Washington sniper vanishes after signature hits

If this sniper is a trained military guy then he is a drop out. The skill reflected in his efforts would cause most professional military snipers to laugh at him. Trained maybe - but far from a top flight professional.

On another note - there has been a lot of talk about the lack of shell casings - depending on the weapon involved casings are not a guaranteed leave - meaning he may have chosen or configured his weapon so that there is no automatic eject. Remember he is only using a single shot at a time so the auto-eject/reload function is not important. I find it easier to believe that it is a planned single shot exercise than I do the thought that he is taking the time to find and remove his casing each time. I think the one casing found so far was an intentional leave, not an accident or oversight.

Patterns emerge in sniper case; police clamp down on information "
NEWS TRIBUNE
DEBORAH HASTINGS

BALTIMORE (October 14, 4:19 a.m. PDT) - The Washington-area sniper again took the weekend off, adding a tiny trait to the personality profile of an assassin who has killed eight people in 12 days.

"He's a weekday warrior. Even snipers have jobs," said criminologist Jack Fox of Northeastern University in Boston. "They have to make time to kill, and obviously he doesn't have time on the weekends."

"Everything that helps a little helps a lot in terms of finding someone," Fox said Sunday. Other criminologists have suggested the shooter lives in the area and may have a job and work schedule that accounts for the timing and location of the attacks.

Investigators hunting the increasingly brazen killer have logged some consistencies: the killer favors suburban gas stations; fires a single round; has not let two days pass without opening fire again and, judging from a tarot card left at one of the shootings, appears to enjoy taunting police.

Authorities have refused to release investigative details, saying they don't want the killer to know what they know.

"We don't want to release anything that may cause ... anyone to think they're a suspect," said Mike Bouchard, an agent with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

Montgomery County police Chief Charles Moose, meanwhile, has cut back on his news briefings while saying he wishes there was more he could reveal.

"I wish we could give you a name, a mug shot and an address but we're not at that point," he said in one of four appearances he made Sunday on national TV talk shows.

Moose has become the public face of a massive task force investigating a random shooter who has fired a single shot into each of 10 victims, killing eight, since Oct. 2.

On Oct. 7, after a weekend without striking, the killer opened fire just after 8 a.m., seriously wounding a 13-year-old boy.

"Frustration comes from not knowing where he'll strike next," said Montgomery County police officer Derek J. Baliles.

The last killing occurred Friday morning, when a 53-year-old father of six was shot while fueling his sedan in a gas station just south of Fredericksburg, Va. At the time, a state trooper stood just 50 yards away, investigating a traffic accident.

Authorities described the serial sniper as not just a local threat, but an attempt to terrorize already anxious Americans.

"This reminds us that people in our past have tried to intimidate and put fear into Americans," Moose said. "This a strong nation ... and we will not be intimidated."

In Landover, Md., police on horseback and bicycles ringed parking areas before Sunday's Washington Redskins football game against the New Orleans Saints. Fans grilling burgers at tailgate parties said they appreciated being encircled by patrol cars and rifle-toting officers.

"I don't think anybody in their right mind would try something out here," said Bill Freitag of Virginia Beach, Va., a die-hard Redskins fan. "But he's not in his right mind to begin with."

The victims, in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., were shot as they carried out daily errands. Four were killed at service stations.

Moose and federal officers refused to comment on published reports that the FBI asked the Pentagon to search records for recently discharged soldiers who had undergone sniper training.

Investigators also would not discuss a yellow piece of paper found at Friday's killing site, which reportedly contained scribbled directions from northern Maryland to the Capital Beltway.

A white truck matching composite images compiled by the FBI was still being sought. And as Sunday wore on without another shooting, a reporter asked Moose if he dreaded Monday morning.

"We won't make any assumptions about any kind of pattern," Moose said. "I never approach Monday morning with a sense of dread."

There he is - get him!

Well said.

can you elaborate any further on what you remember about what the reporter said?

Did a search but couldn't find anything in print. Maybe someone else remembers. A reporter DID mention a death card with a "crusader", but it doesn't mean he knew what he was talking about. Reporters these days...

oh no. and probably delivered in an izuzu.

otoh, i can't remember the last time my windshield was clean.

it doesn't mean he knew what he was talking about. Reporters these days...

I know what you mean, thanks for checking though.

Thanks for your reply and posting what was emailed to you.

This paragraph says it all:

Unfortunately, political correctness has confused the public and hampered efforts to apprehend these killers. While police and investigators have been forthcoming with vehicle descriptions and ballistic information, they are failing to release racial profiles or composites. Certainly if the prime suspect(s) were white males, this information would have been broadcast on national news within hours of the first shootings. However, since the suspects are most likely non-whites, the fear of being branded racist by civil-rights groups, ethnic lobbies and the liberal media has cowered authorities into denying fearful residents of helpful information -- information which could lead to valuable tips.

I live in Politically Correct Northern Kali. When a bad crime happens and the local fishwraps, radio stations and tv phoney news stations either spike the news story or fail to say what the perps look like. You immediately know that the prep is non white with a reliability factor of about 99%.

The same PC coverup applies when there is a terrible drunk driving accident and the offender is not named in the local fish wraps. That means that the offender was an illegal alien from south of our southern borders.

This will continue until some later victim's family members sue the hell out of the cops, the city, the state and the mediots who hide the news of the perps. This is the ultimate in non racial profiling and reporting re crimes.

Off course, the perp might be one of the lilly white pro Islamakazi senators or congressits, who are in deep mental masturbation over the upcoming take out of Saddam. Would you trust this rat senator shown below with gun?:

who are in deep mental masturbation over the upcoming take out of Saddam and the brady bill expiration........

Stay Safe !

Is the Brady Bill about to expire?

yes.....5 years since it was set upon us. I believe it is up for vote again in 2003 or it dies automatically.

Stay Safe !

After the last shooting in Fredricksburg I recall hearing the perps described on local TV/radio as "white". I was stunned as this was not the description given in previous shootings.

It may have been too soon after the event and one person might have seen two white people whom they thought could have been perps and in sorting out all of the testimony of multiple witnesses later this concept may have been discarded by LEOs for some reason as faulty or unsupportable.

I live up the road about 45 minutes so I was paying close attention.

Well this is another reason to vote out as many Rat Pro Islamakazis in the senate as possible this November.

You posted re the Brady Bill, I believe it is up for vote again in 2003 or it dies automatically.

If this true all of the gun groups and anyone who owns a gun or wants to own a gun should vote the anti gun rats out of congress this November.

Curious reminder 9-11. Perhaps this sniper plans on tageting an 11th victim, "9 out of 11 died........" then move on to a new city.......or a new plan.

I think it is very odd that the police have not released the tarot card to the public -- how do we know that the word God on the card was not really Allah. They released the anthrax envelopes almost immediately in hopes someone could identify the handwriting. It continues to baffle me why the card would not be released unless there was something on it that the authorities think would lead to un-PC behavior.

Goes without saying Dave......Seditious Socialist DemonRats are the reason we are in this current mess. They wrote more cheques that their @sses could cash and the GOP is left holding the empty bag per se.......

I suspect were not at the end of this problem by far. Hard times on the horizon IMO.

Stay Safe !

how do we know that the word God on the card was not really Allah.

Yes, I've thought it extremely odd they haven't shown it, either. And I also wondered, in passing, if Allah wasn't also written on the card.

We shall soon, see, unfortunately.