Visible crew/equipment: When Becker is shot while eating a sandwich and watching TV, the leads to his gunshot squib can be seen coming out of the bottom of his trouser leg as he reels back from the impact of the blast.
Visible crew/equipment: In the shoot out scene at the train station between Captain O'Malley and the bad guys, through O'Malley's shirt you can see the patch strip they use to make the fake bullet holes when he gets shot. You see it well because he gets shot in slow motion.
Answer: He survived the first attempt of his family's murder. There's no telling what he saw or heard. As for the masks, the bad guys were taking no chances, security cameras, cell phones and the unexpected eyewitness.