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Swagger assesses each of the locations and determines that a site in Philadelphia would be most conducive to a long-range assassination attempt. He passes this information to Johnson, who purportedly arranges for a response. This turns out to be a set-up; while Swagger is working with Johnson's agents — including local police officer Timmons — to find the rumored assassin, the Ethiopian archbishop is instead assassinated while standing next to the president. Swagger is shot by officer Timmons, but manages to escape. The agents tell the police and public that Swagger is the shooter, and stage a massive manhunt for the injured sniper. However, Swagger has a stroke of luck—he meets a rookie FBI special agent, Nick Memphis (Michael Peña), disarms him, and steals his car.
Swagger uses the first aid supplies in the car to treat his wounds and escapes by driving into the Delaware River while being chased. He then takes refuge with Sarah Fenn (Kate Mara), widow of Swagger's late spotter and close friend Donnie Fenn, killed years before in a mission in Africa that Swagger himself barely survived. She saves his life by cleaning and stitching Swagger's gunshot wounds, and he later convinces her to help him contact Memphis with information on the conspiracy. Memphis is blamed for allowing Swagger's escape and is informed that he will face disciplinary review. Memphis argues that given Swagger's training and experience, it is surprising that the president survived and the archbishop standing several feet away was killed. He independently learns that Swagger may have been framed for the assassination by finding several inconsistencies in the evidence and witness statements provided to the FBI by an unnamed private agency. His suspicions rise further when the officer that shot Swagger was murdered hours later the same day, having it staged as a simple mugging.
When the rogue agents realize their secret is compromised, they kidnap Memphis and attempt to stage his suicide. Swagger tails the agents and kills Memphis' captors. Swagger and Memphis then join forces and visit a firearms expert (Levon Helm) in Athens, Tennessee, who provides valuable information on the FBI's ballistics report and a short list of people capable of taking a shot from a distance of one mile or more. Armed with this information, Swagger and Memphis plot to capture the person who they think is the real assassin, an ex-sniper allied with Colonel Johnson. Once they find him in Lynchburg, Virginia, he commits suicide after revealing that the archbishop was actually the real target and he was murdered to prevent his speaking out against U.S. involvement in the massacre of an Eritrean village. The massacre was carried out on behalf of a consortium of American corporate oil interests headed by corrupt Senator Charles Meachum (Ned Beatty). Swagger learns that the mission in which Fenn was killed was also a part of the massacre, as they were tasked to cover the withdrawal of the contractors assigned to the job. Swagger records the ex–sniper's confession of his involvement in the African massacre. Then, with Memphis' assistance, Swagger escapes from an ambush by killing 24 mercenaries.
Meanwhile, other rogue mercenaries, led by Johnson's psychotic right-hand man Jack Payne (Elias Koteas), have kidnapped Sarah to lure Swagger out of hiding. With his new evidence and cat and mouse strategy, Swagger and Memphis are able to rescue her when Colonel Johnson and Senator Meachum arrange a meeting to exchange their hostage for the evidence of their wrongdoing. After killing Payne and several enemy snipers in an isolated mountain range and rescuing Sarah, Swagger and Memphis surrender to the FBI.
Later, Swagger (in a prison jumpsuit) is brought before the attorney general and the FBI director in a closed-door meeting in Washington. The Colonel, Memphis, and Sarah also present. Swagger quickly clears his name by loading a rifle round (supplied by Memphis) into his rifle (which is there as evidence since it was supposedly used in the killing, even though the calibers between the M200 - .408 - and the Barrett actually used - .50 BMG - are completely different. An anomaly that would have shown up in the ballistics report), aims it at the Colonel, and pulls the trigger—which fails to fire the round. Swagger explains that every time he leaves his house, he removes the firing pins from all his guns, replacing them with slightly shorter ones, thus rendering them unable to fire until he returns. Although Swagger is exonerated, Colonel Johnson cannot be charged with a crime as the Eritrean massacre is outside American legal jurisdiction and he walks free. The attorney general approaches Swagger and states that he (the attorney general) must abide by the law. He also admonishes Swagger, saying, "It's not the Wild West anymore, you can't just clean up the streets with a gun, even though sometimes, that's exactly what's needed." Swagger remembers his words.
Afterwards, Johnson and the Senator Meachum plan their next move while at the Senator's vacation house—only to be interrupted by an attack by Swagger. He kills both conspirators, one of the Colonel's aides, and two bodyguards, then breaks open a gas valve before leaving. The fire in the fireplace ignites the gas, blowing up the house.
The final scene shows Swagger getting into a car with Sarah and driving away.
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