The suicide discussion helped me get to the root of why this case is so interesting to me.
If you murder someone, especially in encroaching daylight in one of the most populous cities in the world, by definition it seems you have little to lose. You have to accept (and honestly expect) that you will be caught. As a result, many shooters under these circumstances would take their own lives or surrender on the scene. You have to imagine that he's let go of many of the ties that bind him to his daily life in order to commit this murder.
Yet his actions suggest someone with much to lose. He carefully concealed his face. He arrived in the city via one of the lease traceable methods in modern society. He seemed to carefully plan the shooting. He had the burner phone, the fake ID, he paid in cash.
So which is it? Did he honestly expect to get away with this crime (impossible, IMO). That thought seems so irrational, yet the execution was so methodical and rational-as much as a murder can be.
I find myself invested in knowing not just the why, but also the end game. If he thought he'd get away, how? And if he didn't care whether he got away, why go to such trouble to do so?
There are very few killers who fascinate me, but this one is right up there. He planned this like a Hollywood assassin would plan his crime, and that's just something I've never seen in a real life case.
He did this in a public place. He did it with a weapon that resonates with any movie watcher. He did it in full view of surveillance cameras.
This was absolutely painstaking. Long bus journeys. Spending days in uncomfortable accommodations. The tediousness of wearing a mask and hood constantly, no matter the situation. Scouting the hotel. Scouting the park. Scouting a location where he could stash a bike, after somehow obtaining it. He planned his entry. He planned his exit. He knew where his victim was going to be, and when he was going to be there. He was remarkably disciplined.
I continue to believe his motive was a grievance against that company, but there was a lot of fantasy at play here as well. He didn't have to use that particular gun to carry out this crime. He didn't have to mark those bullets for that purpose either. Those were psychologically necessary to him though; his signature. His message.
Of course movies aren't real life, and "the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry." And go awry they did.
So yes, I believe that he believed he could get away with this. I think the fantasy became reality the second he pulled that trigger, and everything went downhill from there.
Hence the water bottle. Hence the cell phone. Hence that backpack.
He intended to commit the perfect crime, but made the mistake of committing it in the wrong century. "FAFO" as the kids say. He's on the verge of the "find out" part.
I hope he's taken alive, because there are questions that only he can answer. And I'd love to know those answers.
