The trace of the gun is going to be vital, Hyche added. That is, if it still has a serial number, and if it can be traced back to the original buyer.
A trained professional would likely have used a gun that was untraceable, Hyche said.
“If he had a clean gun, wore gloves, no serial number, and just left it there — that’s not really going to help law enforcement a lot,” added Hyche, who is now the chief of police in Calera, Alabama. “And that’s what I think a pro would have done.”
Still, even if carried out by someone without training, the targeted killing would have required some measure of planning, experts said.
“To figure out where the best vantage was, you’d have to know where the stage was going to be set up,” Sweetow said.
