[areafiftyone]

The Tarot card said "Dear Policeman, I am GOD". That leads me to believe that he is a home grown nutjob who has been watching an awful lot of serial killer movies. It reminds me of Son of Sam and Zodiac killers of New York they both left notes to policemen.

[stlnative]

bump

[Peach]

Yes, since hearing this morning about the Tarot card, I'm starting to change my mind as well. I do wonder why the police didn't release this at the same time as they released info about the bullet casing. There is a large Irish Traveler group living in Augusta, GA, 20 minutes from my home, and they are sometimes mistaken for being Hispanic. I mention this because rumor has it police are looking at Hispanic-looking men driving white box vans particularly closely.

[Dick Vomer]

Profiler last night said something similar about "God" complex. That this guy had the finger of God complex in which he controls the fate of random individuals and can show mercy or death simply by squeezing the trigger.

He may be trying to make a design with like a pentagram or star. Or he may now go in the opposite direction and flip over to the other side of county now that everyone is looking for him on the south side. The police are going to need a lucky break to catch this puke. I'd suggest anti-sniper hunter killer types with binocs and rifles also in vans cruising the streets in malls or areas with long lines of sight. Parking lots.. open areas around parks and schools... long roads off of main thoroughfares with broad four lane traffic...I'm sure the cops are trying ... God help them..I really hope "Sniper Shi'itehead" starts to think he's invincible and screws the pooch.

He needs to resist arrest and die like a dog in the street. Or better yet have his head smashed in with a toilet seat by a trustee in security lockup after he gives his interviews to the cops.

[mewzilla]

Hope someone asks, just to clarify, whether the card said God or Allah.

[DonQ]

My amateur theory: This indicates that the sniper (or one of them) is English-speaking. An examination of his handwriting might indicate more about his education, background, age, etc. He evidently doesn't have any spirituality; he's not only unafraid to describe himself as God but also unafraid to deface a tarot deck.

The tarot card might itself be a clue. If it's new, he may have bought the deck for the purpose of using a card to leave a message. There are at least a dozen different tarot decks on the market; the Waite design is sold everywhere, but some of the other decks are sold only in a few places.

I don't think there is a racial or other slant to his targets; he seems to shoot "targets of opportunity" as they appear out of doors (so far, he hasn't shot anyone inside a car or house). But, one odd thing, one victim in Maryland and the one in Virginia were each shot at shopping centers with a "Michael's" art supply store. Maybe that is pure coincidence.

[shadowman99]

Actually, I was thinking he watched "Navy Seals". In that movie Charlie Sheen plays a Navy Seal Sniper who goes by the callname "God". Whenever there's a big fight in the movie all of the seals ask for God (via radio) to help them, and Charlie Sheen's character (on a rooftop nearby) will say something about "This is God. blah blah..." and start taking out the badies.

Something a profiler might chew on.

[lsee]

I'd also be interested to know whether the killer owns any role-playing shooting video games, like Hitman (which has sniper scenarios) or one of the other super-realistic hunting games. Just curious, since these types of games have been implicated in other weak-minded individual's crimes.

[dljordan]

Since the anti-gun furor over Columbine has died down another round of murders will get the rhetoric rolling again. If you didn't want the public to think this was committed by a terrorist it would have to look like a nut-case, militia, red-neck, angry white male type. Then again I could be wrong. Just a thought.

[dljordan]

Since the anti-gun furor over Columbine has died down another round of murders will get the rhetoric rolling again. If you didn't want the public to think this was committed by a terrorist it would have to look like a nut-case, militia, red-neck, angry white male type. Then again I could be wrong. Just a thought.

[luckystarmom]

After the tarot card, I dismissed the mideast terroist idea. Unfortunately, I think he is a homegrown nut job.

Suzi

[cinFLA]

The Tarot card said "Dear Policeman, I am GOD". That leads me to believe that he is a home grown nutjob who has been watching an awful lot of serial killer movies.

The phrase "Dear Policeman" is strange, rather juvenile. Or someone whose native language is not English. Why would he use the "singular" and why "policeman" instead of cops or police. I exclude noone but this sounds like someone trying to throw out a false clue. With all the apparent planning, it is curious that they would leave the empty cases.