I had the same thought, I seem to have been writing my comment while you posted yours. Air, the side of the building, on the ground, somewhere if they could not get any sort of aim towards Crooks after the guy who had been pushed up fell down, several shots to get the sound of "hey, gunshots, somebody is shooting here!" and draw attention and alert the USSS near Trump if they had no way to get word to the USSS fast, like right then and there, otherwise.
Might not have worked but it would have been better than doing nothing except trying to get in touch with that command center and hope they'd then get in touch with the right people because that was going to take time, and at that moment it was well into that point when seconds counted.
At that point, wouldn't simply the sounds of gunshots have at least had the chance of alerting somebody near the podium? So if that cop who peeked over the edge had at least put a few shot sort of towards Crooks, even if blindly with his head below the edge of the roof, or after he fell he and the other one had, I don't know, shot in the air - I know that is generally a bad idea because that bullet is going to come down somewhere, and with bad luck may end up hurting somebody, but with that situation one would think taking that chance would have been justifiable - maybe put several shots in the air in hopes that somebody might hear them and they might alert the other cops and USSS to the threat, and that they might rattle Crooks enough to make at the very least harder for him to aim? I mean if they didn't have any other way to get word about the threat fast to where it should have gone, to the USSS around Trump? Do at least SOMETHING that might attract attention to the fact that there is a threat there? From a handgun it is not maybe that loud a sound from a distance, but it is sort of distinguishable by even people who have never used a gun, and if there were several in a rapid succession at least a little bit before Crooks started to shoot...
He should have shot into the air.
I had the same thought, I seem to have been writing my comment while you posted yours. Air, the side of the building, on the ground, somewhere if they could not get any sort of aim towards Crooks after the guy who had been pushed up fell down, several shots to get the sound of "hey, gunshots, somebody is shooting here!" and draw attention and alert the USSS near Trump if they had no way to get word to the USSS fast, like right then and there, otherwise.
Might not have worked but it would have been better than doing nothing except trying to get in touch with that command center and hope they'd then get in touch with the right people because that was going to take time, and at that moment it was well into that point when seconds counted.
Why would a cop elevate the situation to deadly force when he is wrongly thinking his radio communication should work to get Trump off the stage?
Shot in the air and radio comms are not mutually exclusive.
One to get their immediate attention, which could have gotten Trump ushered off stage, the other provides the details.
At that point, wouldn't simply the sounds of gunshots have at least had the chance of alerting somebody near the podium? So if that cop who peeked over the edge had at least put a few shot sort of towards Crooks, even if blindly with his head below the edge of the roof, or after he fell he and the other one had, I don't know, shot in the air - I know that is generally a bad idea because that bullet is going to come down somewhere, and with bad luck may end up hurting somebody, but with that situation one would think taking that chance would have been justifiable - maybe put several shots in the air in hopes that somebody might hear them and they might alert the other cops and USSS to the threat, and that they might rattle Crooks enough to make at the very least harder for him to aim? I mean if they didn't have any other way to get word about the threat fast to where it should have gone, to the USSS around Trump? Do at least SOMETHING that might attract attention to the fact that there is a threat there? From a handgun it is not maybe that loud a sound from a distance, but it is sort of distinguishable by even people who have never used a gun, and if there were several in a rapid succession at least a little bit before Crooks started to shoot...
The cops knew Crooks was there, but weren't able to shoot him.
The SS were able to shoot him, but didn't know Crooks was there.
In basic physics we call that INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL. 😁
Im going to say the entire local police dept were told before hand not to engage anyone or else.