Posted on 10/08/2002 12:56:54 AM PDT by kattracks
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With few clues and little progress in the hunt for the sniper who has killed six people and wounded two others in the Washington region, local authorities called in more federal agents and urged parents to look out for their children when schools open on Tuesday.
The random shootings have rattled people living in and around the U.S. capital, where many residents are still unnerved by last year's September 11 strike on the Pentagon and letters sent afterward containing anthrax spores.
The latest victim, a 13-year-old student, was shot once in the upper body and critically wounded on Monday outside his school in Bowie, Maryland. Police said ballistics and other evidence linked the assault to the seven other attacks across the region last week.
The teenager from Prince George's County remained in critical condition after surgery at the Children's National Medical Center in Washington.
Five people, aged 25 to 55, were killed in Maryland's Montgomery County on Wednesday and early Thursday. A 72-year-old man was shot to death in Washington on Thursday and on Friday, a 43-year-old woman was shot and wounded in Fredericksburg, Virginia, 130 km south of the Maryland and Washington shootings.
Flanked by high-level local, state and federal law enforcement officials, Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose announced late Monday that he had written to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft seeking additional assistance under a federal law pertaining to serial killings.
"Because of the magnitude of the investigation and the likelihood that we're going to need additional resources, I am writing to the attorney general to initiate a formal request for assistance," Moose said.
Federal law enforcement agencies had been assisting in the case since last Thursday, the day after the first murder. An official at the FBI office in Baltimore, Special Agent Kevin Lewis, said Moose's request would give the premier federal law enforcement agency a bigger role in the manhunt.
Though police have had little to go in the search for a sniper described by police as a skilled marksman who needed only one shot to murder his victims, authorities insist they are not dismayed by the lack of progress.
"We are not frustrated. We are not disappointed. We are not discouraged," Montgomery County Executive Douglas Duncan told reporters. "We are angry and outraged that someone would do this to our loved ones and our neighbours.
He added: "We're asking parents to walk their kids to schools. We're asking parents to serve as safety patrols." he said. "We need everyone to do their part to bring this killer to justice."
Schools were early targets of terrorists in Israel. There was a solution.
Anyone who's THIS good a shot knows how LE approaches the matter of tracking him down. If he's had any special-ops, then he knows even more how to throw LE off track. I really wouldn't be surprised to see the shootings stop at some number and never resume - and the guy never caught. It would not surprise me in the least.
If that does, in fact, happen - then the perp(s) will be shown to have not acted out of hate, race, or passion - but rather a professional, methodical manner of achieving a goal that is not within our sight.
Michael
This signals a big shift in goals. They used to just want to draw political debate to their cause. Usually, this was to influence our foreign policy, release prisoners, ect. Now, it's different, they are waging a war to destroy us or our influence outside our boarders. It is a fight for dominance, or even existence.
I'm probably preaching to the choir, but the point needs to be made.
Oh trust me, I can think of a lot worse. I just think stocks and the gallows are fairly reasonable. I don't think the US should sink to the lowest common denominator, like flaying, crucifixion, caning, being thrown in a pit and shot slowly to death with a BB gun, etc, etc. I could think of dozens of ways not very civilized. Doesn't mean we should do it.
Stay well - stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown
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