The Post credits a Yankee fan who was probably not even at the scene

Friday morning's New York Post / Newseum

New York Post coverlines are famously provocative, pithy, and fun, and today's is no exception. It proclaims of the death of Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi, "Khadafy Killed By Yankee's Fan." Putting aside their unusual spelling of his name, which is valid but not the most correct, there are some problems with this too-good-to-be-true story.

The Post seems to have taken two semi-related photos and conflated them into a single storyline that does not actually exist. The first photo shows Qaddafi dead; that's certainly true. The second shows a Libyan holding up Qaddafi's famous gold-plated pistol, which was recovered at the scene where he was found. This obviously young Libyan, who Al Arabiya reports is named Ahmed Shaibani, is wearing a Yankee's cap. But the Post's matter-of-fact telling that this is Qaddafi's killer is almost certainly wrong.

The photo of the Libyan holding Qaddafi's gold gun was, according to the original caption, taken by the road-side concrete tunnels where the former despot was first discovered after his convoy was hit by a U.S. drone strike. But that's not where Qaddafi was killed. Video from a mobile phone clearly shows that about two dozen rebels strapped Qaddafi into a pick-up truck and drove him away. Where they drove him to isn't clear, but based on the video it appears that the rebels killed him soon after unloading him from the truck.