Schoolboy targeted by sniper

Washington Times ^ | October 8, 2002 | Jim Keary

[Bubba_Leroy]

A 13-year-old boy being dropped off at school yesterday became the latest victim of a sniper attack, the eighth person shot since Wednesday.

The boy, whom police did not identify, was shot in the chest at 8:09 a.m. outside the Benjamin Tasker Middle School in the 4900 block of Collington Road in Bowie. He was in critical but stable condition after surgery last night at Children

[Bubba_Leroy]

When they catch this son of a b!tch I hope he gets shot resisting arrest.

[William McKinley]

Without FR, These Guys Would Be Very Happy
	Donate Here By Secure Server Or mail checks to FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794 or you can use PayPal at Jimrob@psnw.com
STOP BY AND BUMP THE FUNDRAISER THREAD

[Mitchell]

Here's a curious fact:

One of the 9/11 hijackers, Hani Hanjour, had tried to rent a plane in Bowie, MD. (He was turned down because his flight skills were so poor; he was allowed three qualifying test flights during the second week of August.) See this Newsday article.

Just a coincidence? Or is there a continuing al-Qaeda presence in that area?

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the heads up!

[Mitchell]

Gertz's book apparently also mentioned an al-Qaeda cell somewhere in the area, but I don't know the details. See this other FR thread.

[Alamo-Girl]

Aha! Thank you for the link!

[CFW]

The Gun-grabbers are spouting their B.S.

Snipers - Predictable Consequence of Gun Industry Marketing P.R.Newswire, 10/8/2002 13:07

WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Tom Diaz, Senior Policy Analyst at the Violence Policy Center and author of several studies examining sniper culture and their weapons, including One Shot, One Kill: Civilian Sales of Military Sniper Rifles (available at http://www.vpc.org):

The recent outbreak of long-range sniper attacks in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia exposes two long-term trends in gun industry marketing:

* Mass marketing of military and military-style weapons, including assault rifles and sniper rifles and equipment, to the civilian market. The .223 Remington rifle round that has been positively identified as the round used in five of the shootings, for example, was originally developed as an experimental military cartridge for the Armalite AR-15 assault rifle, which was later adopted by the U.S. Army as the M-16. The round is widely used in such popular civilian semi-automatic assault rifles as the Colt AR-15, Armalite M15A2, and various models of Bushmaster carbines and rifles, among others.

The most recent industry trend has been the marketing of 50 caliber sniper rifles, which fire the largest bullet legal for general civilian sale (more than twice the width of the .223 Remington) accurately over distances as great as 2,000 yards. The 50 caliber round is capable of penetrating light armor.

* Cultivation of a sniper subculture within the gun community. A collateral aspect of the marketing of military weapons has been the encouragement of a sniper subculture in the United States. This includes the marketing of books, paraphernalia, training, and assorted gear. Thus, although the rifle used in these shootings has not yet been identified, the attacks are consistent with a clearly growing subculture.

Although the perpetrator of these attacks and the weapon used is not yet known, we do know that the round being used is an example of the transfer of military weapons development to the civilian market, and the attacks themselves are consistent with a sniper subculture encouraged by the gun industry at large.

The Violence Policy Center is a national non-profit educational organization working to stop gun death and injury in America.

[Alamo-Girl]

Jeepers! Thanks for the information!

[CFW]

Thus, although the rifle used in these shootings has not yet been identified, the attacks are consistent with a clearly growing subculture.

Yes, the old "sniper subculture". We should have known......../sarcasm

[saurus]

Yes, the old "sniper subculture". We should have known......../sarcasm

I saw a show a while back about military snipers and the Army/Marine soldier used the phrase "The Sniper Community"

I thought I was going to wet my pants ;^)

[aristeides]

A Prince George´s County security official said that a white box truck was seen leaving the area.

Hmmm.

[aristeides]

And some of the hijackers stayed at a motel in Laurel, which is also in PG County, and not far from Bowie. And Laurel has a radical mosque.

[jjm2111]

Tom Diaz is a freak.

[Protagoras]

I don't think the title of the thread is quite accurate. While the boy was a target, it doesn't necessarily follow that he "personally" was the target. I believe he was a target of opportunity and was chosen not entirely at random, but because the place from which he was shot was selected because the shooter would be less likely to be detected in the act. Then a target is chosen when it presents itself. My theory.

[Nogbad]

Just a coincidence? Or is there a continuing al-Qaeda presence in that area?

Answer to both questions is Yes. Non-exclusive OR.

[Aquinasfan]

"The Sniper Community"

LOL!

[Mitchell]

Well, I didn't really expect an answer as to whether it's a coincidence or not (in other words, whether this is related to the continuing al-Qaeda presence there). How can anyone possibly know at this point?

[Charles Martel]

When they catch this son of a b!tch I hope he gets shot resisting arrest.

Remember the "football field" scene in Dirty Harry? That'd be just about right, only "Scorpio" doesn't get arrested, he gets ventilated.

[Alamo-Girl]

It is sad to see tragic news spun for political advantage.