According to the Chief of Police, the gunmen who shot two of his officers were “embedded in the crowd” (of demonstrators) that was across the street from the police station. He implied (although never came out and specifically said so) that the shooters were either part of the crowd, or using them as camouflage. The implication (also unspoken) was “See, no matter what we do for these people, they’re never satisfied.”

Reporters at the scene said the demonstration was breaking up, and was not hostile or tense, in fact, it appeared to be in a celebratory mood due to the impact of the Attorney General’s report. Police report cartridges found at the scene were pistol calibre.

According to the witnesses, the shooters were either “250 yards”, “150-200 yards”, or “125 yards” away, hidden in a hill across from the City building. That’s an awful long distance for a pistol shot, even if we are charitable and concede the figures were misquoted, and refer to feet, not yards. If the gunmen were actually firing from the crowd, or immediately behind it, not one witness said so.

Although a handgun bullet can easily travel several hundred yards and remain lethal at that range, it is almost impossible to control its accuracy at that distance from target, unless it is a specially prepared match pistol, aimed by an expert marksman, under ideal conditions. I can hit a man-sized target at 15 yards about 50% of the time when firing under under ideal range conditions. Under combat conditions, I doubt I would even try to shoot at that range.

Reports from the scene are fragmentary and confused, and from individuals with little knowledge of firearms. Press reports and eyewitness testimonies are notoriously garbled as well. But even conceding that, the facts simply don’t add up.

Also, who would be most likely to benefit from this shooting? The demonstrators? Criminals and thugs wishing to cause a disturbance to cover ordinary street crime? Or outside agitators and troublemakers? I tend to favor the latter. And I further believe they were a black flag operation, staged by provocateurs. I can’t prove it, of course, but I believe its possible, if not likely, those shots were fired by white troublemakers in order to discredit the marchers and their cause.

I believe those shots were fired at great range, and they were fired at the crowd of demonstrators, not the police. The crowd presented a big, tempting target, easy to hit even with a handgun at long range, and I’m sure there are folks in Ferguson, or its environs, that would love to kill a few troublesome blacks. And if no one was hit, it would be the demonstrators that would get blamed. It was just bad luck that cops were hit, instead.

I may be mistaken, I haven’t heard any good forensic results yet, as to where the shots were fired from, what type weapon was used, and so on, but until I do, I think there’s a lot more here than meets the eye. Keep you eyes and ears open as further reports come out of Ferguson. Listen for numbers. Look for maps.