According to former ATF special agent Jim Cavanaugh, any notion that the man who ambushed and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan on Wednesday morning was a professional killer should be put to rest.
Speaking with MSNBC host José Díaz-Balart, Cavanaugh said that, based on video of the shooting that has been released, the masked man who pulled the trigger and struggled when his gun jammed was a rank amateur.
"What does this tell you?" the host asked after showing video clips. "He certainly knew the weapon, but the weapon was jamming from the first shot."
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"Right, he's sort of a doofus, really," Cavanaugh smirked. "He doesn't have the weapon in top functionality when he's going to commit his murder. A hired killer, someone with great firearms experience would not have his gun jam –– it would be clean."
"Second, his stance is natural, it's not really a weave or shooting stance he does have two hands up there," he added. "When he goes to clear the round, now the chief of detectives said he cleared the round so he's proficient with a firearm, he does have more proficiency than the average bear, Jose, but this is not the way any trained shooter would clear a round."
"The exercise to clear rounds are tap, rack, bang and that's drilled into you when you're an agent or officer," he elaborated. "Tap, rack, bang –– he doesn't do that. He racks the gun, the slide, and then he slaps the top of the gun, the top of the slide a couple of times. There's no trained shooter that would do that."
"That's the drill, that's beat into your head," he added. " So, he didn't do that, he just racked it and he started slapping the top of the gun. So I don't see this guy as a professional killer."
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