Maryland Sniper Shootings-FR Commentary

Fox, CNN, Press Conferences | October 9, 2002 | Fox, CNN, Press Conferences

[Peach]

Another press conference due soon. To avoid multiple vanity threads regarding any news that comes from press conferences, thought we'd keep a live commentary thread going again today.

[theophilusscribe]

I did a search on "Muslim Tarot" on Google and found: http://skepdic.com/tarot.html

"The oldest playing cards date back to tenth century China, but the four suits of tarot and modern playing cards probably originated with a fourteenth century Muslim deck."

Muslim and Tarot are not necessarily mutually exclusive terms.

[ArrogantBustard]

They look like a random sampling of MontCo. Or just about anywhere else in the DC suburbs, except certain parts of PGCo (which are virtually all of central African ancestry).

[relee]

...other being a deaf person (shooter)...

Another Gallaudet University student murderer?

[Terriergal]

re: hoping the sniper will come forward and tip the police off

I don't know. That seems awfully conspicuous to me. I can't imagine a person with this methodology falling for something that simple. Snipers are supposed to be thinking one step ahead of the other 'snipers' all the time. Each one trying to lure the other out or intercept the other, and present a shot. The cops could get lucky, I mean, it's *possible* but I just highly doubt it.

The thing that strikes me oddly about this whole thing is the seeming randomness of his victims. A real sniper takes out valuable targets, not wanting to give away his carefully planned out position on the lowest ranking members of the enemy, but rather on higher ranking officers or perhaps machine gunners, etc. - they are valuable in depleting the enemy's morale. That's what I'm trying to figure out... what twisted 'value' or goal is this guy going for, in taking people out? How can he tell, by picking off civilians from a distance, that they aren't in the group he is 'fighting for?'

Yes, I'm trying to profile him myself. I'm convinced the people aren't 'random' targets though they may appear so on the surface... it would seem to me that he must have a method to his madness.

I also tend to think he might want eventually to be found so he can make his political statement. Otherwise he wouldn't be so stupid as to pick off so many people in such a short time.

[John H K]

No I think the Tarot card is evidence he is an avid reader...he will be a avid computer user...he is very crafty
Could you imagine the circus if it was a "Magic" card instead of a Tarot card? Ecccch.

[twigs]

has a grudge against the cops

And one of his victims is the son of a retired Montgomery County police officer. Coincidence?

[Terriergal]

Playstation game

Which game would that be?

[Prodigal Son]

Thanks for the info on Michael's. I don't know, I think it's not useful to try to make connections out of everything. I know a lot of people enjoy doing it and there's nothing wrong with it, but I would be more interested in seeing what sort of places the victims were shot from. I mean, if you're planning on setting up and waiting for a random target you'll need to be concealed in some fashion- whether hidden in a group of trees or inside a vehicle. If he was using wooded cover to shoot from, I would imagine he picked his sites because they offered him the best possibility of making a shot and getting away- not because he knew the people he was shooting shopped at any particular store. Ditto the cemetary- there must have been a conveniant place to shoot from and that's why he used it.

It had crossed my mind that perhaps he had actually thought he was going to have to shoot it out with police that first day and that's why he took as many targets as he could- he figured he would go down in a blaze of glory. Maybe he was amazed he got away afterwards and spent the weekend soaking it all in. He's sitting there watching the news, eating potato chips, replaying the kills in his mind and enjoying how he's suddenly a superstar. Then he decides to get back to it- this time one target at the time- to see how long he can keep the area living in fear.

[EnquiringMind]

Just curious....how come you are really, really, really, really, really desperate for this to NOT be a muslim terrorist?

[ArrogantBustard]

What's all this I keep hearing about Michael's? I take it's a store in America?

It's a chain of sewing, arts & crafts supplies stores with numerous locations in the "mid-atlantic" States. They're quite common in Maryland and Virginia, but not as common as Wal*Mart. Their clientele is mostly middle aged women and schoolchildren. And the odd occasional Bustard.

