“Interesting in that he is described as a “man” but no race is attached.”
Interesting, indeed. As a FReeper remarked on a thread this weekend, the omission of the perpetrator must be required by the AP style book in this case.
Exactly! When the perp is white and/or especially conservative those words MUST be in the first three words of the first sentence. For extra points work in the word “evil” as closely as grammar will allow.