Another DC-area sniper-style shooting

Wife (FReeper nina0113) | October 4, 2002 | Steve0113

[Steve0113]

Another broad-daylight shooting just occurred, this time in Fredericksburg, VA, just off I-95. It's not even on the news yet.

About an hour's drive south of where the Montgomery County shootings happened, a woman was shot in the parking lot of a Michaels fabric store. My wife was in the store at the time. The victim had left the store and carried her purchases to her minivan. She unlocked the minivan and was loading her stuff into it when she was shot. No sign of the shooter.

No one else was injured.

The woman was taken away in an ambulance, condition unknown. Her license plate (which I'm not going to post) indicated that she had several children.

[null and void]

Also hope that none of the goofballs shows up here to claim that the pattern depicts the nosehairs of Moses and thus proof that the rapture is starting to punish Bush for some perceived snub of Israel.

My bet is on a crescent and star...

[wardaddy]

Easily hidden in one of the thousands of Storage Rental Buildings across the country....back it right in and leave it.

Mini-warehouses are my business. Very few roll up door units have the height to accomodate a tall panel truck. Parking it on the lot out back is another matter. A truck this size would be more likely to need what we call an incubator/office/garage/warehouse set up. There are plenty of those. A large garage style tall door with a small office up front. Here in Nashville, those run about 800/month for 800-1200 square feet. Just my dos centavos.

[GirlShortstop]

Because in all five in Maryland yesterday, and in the one in DC last night (which has yet to be connected to the MD five) the victim was killed by a single shot from a .223 caliber rifle. And none were head-shots.

That statement is misaligned with Wash. Post article... the woman shot at Leisure Place(?) was shot in the head as she sat on a metal bench.

[Dog]

Don't read to much into the stores....

Targets of opportunity.....is all.

These people see a shot they take it...

[stuartcr]

Why would he not wear hearing protection?

[gridlock]

So much stupidity distilled into so few lines.

Not you, Shermy, but the article you quoted.

Topped off with calling a box truck an Isuzu SUV.

It boggles the mind.

[Route66]

Even if we concede that these guys don't have to be professional marksmen, you've got to admit they seem to be awfully good at remaining invisible.

It looks like we now have 8 shootings with 7 victims over 2 days and we still have no solid leads or witnesses. There has been a great deal of speculation on this board about how these guys are accomplishing this (much of it excellent, I might add), but we still don't really know. They are very good or very lucky.

[OKSooner]

Hell, he's probably shooting prone off a rest from the back of that cargo truck. I can tell you that shooting something the size of a person at 100m is not difficult, at least when you're shooting at paper. The mechanics of the shot wouldn't be problematic.

Stable shooting position, and low profile. Probably has some kind of tarp or something lowered down to all but the lowest foot or two of the door to keep him concealed even when he's opened the door to shoot.

BTW, how difficult is it for the forensics lab to determine if an empty cartridge was fired from a self-loading gun or a bolt gun? Gas marks, extractor marks, chamber dimensions, etc? For example, I recall that certain HK rifles have fluted chambers and leave longitudinal lines on the cartridge. Do other types of rifles leave telltale signs of that kind?

[mhking]

Surfing leaves footprints.

Be a little hard to trace back when all you're looking at is a location finder database. In general, those don't capture information. The second point I'd make is that perhaps both locations being Michaels' is purely coincidence. I would say look at shopping centers in general - where else would you find the "free exchange of capitolism" in which every American participates? Especially if you wanted to "strike at the heartland" with random and quick efficiency?

[wardaddy]

The citizens in the Austin tower case were armed with more than .22s.

[stuartcr]

If you don't know where the shot comes from, who would you shoot back at?

[RISU]

400 yards is an impractical shot, evn if it is "possible". If they have no casing, but only spent bullets, the shot may be getting launched from a bench rest inside a van as the stance. There have been no reports of "gun shots" assocaieted with the se hits, so something is muffling the report of the weapon. Apparently it is so far from the target no casual observer in the immediate hit area can put two and two together. It would also make sense that it is from a vehicle, since the shooter seems pretty "mobile", and has not attracted attention from the vicinity of his hits. Since he is close enough for accuracy, but far enough to be out of the immediate locale, and certainly not inside the parking lots involved, it is probably a 100 to 200 yard shot from a parked vehicle.

That kind of accuracy suggests a high level of training/skill. Pretty scary.

[Salgak]

The perps HAVE to be listening to the news. If they HAD used a white van, it's either been dumped somewhere, or painted another color by now. . .

[GirlShortstop]

Two former FBI profilers say

Which begs the question... FBI involved because????

[browardchad]

Looks like Michael's is owned by the Wyly family, owners of GreenMountain.com, which is currently being boycotted by the environmental whackos. The Wylys are also Bush supporters.

Link to boycott site here.

Maybe it means nothing, but it's interesting.

[Semaphore Heathcliffe]

thanks

[ConservativeLawyer]

If they start making normal people targets, people will begin carrying, laws or no laws.

I agree with you on that point. Indeed, with more people carrying, we will become a safer society.

Only problem is carrying or not, its hard to defend yourself against a sniper you never see.

[stuartcr]

There are many unsolved crimes.

[BCR #226]

All firearms leave tell tale signs. Look at primer indents and you can learn to tell the difference with some practice. A Remington leaves a different primer indentation than an AR or a Savage or Winchester.

Mike

[BlessingInDisguise]

dunno