A Duty to Prevent?

An Associated Press photographer witnessed the attacker enter the throng of people with his hand in his coat and within seconds raise a knife and begin stabbing people in the back. Police pounced on him and arrested him. The crowd’s carefree cheers suddenly gave way to screams. Panic ensued, and a bloody woman fell to the ground, an Associated Press photographer at the scene said.-Seattle Times.

The photographer is Sebastian Scheiner. These are the five photographs before and up to the moment the blade tip made contact with skin that I was able to find by googling "sebastian scheiner jerusalem gay parade stabbing." They are placed in the order that makes most sense to me. 

The first two are taken a split second apart. Both Yishai Schlissel, the knifeman and the Gay parade marchers are slightly smaller in photo #1 than in photo #2. Both are coming toward Scheiner, the marchers directly at him, Schlissel at an angle from Scheiner's right to his left. 

As I read these first two photographs Scheiner's camera is turned away from the main parade route toward Schlissel. Why? Maybe that was Scheiner's original position. Maybe Scheiner was photographing in that direction initially. Directly into the sun, though? That does not seem to me to be a photographer's preferred position. It appears to me more likely that Scheiner had been facing if not photographing the main parade route and then had his attention diverted to Schlissel, instantly swung his body or his camera to his right and began photographing Schlissel. 

Why would Scheiner do that? "Hey! That ASSHOLE is going to do something!" Was something like that shouted that caused Scheiner to turn abruptly to his right? It does not appear so. One would expect everybody to react the same way I am hypothesizing Scheiner reacted but if you look at the body language of the first row of marchers, nobody is on alert, nobody is paying attention to Schlissel. Did Scheiner know or know of Schlissel and, recognizing him immediately, realize that that asshole was going to do something? That seems more plausible. Scheiner is the only one "in the know" in these first two photographs, the others that we can see are oblivious. In photo #1 Schlissel is moving from Scheiner's right to left, from, in the first photo, maybe...5-6 feet from Scheiner?...to almost immediately in front of Scheiner, maybe 3 feet away, in photo #2.

Two photographs, an instant apart. It is clear in both that Schlissel has a weapon of some sort, is reaching for that weapon,--Scheiner sees what we can all see in his photographs.--did Scheiner do anything other than point and click? Did he yell out "ASSHOLE with a weapon!"?

Schlissel continues from Scheiner's right to left, passing directly in front of Scheiner and enters what I call the main parade route. Scheiner is tracking Schlissel with his camera. Was Scheiner the only person who saw Schlissel "enter the throng of people with his hand in his coat" per the news report at top? Probably not. However Scheiner was the only one to realize the significance. He would not have photographed Schlissel instantly and twice if he did not realize. Scheiner was in a unique position to prevent this attack: recognition and proximity.

In photo #3 below Schlissel's back is now to Scheiner, the knife is out and raised over head and Schlissel is clearly running. Schlissel appears to me to be ~10 feet away from Scheiner when Scheiner took photo #3. Israeli police are not yet in the picture frame. Deary me, Scheiner could have leveled Schlissel with a forearm to the head in photo #2. Schlissel was oblivious to him. Scheiner could have blindsided him, knocked him down, maybe knocked him out, Schlissel would not have known what hit him and a life would have been saved. Okay, let's give him the benefit of the doubt. The time between photos 1 and 2 was the bat of an eye. (Long enough to take two photos though!) Did Scheiner yell out a warning?

There is more time than an eye blink between photos 2 and 3 but it does not appear to me that anyone has been forewarned by anyone other than the mad running Orthodontic Jew. It's like the seas have fucking parted. The two people at the extreme right in photo # 3 below are safely in the wake of this Valkyrie in black, the poor girl in the flowered dress sees him and shrinks back, the two in jeans to Schlissel's left shrink the other way, the guy in the sunglasses and green-striped shirt...is reacting a little bit late. The girl in the jean shorts and maroon sleeveless shirt is clueless, the luckiest lesbianese chick on whatever planet she's on. In photo #3 Scheiner could have dropped his camera and football-tackled Schlissel, dove for his ankles and easily tripped him up short of the ghoul-line. And there would have been a FUMBLE! The knife would have fallen out of Schlissel's hand and clanged onto the street, not get plunged into a poor girl's neck. Point. Click.

In #4 below, further away, 15-17 feet?, the gendarme are in the picture, they're quick! They almost nab Schlissel. Not quick enough, unfortunately. The knife is already in...I do not see a single person, landmark or road marking in common in photographs 3 and 4.(?)

Scheiner clicks fast! The time between photographs 4 above and 5 below is the time it takes the trailing police officer in full pursuit to swing his arm from forward to rear. The victim's first reaction is to throw her head back.

Sebastian Scheiner, what did you to prevent the taking of a human life?