Posted on 10/18/2002 4:57:12 PM PDT by Hail Caesar
Falls Church Man Faces 6-Month Jail Term
Fairfax County Police have arrested and charged Matthew Dowdy, 37, of Falls Church, Va., for allegedly making false statements to police.
Dowdy was arrested Friday afternoon, one day after police said his account of Monday night's sniper shooting outside the Home Depot store had been discredited.
He is charged with "knowingly and willfully make(ing) a materially false statement or representation to a law enforcement officer who is in the course of conducting an investigation of a crime by another". He faces up to six months in jail.
Dowdy's story began to unravel when police compared it to accounts from others who saw the fatal shooting Monday night of an FBI analyst in a Home Depot store parking garage. Eleven people have been shot in the sniper attacks since Oct. 2, and nine have died.
"He couldn't see what he said he saw," said Robert F. Horan Jr., the prosecutor in Fairfax County, Va.
"It would have been better if it didn't happen, but it didn't cripple the investigation," said Fairfax police Lt. Amy Lubas. She said there were other witnesses to Monday's shooting outside the store in Falls Church, Va.
Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose urged people Friday not to let the discredited witness case inhibit them from coming forward with information they think could be useful in the investigation.
"This is not an effort by police to credit or discredit them," Moose said. Investigators are revisiting some of the shooting scenes to see if they yield more clues, Moose said. He said they also are looking at a Sept. 14 shooting at a beer and wine store in Montgomery County's Hillandale section to see if there is any connection.
Police said they don't have a composite sketch of the sniper who has terrorized the Washington, D.C. area. Authorities haven't ruled out the possibility there could be multiple suspects.
U.S. investigators are questioning terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba over whether they had any information about the sniper attacks, a law enforcement official confirmed Friday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The official characterized the interviews as an effort to cover all possible investigative avenues, adding that officials do not necessarily believe al-Qaida might be responsible for or even knowledgeable about the shootings.
The only known communication believed to be from the sniper is a tarot death card found at one scene with the words: "Dear Policeman, I am God."
Acting on tips and leads, police have served search warrants, checked motor vehicle records, searched military documents and used other tactics to sift through a constantly changing list of suspects.
Many people own guns that can fire the .223 caliber bullets used in the attacks or drive white vans similar to vehicles seen leaving the shootings.
Police had several people under surveillance Monday night, according to a law enforcement source. They were cleared after the FBI agent was shot in a parking garage around 9 p.m.
That incident initially appeared to give police a big break in the case -- the first witness to see the sniper.
But Moose said Thursday the witness was not credible. He also chastised reporters for running reports about the weapon and descriptions of the suspect as olive-skinned, possibly Hispanic or Middle Eastern.
"We get this noise out there that gives people tunnel vision and makes them focus in on things that are not appropriate," he said.
Moose said the Dowdy's emphatic description of the shooter's AK-74 assault rifle is also bogus. But investigators cautioned that they still believe the sniper is using one of a family of more than 30 similar assault-type weapons capable of firing a .223-caliber bullet.
"The message we're trying to say is please keep an open mind," Moose said. "People saw a description of a weapon over the last day and a half and we're convinced they eliminated people they know because they say, `Their gun is not the weapon I saw in the paper.'"
Police have defended their tight control on information in the case, saying they don't want potential witnesses to be influenced. They have, however, released composite drawings of white box trucks and vans that were reported leaving shooting incidents.
After two massive police dragnets failed to catch the killer, police increased their presence on highways. Virginia State Police spokeswoman Lucy Caldwell said troopers have doubled their patrols outside Washington by pulling in officers from other counties.
Schools in the region continued operating under lockdown restrictions, with outdoor sports and activities postponed. Montgomery County school officials planned a meeting next week to search for ways to salvage shortened fall sports seasons.
Copyright 2002 by nbc4.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved.
Gus - Virgil has a very valid point - this is a discussion forum and I have seen the full spectrum of theories presented here. I opine you saw a few you did not like and assumed that all of FR was of the same mind. Additionally, as we were caught so unaware on 9-11, I would not discount the possibility that the sniper attacks are indeed terrorist acts initiated by Al-Qaeda or members of thier network. The bottom line is that we do not know - because one buffoon was discredited because he said it was ME terrorists has no bearing on the fact that it just might be. Personally, I have wavered between the looney home-grown nutcase theory and the terrorist. No one here has the answer as of yet - and if they did they most certainly should not be posting it here...
More PC BS for the gun-grabbers. There is NO indication the killer is using an "Assault-type weapon." MANY bolt action and hunting style repeaters are made in .223. The killer has not fired more than one shot in each murder, which indicates a bolt action hunting rifle if ANYTHING. But a bolt action hunting rifle wouldn't do the gun-grabber movement as much good as an "Assault-type weapon."
My first thought when they id'd the .223 from ballistics was "bolt varmint gun".
The only other evidence they have - aside from projectile fragments- is the spent case, which may have extractor/ejector marks that skew it towards a semiauto, or they may simply be rationalizing that nobody would eject a spent case from a bolt gun if they only intended to fire one shot. Either way, the evidence for semi auto appears weak at best.
If the case is bogus, we're back to anything goes.
You are exactly right. I also understand that a shell has been found at only one site (next to the planted tarot card). So unless the shooter has a brass-catching net, or is firing from inside the truck, or is running after flying brass, he's not shooting a semi-automatic.
(If he is using an assault rifle, he's not taking advantage of its mechanism, since he's shooting only once. But of course, a lone sniper would find such a weapon more reassuring in case he faces armed counter-attack.)
It wasn't Freepers who said the guy looked "Hispanic or Middle Eastern" / dark-skinned caucasion, it was eye-witnesses. And speculating about al-Qaeda and allied jihadists isn't racist, it's based on: 1) We're at war with them; 2) They murder innocents; 3) They've launched a lot of attacks over the last 2 weeks or so.
And given the possibility (50/50?) of jihadist connection, it ain't racist to believe what we've heard about the shooter's (/shooters') appearance.
If the IRA blew up the WTC, and the witnesses said the sniper had red hair, would it be racist to believe them?
Perhaps, my FRiend, but it's also amazing how often FReepers jump to the proper conclusion...MUD
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