[WRhine]

We had the same thing happen in my town here in Texas. Some kids found a shotgun. Their first target was the backdoor of a store and that reminds me of the first shot at the Michael's store.

Speaking of the first attack at Michael's store I was wondering if the reason the sniper missed the intended target was because of the light refraction the glass pane? I'm not an expert in these matters but IF there is a refraction quality to glass causing the sniper to miss, it could indicate that while the perp is a good shot he may not be as experienced as some people suggest. IOWs, this sicko is not a trained sniper with military training.

In any event, the sniper never again tried shooting people through glass windows, which suggests that the perp suspected that the glass pane, for whatever reason, was why he missed. Which again points to a degree of inexperience notwithstanding all the subsequent open field accurate shots.

[Travis McGee]

Good observation about the window deflection shot indicating he is "learning on the job", ie not a trained sniper who would not have wasted that shot.

[Poohbah]

Speaking of the first attack at Michael's store I was wondering if the reason the sniper missed the intended target was because of the light refraction the glass pane?

Less to do with the light and more to do with the bullet punching through the glass--heavy enough glass (large windows, for example) will tend to deflect thje bullet slightly.

[Shooter 2.5]

It's one of the reasons I'm going with an inexperienced nutcase. It follows too much like someone who has no idea what he's doing. Snipers use one person to break the glass and another to hit the target.
If the guys with the shotgun that I wrote about would have had something more lethal, it would have played out just like this case.

[Shooter 2.5]

I would also have the authorities ask the military recruiters if anyone tried to become a military sniper since 9/11.