Posted on 10/21/2002 11:21:39 AM PDT by chudogg
Sources: Sniper Still At Large
RICHMOND, Va., Oct. 21, 2002
(CBS) Law enforcement officials believe the sniper who has terrorized the Washington D.C. area is still at large, CBS News Correspondent Jim Stewart reports.
Stewart said the officials "feel confident" that neither of two men being question in connection with the shootings is the sniper. The men in custody in connection with the seizure of a Plymouth van at a gas station in Richmond, Va., Monday are believed to have made a call to a phone number connected to the sniper case, but they are not thought to be the perpetrators.
Stewart reports that some law enforcement officials speculated that the men may have been involved in some type of extortion scheme related to the sniper murders or some other kind of hoax.
Authorities also confirmed that Saturday night's shooting at a steakhouse outside Richmond was the work of the sniper.
On Monday Richmond police seized a white van parked at a pay phone.
Hanover County Sheriff Stuart Cook said the two were being held for questioning in the attacks that have left nine people dead and three critically wounded since Oct. 2. He refused to describe them as suspects.
The developments came one day after police issued a public plea for the sniper to contact them at a phone number that was part of a message found near the latest shooting scene.
At least one of the people in custody was dragged out of a van parked near an Exxon gas station in the Richmond suburbs. Witnesses said the van was a Plymouth Voyager with a temporary Virginia license.
Keith Underwood, service manager at an Oldsmobile dealership next door, said officers converged on the van and pulled the driver out Monday morning. He said officers were screaming at the person behind the wheel and yanked several times on the door before getting it open.
"They basically surrounded him with their shotguns," said another witness, Pathenia Fields, a title clerk at the car dealer. She said she saw just one man in the van.
Police said they found a note in the woods near the Ponderosa restaurant in Ashland, a few miles (kilometers) north of Richmond, after the latest victim was shot and critically wounded.
Late Sunday, police urged whoever left the note to call them. Early Monday, Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose, who is in charge of the investigation, said authorities were "preparing our response." He refused to elaborate or answer questions.
"To the person who left us a message at the Ponderosa last night, you gave us a telephone number. We do want to talk to you. Call us at the number you provided. Thank you," Moose said.
A law enforcement source close to the investigation told The Associated Press that investigators believe the person who left the message is probably the sniper.
Surgeons removed the bullet from the 37-year-old man shot in Ashland and turned it over to investigators. As in the previous shootings, the victim was felled by one shot.
The victim, whose name was not released, remained in critical condition Monday after six hours of surgery. Doctors were cautiously optimistic but said he would need more surgery.
Is that what this is all about?
But the NAACP crowd will scream racism at the mere mention of my suggestion.
Now how is this for a theory.....Cops think they are in contact with the snipers .........but it only turns out to be these 2 in custody.....running a scam.
Sniper is still out there watching this circus unfold .......and getting a kick out of it..
He will answer them today.........not with a call .....but with another shooting.
The police are not telling us that they actually did recover the bullet from the last victim. It did not match the other bullets. They knew something was not right...because at the same time there was a note left asking for money. It was obvious it was not the sniper. Moose played his cards exactly right last night...set these guys up to be busted.
The real killer(s) remains at large..laughing all the while.
Meanwhile everyone on the internet last night was making fun of Moose and calling him stupid. Looks to me like Moose knew exactly what he was doing last night...
I've had a sick feeling all day that the police running down a dead end street, again.
Wrong number? Does this mean the LEOs are arresting anyone who calls the designated number? Quick phone trace followed by quick arrest? I'm dazed and confused.
Did our media creat this monster?
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