We don't know for a fact that there was a second shooter. I'm not going to delve into conspiracy theory what if's on stuff like that. I'm sticking with the facts. I'll leave the conspiracy theory second shooter false flag stuff for Alex Jones and company.
I understand fields of fire very well. Which is why I stand by what I said that there would be double the number of KIA and WIA had there been two shooters creating interlocking fields of fire form those two shooting points. The spacing between platforms with two shooters would have been much more deadly than what ended up happening. Two shooters...had they planned it right would have divided up those weapons and brought continuous volumes of fire down on that crowd or at the very least one firing while the other reloaded and just alternated in that fashion.
As it is the amount of KIA was and the gaps in times when there was not firing going on indicate to me that he was moving between the two broken windows...firing from one platform...emptying the weapon then moving back to the other firing position.
That makes sense, and I'm not promoting some conspiracy theory.
It doesn't pay me a nickel one way or the other, I just want to get at what happened there.
The graphic I had seen omitted the intervening doorway. If it is inaccurate, it is inaccurate. Thank you for clearing that up. If there is a doorway directly from room to room, that makes it a lot easier/safer to move back and forth, and allows doorways to the hall to be barricaded. The question is: were both doorways barricaded? Was either doorway barricaded? An escape plan might have included going out the other door when the LEOs went in.
I had figured the delays (as long as it took to empty a mag--about 10 seconds) were fumbling with drum magazines, which can be a pain in the rear to change compared to a conventional double-stack 30 round mag. Someone who is excited, shaky because they are doing something From the number of reports in a group on the early videos, I had ruled out a conventional 30 or 40 round magazine because these were taking 10 seconds from start to finish in continuous fire.
The slightly longer delay (17 seconds) would be roughly the time to move from one window to the other and pick up a different (prepositioned) weapon.
That continuous fire told me the guy likely wasn't a trained soldier, who would more likely have fired in bursts for better control and to reduce the barrel heating. (Sustained fire like that, as I have been told, is not good for the weapon and can lead to rounds cooking off from the heat. It is only done when there is no alternative.) That may also have just been out of complete disregard for the 'health' of the firearms, and knowing he only had a limited time to get off as many shots as he could, and that he had plenty of other weapons to use.
Someone posted a quick rundown of energy loss over the 350 yards to the crowd. Basically, a 5.56 bullet will have lost half its muzzle energy by the time it arrives, from roughly 1200 ft/lbs to roughly 600 ft. lbs (70 grain bullet, which is heavier than the 55 or 62 grain ones in common use). A 7.62 bullet will lose about 40% of its initial energy. While still plenty lethal, the amount of penetration, hydraulic shock, and tissue necrosis in a wound (as well as organ damage from the temporary wound cavity) will be less than had the shooter been at close range. This, too may have been a factor in reducing the number of KIA vs WIA, and many of the accounts show those killed as having multiple wounds or having been hit in the head. For the person in the crowd, it was a complete crap shoot whether they got hit or not.
Despite the telescopic sight which might have initially put him on target or allowed him to see the effects of his fire, I do not think he was targeting specific individuals once he got the range.
