City Hall Shooter and Victim on Tape

CBS 2 showed a video of City Councilman James Davis and his killer, Othniel Askew, right before the July 23, 2003 shooting, and it's really spooky. Here's CBS's description of what happens:

The tape shows Davis and assassin Othniel Askew enter the council chambers. Davis joins a group of other members during a presentation as Askew stands along the wall. The tape also shows just how close Askew was standing to plainclothes police officer Richard Burt, who moments later would shoot and kill him.

Once the ceremony is over, the tape shows Davis walk over to Askew and the two apparently head for the balcony. Approximately nine minutes later, Askew opens fire, killing Davis. The shooting is not captured on tape.

Though Askew wanted to run against Davis in a City Council election, Davis still apparently waved him through security at City Hall, allowing Askew to enter armed. After the shooting, security tightened up around City Hall, as city council members and their guests had previously been able to bypass security measures, which in hindisght seems crazy, given the important figures who meet there. Also, Officer Burt was promoted to detective the day after the shooting.