A young man was brutally murdered in New York City by way of what many in the media and even law enforcement have deemed a "professional hit". It was called a "professional hit" mainly due to the pre-hit surveillance on the target and the manner of execution. However, there are some glaring errors I believe will lead to the killer(s) and co-conspirator's capture.
I'm not sure how much many of you know about the assassination "business". To say the least, as a lay person myself, I can only guess there would be some rules of the trade. Let me share a few that I think would be important:
- Always be aware of your surroundings. In order to be a successful "hit man", you need to have the element of surprise and concealment. You need surprise so your target doesn't become alerted to what you're trying to do (i.e. killing them). If you're a person hired to kill someone, I'm imagining it would be bad for your target to turn around and see you carrying a pistol and getting ready to kill them. Typically, a "hit man" would need concealment as well so there aren't any potential witnesses who could give away their activity to the target or the authorities. So can someone explain to me how this "professional" killer didn't take note of the closed circuit television camera and the numerous car a few feet away? The last thing any "professional" wants is to get caught on tape. Last I checked, murder for hire is capital offense.
- Never do a "hit" on a busy street or in plenty of light. The way most CCTV cameras work is by using ambient and low-level light to illuminate the images they're capturing. Most burglars know this - thus why they do what they do at night and in low light. If I'm to believe what my eyes are showing me above, there are several shadows which appear to be pedestrian feet somewhere in the northern quadrant of this photo. I can also make out the victim and the killer's face. Again, another huge no-no for any "professional hit man".
- Never allow your escape to be captured on video or by witnesses. Witness reports are emerging that people saw the killer do the "hit" and noted a probable get-away vehicle which has since been discovered. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what's about to happen next if not already. The vehicle will be inventoried and searched for any evidence to include fingerprints and trace evidence left by the "hit man". Also, take a few moments and imagine how this could have panned out had some hapless witness saw this and blocked the sedan from leaving.
- Don't wait at the scene for 30 minutes outside of where you're going to meet the target. Yup. That's what this idiot did. He waited for 30 minutes outside acting very suspicious. He was seen pacing back and forth by the sedan that was later recovered. In case you weren't aware, New York is home to some of the most aggressive police in the Western world. So having a loaded pistol and seen pacing back and forth while waiting for your target is probably not what you want to do. Below is surveillance footage released by the suspect as he's seen walking and hanging out by his getaway vehicle.
So what does this mean for those of us in security and law enforcement?
- There is an increased level of violence and brazen violent activity by organized crime and other nefarious organizations that use this methodology. We need to do a better job of educating and encouraging more citizens to report suspicious activity. We need more foot patrols in our urban areas. We need to encourage proactive private security elements to be on the look out for suspicious activity and report it to police as soon as possible.
What this case does demonstrate is a very important lesson for all of us:
- Report any and all suspicious activity. There is no harm with having a police officer come out and investigate the nature of your suspicion. That's their job. No one wants to be a snitch but a man brought a weapon into a neighborhood where anyone could have been a collateral victim. Having the homicide detectives show up two hours later is not the way to keep your street safe. Call it in. If you don't want to get involved and just need to make the initial report so someone will come out, make the call and tell the operator you don't want to give your name. Explain you'll make a statement if it turns into something where a serious crime has been committed. Many time the police may not need you to make a statement. One call to the police could have spared this young man's life. Now we'll never know.
