The weirdo from Florida needs to be trounced so thoroughly that there can be no doubt as to fraud.  There are too many machinations in place for fraud to be committed in his favor, so the victory really needs to be overwhelming.  With the sniper, I wonder if he was going for a kill shot, and missed and hit the gun.  Either way, it was a good shot with a good result.  Though the article that I read wasn't clear if the shot disabled the assailant's rifle.