Thanks for getting back.
The crux of the matter is how accurately we can identify the various sounds recorded on the cell phones.
I suspect that is quite difficult. Some cell phones are better than others, and it would be very helpful to have the original recording device to find out the mike response to frequencies.
Maybe enough resolution is there, maybe not. There are a lot of recording devices out there.
There are experts in this exact field. It would be nice if they would spend a couple of hundred hours, free, and weigh in.
I think the overlapping strings of fire is likely to be the most fruitful. The recordings give fairly precise timing. So the exact timing of a string of shot is very likely to positively and uniquely identify that string. That would allow identification of echoes, which are a problem because of all the hard, flat surfaces available in the city.
Once we have positively identified all the strings of shots recorded, we can do further analysis. I do not think there are more than a couple of dozen strings, but even 50 or a hundred shot strings would not be excessively burdensome.
There is considerable motivation to find evidence of a second shooter. Anyome who does so will have made their reputation.
A second shooter, of course complicates the picture enormously.
We also know that theories of multiple shooters, and mis-characterizations of multiple shooters have been common in just about every mass shooting, at least in early reports.
That should keep us skeptical.
Know any good acoustic people who are willing to devote a couple of hundred hours to carefully identify shot strings?
You’re welcome - always enjoy actually discussing topics with people who aren’t looking to argue...
I agree - the accuracy is the question. Some phones are definitely better than others.
But I think that given enough time any good audio engineer should be able to discern enough from enough of the recordings to determine whether or not there was in fact more than one shooter.
Echoes don’t have the same energy as the original sound, but inside a box of buildings, that may not be the case. I’ve run sound for bands in clubs and done some recording, but I’m not an “audio engineer” by any stretch...
And I agree that it would be nice if some experts in this field would lend their expertise to the cause - although in their defense, they get paid a ton of money for their expertise and are most likely looking to get paid by LE - not donate their time for folks like us. But maybe we will get lucky...
I also agree that the overlapping strings are where the rubber will end up meeting the road. It would likely take many hours to deconstruct those wave-forms and piece together a result.
I also agree that the person who does this definitively could make their reputation.
And yes - many mass shootings have reported more than one shooter. But this is the first one I know of that has this much *independent* audio-visual evidence. You’d think that places like BTG Research would be jumping at the opportunity to make a name for themselves by analyzing the audio and determining with some accuracy whether or not there was more than one shooter...
Hopefully we’ll get lucky. If I can find some free time perhaps I may try to do it myself and see what a layman can come up with.
And again - thanks for the reasoned conversation.