LOS ANGELES, California – A police manhunt is underway in Los Angeles after a man was fatally shot during the 29th annual Mime Convention in the city convention center. Reports say that the shooting happened during the Convention’s final performance, after the victim allegedly had a loud coughing fit.
In a press conference outside of the Los Angeles Convention Center, police sergeant Betsy Smith summarized the crime.
“At approximately 10pm on the night of February 14th, a middle-aged male was fatally wounded in Kentia Hall during the Mime Convention. The cause of death was a single gunshot wound to the head, from a single weapon, presumably a firearm, discharged at close range. The tragic incident was not reported to law enforcement personnel until approximately 3:07 the next morning by the convention center’s janitorial staff. It was due to this lack of notification that law enforcement personnel did not arrive at the scene until 3:18. The individual was deceased at the time of the law enforcement personnel’s arrival at the scene. The suspect was nowhere in sight at that time.”
Logs of calls received at the police dispatch center reveal 94 calls were received from the convention center between 10:01 and 10:38, but in none of these calls did the dialer leave his name, exact location, or emergency:
Dispatcher: 911, what is your emergency?
Caller: *Silence*
Dispatcher: 911, what is your emergency?
Caller: *A sound, like an unknown object hitting the handset*
Dispatcher: This is 911. Please state your emergency or get off the line.
Caller: *Silence, then a click as the line is disconnected*
Police suspect these calls are an attempt by the culprit to distract their dispatchers while others tried calling in the crime, but have no proof of this suspicion.
Interviews with eyewitnesses have been frustrating, as well, as many of those who were at the scene when the shooting happened are in what the police are terming a “state of shock,” leaving them incapable of anything more than wild gesticulating and arm waving whenever they’re asked about the shooting.
“It’s like a game of charades,” detective Anthony Moran said, “a game of God damned charades.”
The only witness who could bring himself to relate the crime was a pretzel vendor who was standing across the crowded hall when the shooting occurred.
“It was weird; there was the show going on in total silence because it was a mime show, y’know? And then there was this silence, y’know, real awkward like. I thought it was just the show, because it’s all kinda awkward, but then everyone started running for the door, all fake screaming and arm pumping and looking like they’re actually running. And then they were gone, y’know. I didn’t know it was a shooting – there was no shot or even a scream, man. And the weirdest thing is I never heard even one footstep when everyone booked it.”
Police are uncertain if the shooting was premeditated or if it was in response to the victim’s coughing fit.
“We are looking into both possibilities,” Sergeant Smith said, “The timing of the crime suggests a non-premeditated response killing, initiated by the anger brought about by the victim’s forceful lung discharge during the mime performance. However, the fact that the perpetrator used a silencer for the killing puts this theory into doubt.” She ended the press conference by asking the public to look over the sketch of the perpetrator and notify authorities if they see someone who resembles the subject in it.