Texas Gun Talk: What Gun Was Used To Assassinate Brian Thompson?

A fascinating presentation and theory by a major gun aficionado.

As a true crime author, I have often found that some of the greatest insights come from guys with practical, hands-on experience in a given field, as distinct from academic experts.

For my second book, Cold a Long Time, I contracted court certified experts to help me ascertain what happened to a young man whose dismembered body melted out of a glacier in the middle of a licensed ski slope 14 years after he went missing. Though no autopsy was performed—at least not officially—a forensic pathologist stated his personal opinion that the man’s segmentally fractured left leg and both forearms had been destroyed by glacier ice flow.

My court certified experts believed the young man’s limbs had been dismembered by a machine, and not by glacier ice flow. However, they were unable to pin down the precise cause of the fractures. It was only when I started working with a man who operates tracked vehicles for a living that I was able to determine that the young man’s left leg and both forearms had been fractured by the drive gear of a tracked snow grooming vehicle. The flesh of his left thigh had been gouged by the tracks’ locking brackets.

Those interested in this terrifying and fascinating story may consider reading my book, Cold a Long Time: An Alpine Mystery.

Since UHC CEO Brian Thompson was assassinated, there has been tremendous talk and speculation about the weapon used by the assassin and why he found it necessary to manually cycle the bolt three times while shooting the victim. The following presentation by a gun aficionado and host of Texas Gun Vault strikes me as well worth watching.

Starting at 16:30, he offers an intriguing theory. He proposes that the assassin wanted to leave (specifically) unspent cartridges inscribed (with a fine sharpie) with the words, delay, deny, defend. While this is obviously a wildly speculative theory, I find it fascinating to contemplate. I wonder if the three unspent cartridges were a theatrical gesture (and possible red herring) for signaling that there are still shots to be fired at other CEOs of large medical insurance companies.

At 19:55, he offers his theory that the shooter is, in fact, someone who has been trained to kill people and has done so before. I share his perception that the killer was more than just a gun nut who was motivated by anger at United Health. The shooter is too calm, methodical, slow, and deliberate in his movements. I strongly suspect that this isn’t the first time he has shot someone.