If News Photographers Could Get A Picture Of This Hostage Taker Why Couldn't A Police Marksman Have Got A ...

[sandyRoe]

...shot at him?

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/first-image-emerges-of-suspected-sydney-cafe-gunman/ar-BBgOw8I?ocid=mailsignout

[New Judge]

Yes, Sandy, I'm sure the collective wisdom of all of us here (most of whom will only have seen this sort of stuff on the telly) would manage to tackle the problem with far greater success than the collective skills of the Australian police force and military with their rag-bag collection of hostage negotiators, firearms experts, surveillance experts and terrorism specialists. :-)

[EDDIE51]

I would imagine it is bullet proof glass! No way to take him out with one shot , you would need to 'take out' the glass first.

[sandyRoe]

New Judge, they can't have consulted with their counterparts in the London police. You'll remember they showed little reluctance in shooting John Charles de Menezes thinking him to be someone else.

[Peter Pedant]

they thought they could end it peaceably ?

altho I have to say - "if any more escape I will shoot you all" must have concentrated minds both inside the cafe and outside

[sneakerman]

A cafe having bullet proof glass? I really don't think so.

Having already known he was acting alone, a clean shot to the head through the window would have been enough. Easily done without shattering the whole pane. I feel the Australian police acted poorly.

[New Judge]

Yes, like I said...

[shoota]

There are so many variables and unknowns with shooting through glass that professionals (as opposed to film directors) are advised against it unless in extremis when there is no other option.

[shoota]

Following a thorough review of the literature involving training manuals,
scientific and professional journals, police agencies, and computer searches, the
author found that little is known about predicting the trajectory of bullets through
glass, particularly that of the .30. caliber rifle bullet most commonly used by police
marksmen. Currently, there is no available method to allow marksmen to predict
the effect glass has on the trajectory of a rifle bullet. Without a table of deflection
values or method of calculating bullet deflection with respect to glass angle,
shooting through glass is inaccurate at best.

http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a283575.pdf

[ToraToraTora]

......unless Bodie from CI5 is doing it.

[wolf63]

TTT

Bodie died.

[BlackadderV]

If this had happened in the US (Great Satan) or the UK (Little Satan) I might have understood somewhat, but Australia (or New Zealand and Canada for that matter) I do not comprehend. All this will do is tighten the already strict immigration policy in Australia (something with which we could do in the UK).

[baza]

I am sure I read somewhere that Australia had given the blighter asylum, that's gratitude for you.

[Canary42]

How could the marksman be sure it was the hostage taker, and not one of the hostages acting under duress ?

That could well have been a cunning ploy by the hostage-taker to discover (or even encourage) the likelihood of a marksman-style attempt - he would then shoot the rest of the hostages from a safe position away from the window before taking the final "trip to the 72 virgins" himself.

[sneakerman]

"How could the marksman be sure it was the hostage taker, and not one of the hostages acting under duress?"

The police already identified this man as Man Monis.

What more do you want?

[Canary42]

I'm sorry sneakerman, but I couldn't find that info in the link provided, so posted in ignorance of it.