Keeping a lot of the incriminating evidence on him (including, it seems, the jacket) can't be a careless mistake (in my opinion). So what are some of the possible reasons?
- He committed the crime and had another target in mind
- He committed the crime and really didn't think he'd get away with it so he kept it to keep some unknown options open.
- He committed the crime and didn't want any doubt that he was guilty when he got caught. Perhaps he wanted the media to be focussed more on the "why" than "is it him?" speculation.
How about some of the possible reasons he was at a McDonalds instead of many other ways to get food that wouldn't have security cameras
- He was ready to be caught as the media cycle was moving on and he perceived momentum of empathy for him right now
- He was ready to be caught because being on the run was too hard and not inline with his goals
- He wasn't thinking clearly and didn't really have much of a post-shooting plan outside of getting out of NYC
Getting in and out of NYC leaving as little as he did was the challenge. Getting across the border or camping out in the Forrest for a few weeks shouldn’t be that much of a challenge in comparison.
Plenty of smart and clever people make mistakes all of the time and you’re only oppressing yourself if you think otherwise. For fear of making mistakes is foolish pride.
Crime and Punishment (Dostoyevski) illustrates this. It's probably wasn't a conscious process or well thought out plan, and it's difficult to imagine and prepare for the pressures of a life-and-death situation in advance.
Any sane person would discard the evidence by scattering it. Any homeless will take anyone of the items.
He was smart enough to carry away the feat without getting caught. He is not smart socially, his demise doesn't serve his purpose. Sounds like fit to be an engineer. And kind of suicidal.
Most likely he realized once the authorities have his name - he can't run forever.
That being said - some obvious stuff he could have done like grow a beard and shave it after and fly out of the country to somewhere cheap like Thailand with $10k
Just 2 days ago, the police reported they found his backpack with jacket inside and a veterinary gun nearby... now he had the same jacket, backpack and another unlicenced gun with him. His eyebrows and nose are different, can clearly see it from the few released pictures.
It's surprising how many people are missing this crucial step.
CCTV footage shows a guy with certain features.
Days later, after no leads whatsoever, another photo shows a guy with markedly different features.
Now authorities say they have caught a guy matching the second footage. He conveniently walked into a McDonalds with his manifesto, fake ID, and a 3d printed gun. ???
Idk man, could be legit I guess... But it is a bit wild that so many people are taking all this at face value, unquestioned; as if there isn't tremendous pressure on authorities to deliver a neatly packaged conclusion to the story at almost any cost.
- He committed the crime and had another target in mind
- He committed the crime and really didn't think he'd get away with it so he kept it to keep some unknown options open.
- He committed the crime and didn't want any doubt that he was guilty when he got caught. Perhaps he wanted the media to be focussed more on the "why" than "is it him?" speculation.
How about some of the possible reasons he was at a McDonalds instead of many other ways to get food that wouldn't have security cameras
- He was ready to be caught as the media cycle was moving on and he perceived momentum of empathy for him right now
- He was ready to be caught because being on the run was too hard and not inline with his goals
- He wasn't thinking clearly and didn't really have much of a post-shooting plan outside of getting out of NYC
- He felt safe in that town
- He overestimated his support