It's a real good possibility Gambino had him shot but i'm not so sure that was Gambino's style to use a black guy as the shooter. Gambino could of set Colombo up many different ways where he could of been killed without doing it in public like that with all the press. Gambino was pissed with him though and arranged for a low turnout that day at Colombo's rally.
Yeah he could have used an italian guy mixed in with the crowd. And why use a black guy that had any sort of connection even a tenuous one to his family, when he could have hired some black panther or even a black liberation army member who at that point were killing scores of cops and white people across the country. This would have taken the heat off the mob all together. the whole thing just seemed too risky, i mean think about it, this guy went and shot another man in front of a large crowd with police and armed security around in broad daylight.
