plawolf
Lieutenant General
Maybe but..
The greater question is why the MPD did not take down the sniper when they surely had a clear shot at him?. Look at the photos.
Perhaps his comrades in arms did not want to be the ones to gun down a fellow, albeit, disgraced officer. All in all the Manila PD botched the whole ordeal. Period.
They didn't have to gun him down, just look at how close their negotiators managed to get to the guy!
He was carrying an M16, and he could not have hoped to bring it up to get a shot off if the guy in the orange shirt jumped him.
Not standard tactics, but when the hostage taker offer you a golden opportunity like that, a trained professional is expected to take it.