Beltway Sniper Shootings-FR Commentary-Tuesday, Oct. 15

Fox News, CNN, Press Conferences | October 15, 2002 | Fox News, CNN, Press Conferences

[Peach]

To avoid multiple vanity threads regarding any news from press conferences, let's keep a live commentary thread going again today.

Note: This is the graphics-free thread. Graphics can be found under the thread titled "Beltway Sniper Shootings-Graphics Only"

[lgjhn]

"...Here is a scenario: The shooters are several, part of a cell. There could be three, four, five or ten."

Actually, I think it is islamic women that have been specifically trained (and brainwashed) for this assignment thus the light caliber rifle, the cunning, the cold-bloodedness of it.
Another thing, everyone is assuming that they are leaving the scene as soon as the shot is fired. I don't think they are. I think they're hunkering down, well-hidden and then once the heat is off (24-48 hours or so), they are then picked up by their comrades. Everything else is a ploy to throw off LE.
IMHO, this is war and it needs to be treated as such. It takes a sniper to catch a sniper...unfortunately, we appear to refuse to acknowledge that and remain "unarmed".

[Pete]

Hi Pete! Aren't you the one that predicts locations?

Yea. That was me. I speculated on a couple of areas and was actually right. I got sick of worthless speculations, though, that don't do anyone any good. I decided to do something to help instead so I started sniperwatch.com.

[TLBSHOW]

If he/she keeps up as he/she is a school girl is next. Plus it seems he/she is moving towards DC.

[Elenya]

We might be in for a wild ride... I'm so disappointed in the LEOs in charge. How could they miss that chance? Why were they so slow to react? I'm not very optimistic this morning as you can tell... :o(

[TLBSHOW]

Freepers are the best. Good Job Pete!

[GirlNextDoor]

My heart breaks for the families who've lost their loved ones and for those in the area forced to live through this sick monsters fantasies!

A question though?
Maybe it's already been addressed, but how can they have a long range sniper shot and STILL be interested in a white van pulling away from the direct area of the victim???

Am I missing something?

[eno_]

If the sniper (and that's still a pretty big IF) turns out to be a terrorist or group of terrorists, it is the best argument for a serious sweep of all Moslems in the U.S.: Out with all the illegals, out with all visa-holders and PRs with a whiff of radicalism about them, and out with all naturalized citizens with any fraud in their documents. We need to start drying up the swamp in which people like this shooter can hide.

Even the Germans, who are wimping out on the War on Terror, announced they would gather information on all Moslems in Germany and screen that information for signs of terrorist involvement.

[ASA Vet]

Their plan is to work relatively independently,

Independent except for passing the same .223 caliber firearm around?

[MagnumPi]

1. The civilian population must help.... if you hear a shot look around and pay careful attention to any vehicle pulling away and a civilian has to see this shooter now that everyone is alert and be brave enough to follow and call police on cell phone. 2. This killer can be stopped much sooner with a brave citizen on the spot than 1000 police coming 10 minutes later.

[Lady Heron]

Why can't it be American fanatics? Americans can be cold and calculating as we have seen from previous serial murders

It could be. It is just that they are not shooting any M.E. type people. They are shooting whites (Christians), hispanics (Christians), Indians (hindus), and blacks (Christians or in the opinions of muslims apostate muslims). This type of shooting was also said to be written about in AQ handbooks, it's purpose was to cause terror.

[Sender]

One of the TV news nymphets came up with an interesting theory last night. She said what if there was also another totally different vehicle a block or so away waiting, so that the shooter and rifle could just hop in the unknown car after the shoot, then even if the white van is pulled over, there is no one olive-skinned and nothing otherwise incriminating inside. Hmmm...

[spectre]

He is confusing us alright, Doc. Course, he watches TV, so he knows what's going on, unfortunately.

I am wondering WHY he chose to take a shot in a parking garage, where the sound of a gun being fired, would be amplified and noticed, almost at once...? And why risk being detected by video cameras that may have captured the whole thing on tape?

For those who think he wants "to be caught"...as in, "stop me before I kill again"...I don't think sooooo...

It wasn't a good risk for him to take, but he seemed comfortable with his choice...why?

So what's his next move? Will he go back to popping off someone riding a lawn-mower in the suburbs?

sw

[dhfnc]

Alot of us have assumed that this is an AQ-direct terror cell. What if it is an Iraqi terror cell?

Good point! It could be Iraqi funded terrorists (AQ or some other group with close ties to Iraq)

IMHO, I think that it probably is a sleeper cell of AQ, just beginning. That is the part that scares me!

Why haven't the police or FBI given the public the decription of the sniper? I keep reading that they have some idea of what he looks like, seems to me that would be helpful for the people that live in the area.

[Chemist_Geek]

But the consistent head shots from a distance, and the upper left chest (heart) shots, and the fact that he never feels the need to squeeze off another round, to me suggests a superbly trained, highly confident marksman, perhaps foreign-born and trained, perhaps AQ as part of a sleeper-cell in the D.C. area.

A Chechnyan or Balkan Muslim might blend in better than an Arab Muslim, and have a built-in anti-American motivation. Al-Qaeda's got to be thinking that ethnic profiling is being done by American police. I wouldn't put it past them to try to get around that by recruiting amongst more "American" appearing Muslims.

[sell_propaganda]

the sniper could be the 'witness' they interviewed last night on tv

[ET(end tyranny)]

Bookmarked sniperwatch. Got a prediction for where next? Part of catching the shooter will be, 'to be ready'. You seemed to be fairly accurate with your predictions.

[Hatteras]

I still can not see a clear link to the Michael's Craft stores. Yes, the shootings have been in the general area of some Michael's stores, but if you do some research you'll probably find there will be a Home Depot also located in the general vicinity. These shopping centers have numerous stores that rely on each others' clientele and therefore, when you see one, there's a good chance you'll find another right around the corner.

I think it's much more simple than people are trying to make it out to be. Shopping centers are "target rich" environments. Michael's and Home Depot are some major players in shopping center business. You won't find too many Michaels' or Home Depots in you're local Suburbia Valley closed-in mall.

[dasher]

***Here is a scenario: The shooters are several, part of a cell. There could be three, four, five or ten. Their plan is to work relatively independently, take shots whenever possible. They keep going until one of them is caught. The one caught will probably blow himself up or kill himself. ***

I doubt it's a cell, if they planned it out, they would be doing two or three shootings at the same time to spread law enforcement thin making it easier for all parties to get away. This is probably the work of a lone person or no more than three people.

[Quilla]

This morning I am considering the possibility that there are many different shooters, from different small terror cells, located around the DC area and within walking distance of the malls, shopping centers, and gas stations.

That's very possible. However, in this scenerio, it would be odd that the shooters are using the same gun. I wonder if LEO's have simply indentified all the bullets as .223 or have they indeed linked the killings to one gun.

[glm]

I wonder if the police checked the used car dealerships. That would be a good place to hide until the roadblocks dismantled.