment on How likely is it that Trump will be the first President assassinated since Kennedy?
Bytemeister@lemmy.world 5 days ago-
Range - Trump was over 300 yards away from the shooter.
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Equipment - AR pattern rifles ( I think it was a Daniel defense) with a red dot sight. That setup is for quick target acquisition and field of view. It is not meant for hitting distant targets.
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Shooting conditions - The shots were taken outdoors, where there was a cross breeze.
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Difficult Target - if you’ve ever seen trump on stage, he has this weird wobble he does all the time, which shifts his head rapidly and unpredictably from side to side multiple feet. He had to get hit in the head too. He probably was wearing soft body armor at this point, and there are multiple ambulances nearby and he gets priority medical care. Anything less than instantly lethal would not take him out. So it had to be a headshot.
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Counter-fire. There are multiple trained and properly equipped snipers guarding trump. There was an armed policeman trying to get on the building with the shooter. This is not simply lying down at a range and taking your time.
TL; DR - it’s not like videogames.
Phoenicianpirate@lemm.ee 5 days ago
He was around 150 yards. Not 300.
But if he had a proper target rifle in a better long range caliber and a telescopic sight he would have had a much better chance of succeeding.
At that distance and wind conditions a chest shot would have been better. But he aimed for the head.
Bytemeister@lemmy.world 5 days ago
Fixed, thank you.
Chest shot wouldn’t work. Like I said, at that point in the campaign, the former president has secret service protection and was probably wearing soft armor underneath. Even then, you would need a hit that is instantly lethal. If you hit the lung, liver, or even a major blood vessel, and he still lives because he has priority medical care on standby, so you would need to hit the heart to get the job done. Heart is smaller than head.
Phoenicianpirate@lemm.ee 5 days ago
Even with soft body armor. A high velocity round like the .300 win mag or 6.5 creedmoor with boat tail JHPs would still zip through like nothing is there. The cavitation that those rounds make is devastating. Also the shooter tried to go for a follow up shot but missed. Double hitting the chest would have been more possible and that would be much more likely to do it.
I am aware of the circumstances that president’s and ex-presidents have in terms of medical support. All of his bodyguards are probably EMT level trained and they probably have a full on trauma team ready. But getting the head under those circumstances would have been tough.
But then again… if he did have a proper target rifle and long range caliber… the head would have been easier to hit and maybe the wind wouldn’t have blown it off course as much.
Bytemeister@lemmy.world 5 days ago
Was he using 300-win or 6.5? From what I heard it was 223 or 5.56.
Jumpingspiderman@lemmy.world 4 days ago
He had a 2x optic on the rifle.
Phoenicianpirate@lemm.ee 4 days ago
Not what I heard. But if that was the case then he was a worse shot than anticipated. He still came VERY close though.