Masked Assassin in Manhattan Seemed Normal

Gunman's morning perambulation wearing a black mask prompted little if any scrutiny.

Of all the inanities of the official pandemic response, masks struck me as the most ridiculous. I still vividly remember a pair of young lovers riding a moped down a quiet suburban street, both wearing masks and no helmets. On another occasion I got into a drag race with a young hotrod on a Suzuki GSXR 750 motorcycle—also wearing a mask but no helmet.

It was around that time that it occurred to me that much of humanity is simply incapable of thinking. Sure, they can be trained to perform procedural tasks of high intellectual complexity, but if they are confronted with a novel phenomenon, their brains freeze and they look to purported authority to tell them what to do.

Fellow Substack author Jeff Childers and I had the same thought this morning while contemplating the singularly bizarre fact that the gunman who shot UHC CEO Brian Thompson perambulated around Midtown Manhattan, even going to Starbucks, while wearing a black mask and hood, and apparently drew no scrutiny.

Incidentally, while perusing ABC’s reporting on the shooting, I noticed an advertisement for the network’s forthcoming show on serial killers.

Compare this image to the gunman dropping into Starbucks for his morning coffee.

On a related note: Much has been made of the fact that he draws back the pistol’s bolt between each shot, suggesting that the 9mm cartridges were jamming. It seems to me more likely that he used a pistol equipped with a so-called “straight pull” action, perhaps to reduce the risk of a cartridge jam. On the other hand, a knowledgable reader just pointed out the pistol’s silencer probably reduced the recoil sufficiently to prevent the semi-automatic from fully cycling, thereby obliging the assassin to cycle the bolt manually, which he was prepared to do. Yet another fantastic reader named Siggy just sent me the following intriguing note:

From news reports, the police think he used a pistol called a "Station Six" which is a new gun available here in the US. It is modeled after a British "assassin's pistol" known as the Welrod which saw wide use in Europe pre & post war. It has a built-in silencer that makes it almost silent.

Here's a video that shows them both & explains how they work: https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=B%26T+Station+Six&mid=7AEA4CAEC65CB271A6A67AEA4CAEC65CB271A6A6&FORM=VIRE

In another breaking development, the NYPD just released images of what it claims to believe to be the suspect not wearing a mask—a handsome young fellow with a winning smile, kind of reminds me of Jake Gyllenhaal.

Tough to say from the grainy photos at different angles, but to my eye, the unmasked figure has a much thicker nose—especially the bridge—than the aquiline nose of the masked man in Starbucks. The above images were apparently taken at the reception of a Manhattan hostel. It’s also notable that the man at the hotel reception is wearing a different backpack and jacket from the masked man in the Starbucks. That said, the cloth around the neck of the man at the reception may well be the same that is drawn up over the face of the masked man in the Starbucks.

If the young man at the reception is caught, it will be very interesting to see if he is able to offer an alibi. I have a vague hunch that the guy at the hotel reception is a red herring and that he may be able to offer a verifiable alibi.

Yet another intriguing fact, reported by the NYPD, is that three of the spent shell casings were meticulously inscribed (by a fine pointed Sharpie) with the words "deny," "defend" and "depose.” As reported by CBS news:

The officials said they are examining whether the words relate to a possible motive involving insurance companies and their responses to claims. ABC News first reported this information. … Officials are examining the casings to determine whether the words could be related to a possible motive involving insurance companies and their responses to claims. Investigators believe they could reference "the three D's of insurance" coined by the industry's critics, which are "delay," "deny" and "defend." The alliteration is a comment on the tactics that opponents say insurance companies use to delay or deny policyholders' claims.

This suggests that the assassin is settling a personal score with UHC for refusal to pay out a claim, though I suspect this may prove to be a red herring.