Analysis of the Charlie Kirk Shooting: Insights from Former British Army Sniper Craig Harrison

Introduction and Context

Hi guys, hope everyone’s well. Um, Craig Harrison, former sniper in the British Army. I’ve had a lot of reachouts on my Instagram and Facebook to give my opinion on the Charlie Kirk shooting. Such a sad day. No one deserves to go through that and my wishes to their family.

I’m sorry about the state of me, all this cam cream on and the way I’m dressed. I’m in a beautiful wood, 160 acres in Hereford.

Was It a Professional Shot?

Was it a professional shot? No, it wasn’t. I could sit down with somebody and shoot 140 meters and you’d be hitting bullseye all the time. The reason why Charlie Kirk got shot in the neck is because of the angle he was shooting, but he was using a Mauser. A Mauser is a heavy bolt-action rifle, probably used in the Second World War, still used in America now for hunting. So it’s got a lot of bolt to it.

Bullet Flight and Trajectory

Calculation-wise, guys, the way a bullet travels, there’s three flights to a bullet: supersonic, transonic, and then it goes subsonic. The shot got fired from 140 meters, so that’d be still going supersonic at that stage.

The bullet stays quite flat if you’re shooting on a flat level for 300 yards before it starts rising up. Because your bullet rises up in an arch and it’s called the highest point of that bullet, called the culmination point. And it’s always three quarters of the distance you will be shooting. So if you’re shooting at a thousand yards, the highest point of that bullet will roughly be between 750 and 700 before it starts dipping down.

No doubt the guy was trying to shoot for center of mass, which is the upper body. People that do shoot out there know that if you’re shooting downhill, the bullet always rises higher. Obviously, that bullet raised up and hit in the neck. If you’re shooting uphill, your bullet would go lower. If you’re shooting downhill, your bullet goes higher. And that’s why no, it wasn’t a professional shot because he hit him in the throat. He didn’t understand the calculations of taking a shot.

Chaos and Stampede Effect

If somebody shoots somebody, the chaos that it causes, the stampede effect of people running and trying to get out of the way, trying to find a safe spot, that gives enough time for that sniper to get away as well because they’re causing so much devastation, so much chaos, so much stampeding that it’s hard for people to walk through a stampede of people trying to get to this certain location where they think the shot’s going to come from.

There was a gentleman that was running around the scene saying that he shot Charlie Kirk acting as a decoy, which I don’t think the guy was. I just think he was just saying he wanted to take the glory for it and all the attention was put onto this old guy.

Tactical Considerations and How the Shot Could Have Been Different

So, that’s one of the advantages of taking a shot that close anyway: the chaos effect and the amount of people that were there. It worked. It worked for him and that’s probably one of the reasons he got away as well.

Me, for instance, if I was doing the shot — it sounds wrong for me to say that, but people have asked me — I would go there a couple of weeks prior and have a quick look around. And obviously, when they’re setting up, I would have gone back there as well to see where the best positioning is for me to take that shot.

I would have done it from distance, not 140 yards. I probably would have done it from 1,000 yards. I would have done it in depth where I had top cover on me and done it in a window or something where I had a bit of depth coming from me as well. So I had all-round cover and then it gives me enough time to extract myself or stay in the building.

I don’t always go for headshots because they’re quite tricky because your head’s smaller. I usually go for the center of mass — sternum, heart, lungs, and stuff like that. But usually, you hit him in the chin. If you hit him in the chin, it severs the spinal cord at the back and they’re dead straight away.

Security and Prevention

How I would have prevented that is probably have tougher security. If Charlie Kirk’s life was threatened and he didn’t feel like his life was threatened, that’s why he does the stuff he does. But if it was threatened like a presidential thing and it was the same situation, you’d have snipers on the roof and you’d have them facing outwards from the plinth itself.

So the snipers are given all-round cover and basically what they would do is aim at the highest point of the buildings. So no one could do any clear shots. You’re checking windows, you’re checking rooftops and stuff like that. So anywhere where they got a clear shot.

And that’s due to the wrecking of the area. And I’m afraid Charlie Kirk didn’t have that. And if he did have that, that man would still be alive.

Closing Thoughts

Now, that’s my opinion, guys. It wasn’t a professional hit. It was just somebody that had a gripe against Charlie Kirk, I should imagine. My blessings go out to his family and his children. It’s not a nice way to go, especially for his family and children to see that as well.

I hope everyone’s well and I’ll speak to everyone soon.