A masked man running around downtown Philadelphia before sunrise and chasing strangers was already one of the stranger stories we’ve covered lately. Now we know what happened when he picked someone who decided to chase back.
Jameka Wilson was heading to an early-morning workout when she spotted the masked man approaching another woman near City Hall. Wilson tried to warn the woman, then found herself getting his attention instead.
Rather than continuing to run, Wilson turned around, sized up the situation, and kicked him squarely in the chest.
“He just seemed so disoriented about what his goals actually were,” Wilson told ABC News. “I had bags. He wasn’t reaching for those. It didn’t seem like he had a clear goal to actually get in, like, to do anything. So I was like, ‘Okay, well, let’s see if you can fight.’ And he couldn’t.”
She Saw Him Going After Another Woman
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News outlets like Guessing Headlights previously covered the bizarre search for the masked man, who police said spent roughly 15 minutes running up to people around Center City on the morning of Aug. 12.
One of the most disturbing videos showed him chasing a 40-year-old jogger near City Hall while holding up a cellphone. Police said he asked the woman, “Are you ready to die?” while keeping his other hand behind his back. Investigators have said they found no evidence that he actually had a weapon.
Wilson, a 25-year-old Philadelphia actress, witnessed part of the encounter while she was on her way to an early workout.
She told FOX 29 that the jogger initially didn’t seem to notice what was happening because she was wearing headphones and looking at her phone. Wilson began waving and yelling across the intersection to warn her.
The woman eventually noticed and started running.
Wilson said the masked man then turned toward another person carrying a large box and chased him into a business. After that, his attention shifted to her.
Wilson Decided To Turn Around
Wilson initially ran, too, but only for a few seconds.
Then she stopped.
“When he was approaching me he was laughing menacingly, it wasn’t really super scary to me,” Wilson told FOX 29. “My fight or flight had kind of struck at that point.”
There was something else working in Wilson’s favor. She has stage-combat training.
Wilson told Fox News Digital that she studied stage combat at the University of the Arts, where she trained with fight masters. The training is meant for safely performing physical confrontations, but it also taught her how to read another person’s positioning.
When Wilson turned around, she said the masked man seemed surprised. He raised his hands, but Wilson noticed he had left the center of his body exposed.
She took the opening.
Wilson kicked him directly in the chest, sending him stumbling backward. He then ran away.
Police Say There Were More Encounters Than First Known
Early reports said the masked man had targeted at least six people.
Investigators have since reviewed more surveillance footage, and the number may be substantially higher.
Philadelphia police now say cameras captured the man running up to and startling at least 15 or 16 people at several locations around Center City during a roughly 15- to 16-minute period. He was also recording people with his cellphone.
Police said he entered a Dunkin’ on Chestnut Street around 5:20 a.m., where employees refused to serve him because he was wearing the mask. Investigators later tracked him into Suburban Station and said he boarded a Route 33 bus at 5:59 a.m. heading toward an apartment complex near 23rd and Venango streets.
One woman who ran from him suffered a serious leg injury requiring medical treatment, according to police.
Investigators initially estimated that the person they were looking for was between 16 and 20 years old. They now say they know who he is.
Police Have Now Identified The Suspect
Image Credit: Philadelphia Police Department.
On Thursday, Philadelphia police identified the masked suspect as 22-year-old Zymire Hughes.
An arrest warrant has been issued, and police say Hughes may have already left Pennsylvania. Authorities say he has ties to California and Nevada.
Investigators traced Hughes through surveillance footage to the apartment complex and later learned that he had packed his bags and left about two nights before Thursday’s news conference, according to FOX 29. Police are working with the U.S. Marshals as the search continues.
Authorities have also identified three social media accounts associated with Hughes. Police have not found similar previous posts, but investigators suspect the encounters may have been filmed with the intention of creating social media content.
That remains a theory. Police have not established a motive.
Hughes is wanted on felony and misdemeanor charges that include terroristic threats, simple assault, harassment, reckless endangerment, and intimidation, according to authorities.
Police are asking anyone who encounters Hughes not to approach him and to call 911.
Hughes is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
People Had One Clear Favorite In This Story
The original footage of someone running around Philadelphia in a Halloween mask was unnerving. Wilson’s description of what happened when he reached her produced a rather different reaction.
Thousands of people commenting on ABC News’ video zeroed in on the same part of her interview.
“That woman is a legend,” one person wrote, pointing to Wilson calmly analyzing what the man seemed to be doing before deciding to fight him.
Another commenter had a similar takeaway: “‘Let’s see if he can fight; and he couldn’t.’ This lady is a legend.”
Someone else joked, “Look for the guy with the boot print on his chest.”
And for anyone familiar with horror-movie logic, one commenter had already made the casting decision: “Final girl of a slasher film material here.”
Another person summed up the encounter more simply: “So he finally came up on somebody that he couldn’t scare.”
Wilson herself didn’t make the confrontation sound nearly as dramatic. She watched what the masked man was doing, realized he didn’t seem to be after her belongings, noticed he wasn’t particularly prepared for her to fight back, and decided to find out what happened if she did.
As she put it: “And he couldn’t.”