Killer on the beach

[minestrone]

I think they are quite far back but the photographer is miles away using a pretty decent lens fully zoomed.

That is why they appear to be of a similar size.

That is what I thought when I saw the image yesterday anyways.

[PurpleGorilla]

A busker got on the tube once, I saw the threat and moved to the end of the carriage. A passenger near him made eye contact [emoji102], the collective carriage held our breath, and then the stairway to heaven opened...

[CloudWalker]

People only start running when there's shooting.
I bet if someone pointed out the window and said "There's a guy outside with a gun" the first thing people would do is get their mobiles out and take a picture!

[MarillionFan]

Keeping your distance hardly seems compatible with going up and talking to him though does it? You haven't really thought this through have you?

Surrounded by armed police & militia in an obscure Himalayas town and forced to sit in the middle of the road with 100 or so demonstrators, you don't really have much of a choice to keep your distance. When one of the few English speakers next to you from Tibet starts crying and talking about how he'd been in the same situation in the past and they opened fire and killed people & the crowd starts to get restless and the police are training their guns on you, you can either select to sit down, get ready to leg it, or try and talk to the man in charge. When I was younger I had an invincible god complex and at the insistence of the rest of my trekking group, got up, put my hands above my head and walked through the crowd to talk to the chief, with a machine gun trained on me.

Never tulip myself quite so much as that moment. Came up with some cock and bull story about how we were trekking, and that two of my trekkers worked for Der Spiegel(one was actually a photographer and had all the gear) and we'd like to do a story on the demonstration and how well the police chief had handled it & take photos, amazingly it worked, defused the whole situation & we were out of there an hour later.

That's my 'give me an example of a tough situation and how you handled it' interview question.

[shaunbhoy]

Makes sense. You see a guy slowly walking with a machine gun on a beach, you're going to look, stare & keep your distance. You're not likely to leg it, until he does something (or doesn't). You may even be tempted to go up and talk to him.

Happened to me once. Makes you stop and think when someone points a machine gun at you. No-one got killed.

Keeping your distance hardly seems compatible with going up and talking to him though does it? You haven't really thought this through have you?

[vetran]

they were doing a good thing apparently

Tunisia tourists reveal hotel workers formed 'human shield' | Daily Mail Online

'You must kill us first, but we're Muslim': Tourist reveals how hotel workers formed 'human shield' to stop gun maniac shooting more dead as Britons tell how they played dead to survive
Tunisian hotel staff formed human shield in heroic move to save tourists
The Muslim staff members told the terrorist: 'You must kill us first'
Many have spoken of playing dead in a bid to avoid the gunman's attention
Angela Evans told how she played dead as he was 'inches' away from her
He was so close she heard him reloading as she lay motionless in the sand
Cheryl Mellor, from Cornwall, also played dead after her husband was shot

brave people & poor sods.

[MarillionFan]

Might I ask just how often you have experienced that particular phenomenon??

Makes sense. You see a guy slowly walking with a machine gun on a beach, you're going to look, stare & keep your distance. You're not likely to leg it, until he does something (or doesn't). You may even be tempted to go up and talk to him.

Happened to me once. Makes you stop and think when someone points a machine gun at you. No-one got killed.

[SimonMac]

Maybe they are trying to warn people ahead of the killer that he is on his way

[shaunbhoy]

Because before the bullets fly people don't understand or appreciate the threat. It is so surreal seeing a bloke on the beach with a machine gun your instinct is to say WTF and just stare.

Might I ask just how often you have experienced that particular phenomenon??

[PurpleGorilla]

Because before the bullets fly people don't understand or appreciate the threat. It is so surreal seeing a bloke on the beach with a machine gun your instinct is to say WTF and just stare.

[tomtomagain]

I agree with OP. When I saw the picture my first thoughts were why the people in the background were just hanging around ... however maybe he hadn't started firing.

[BrilloPad]

Whoever took that photo was quite silly. Personally I would have turned and run.

Or maybe I would have asked if he would pose with the kids for a picture. I bet the papers would pay a lot for that.

[oscarose]

Who's that AA Gill gadge?

[alreadypacked]

Am I the only one who thinks this photo is a bit strange.
Why are these guys openly following him?
Why do they think they are safe?
Do they already know they are not the targets?