Anyhow, here's what I remember(not totally accurate either):
Ex-military sniper in a tower with military-quality arsenal. 
The general public running for their lives.
Police officers getting gunned down while attempting to reach the tower because they didn't have the firepower to kill him from afar.

What apparently happened:
He was an ex-marine who could shoot very accurately but not a sniper.   He was using equipment bought from a regular store.
The general public ran for their lives.
Police officer were gunned down while attempting to reach the tower but it was because they couldn't get a clean shot from the air or the ground.

If he has been on the ground or a story or two up, I could see Joe Cowboy taking a few shots at him before the police arrived.   However, virtually no one could figure out where he was firing from so there was no one to shoot.   Anyone with any knowledge of firearms knows it's pointless to fire a handgun, and hope to hit anything, from a hundred yards away.  It could be distracting but you'd have to expose yourself to take the shot and he's got a long-range rifle and a scope.  You poke your head up to empty your six shooter and you sit back down without a head.  Also, once the cops arrive, they aren't tolerating random shooters.  There's a lot of confusion and, as far as anyone knows, the sniper isn't working alone.   Firing off a shot could be opening the door for a cop to bury you.   In short, your memorized version makes no sense.

Operation Repo is an American television program that depicts the world of car repossession with a team of professionals who portray repossessions from California's San Fernando Valley.^[5] Similar to another truTV show, Southern Fried Stings, the series is filmed in a cinema verité style but consists of scripted and dramatized reenactments performed by actors. The show is filmed by recreating scenes which show the cast conducting repossession of automobiles for finance companies. In the show they also perform repossession of other exotic and strange items such as luxury boats, planes, limousines, ATVs, Zambonis, tow trucks, expensive bicycles, hot air balloons and tanning beds.^[6]

Posted by swamphawk22 on 2/14/2011 1:54:00 PM (view original):
Its actual motto is "Not Reality, Actuality"

Means it isnt a "Reality" show, it is about what actually happened.

Posted by MikeT23 on 2/14/2011 12:54:00 PM (view original):

Anyhow, here's what I remember(not totally accurate either):
Ex-military sniper in a tower with military-quality arsenal. 
The general public running for their lives.
Police officers getting gunned down while attempting to reach the tower because they didn't have the firepower to kill him from afar.

What apparently happened:
He was an ex-marine who could shoot very accurately but not a sniper.   He was using equipment bought from a regular store.
The general public ran for their lives.
Police officer were gunned down while attempting to reach the tower but it was because they couldn't get a clean shot from the air or the ground.

If he has been on the ground or a story or two up, I could see Joe Cowboy taking a few shots at him before the police arrived.   However, virtually no one could figure out where he was firing from so there was no one to shoot.   Anyone with any knowledge of firearms knows it's pointless to fire a handgun, and hope to hit anything, from a hundred yards away.  It could be distracting but you'd have to expose yourself to take the shot and he's got a long-range rifle and a scope.  You poke your head up to empty your six shooter and you sit back down without a head.  Also, once the cops arrive, they aren't tolerating random shooters.  There's a lot of confusion and, as far as anyone knows, the sniper isn't working alone.   Firing off a shot could be opening the door for a cop to bury you.   In short, your memorized version makes no sense.

Citizens keeping him pinned doesn't make sense from a self-preservation stand point(or a law enforcement standpoint).     Your sources are silly.  So is saying a made for TV movie supported it. 

And, since I assume you're a handgun afficianado, you know what I said was true.   Whitman was 270 feet, more or less, in the air.   Handguns are pretty much useless at that distance.   Even a crazy cowboy wouldn't risk getting sniped to fire off a few pointless shots.