[dmz]

it was his brother, not his mother.

[Merovingian]

This one:

http://www.us.playstation.com/games/SCUS-97134.asp

[Terriergal]

A .223 isn't that loud I don't think (having never shot one) - I mean, not like a .308 or a shotgun or anything. It's only slightly bigger than a .22. A good set of earplugs and/or shooting earmuffs inside of a truck would probably be quite effective in protecting hearing. And shooting out of a small window I imagine would do quite a bit toward sound suppression, not to mention flash (which isn't going to be too visible in daylight anyway), as long as the muzzle is inside of the vehicle.

However in the latest 'tarot card' story they seem to have said they found a flattened area of grass where the perp probably lay in wait for his victim.

[P7M13]

John, I agree with you. However, my first thought was/is of a psychotic muslim. And him imagining that he is the hand of God dealing death to the infidels. As to an organized terrorist attack, I doubt that is the case. We have no problem believing that "christians" can become psychotic and execute people for their "god".

And yes, I am "desperate" for this guy to be other than a white good ole boy redneck with a rebel flag on the back window of his pickup truck. LOL

t

[NCLou]

Excellent thought. The mapping thing intrigues me. Here's why:

Yesterday, looking at the locations, #7 was far away, and then 8 was closer in, but still further out from the first ones. I thought that he had decided to expand his base of operations, both to widen the terror and to get out from under the most intense scrutiny. I speculated that when he did #7, something spooked him, something happened as a result of him being so far from his most familiar area. Maybe he got lost, maybe traffic was worse than expected, something.

So for the next one, he moved back into more familiar territory.

Now, if I lived in the area, if would run Yahoo driving directions from a site near the first shootings, assuming that this is close to his base of operations, to the site of #7. Then I would drive it, and see if the directions matched up, or whether the average person might have gotten lost trying to use them (you know how sometimes they are not exactly accurate- street name's been changed or something).

It seems incomprehensible to me that he would not drive it first to make sure he knew it, but as you know these guys can feel very superior, maybe he thought he was getting so good he would be ok. And then he ended up the wrong way on a one way street or something. Enough to scare him back closer to home.

Another thought: have they definitively linked that September shooting to this yet? If not, that may explain why so many shootings in such a short period of time. That was what was most baffling to me, normally I wouldn't expect such an organized killer to risk so many attacks in such a short period of time, without taking time to enjoy his work.

But if the earlier attack was his first, maybe he was disappointed in his coverage. Maybe he even left a note that was never found. That would mean that in his quest to make a big publicity splash, he knew he would have to do something "special", and this is why so many shooting in such a short period.

I think we will see a lull eventually, and then see it start up. These guys truly enjoy what they do, and I think he is going to want to take some time to enjoy it, watch the coverage, discuss it with people on the street, call in some tips, maybe even send some letters.

Then, just when things seem to be calming down and he's off the top page, he will start again. I bet it will be less frequent, I think he has made his initial splash, and now he will just want to do enough to keep himself top of mind. A killing every other week would more than do that.

[relee]

Chief Moose is still answering reporters questions.

Q. Releasing the tarot card information can help locate the killer. Why didn't you release the information?

A. As the Senators (Barbara Mikulski and Paul Sarbanes) just said, all of the resources of the Federal Government are working on this case, advising me, and they (federal advisors) think I released the correct information.

[kinghorse]

I didn't realize until today that FR has a lot of frustrated FBI types logging on. I love these theories. Reverse pentagram? LOL.

Clarisse, are you there Clarisse?

[oyez]

will authorize an investigation to see who leaked info.

How about launching an investigation to who's doing the shooting. At least call the Boulder CO Police in on this.

[Catspaw]

Michaels is a national chain. I think they have stores in Canada as well. Check www.Michaels.com.

[harpseal]

I would like to once more point out that there is NO CONFIRMATION OF THE TAROT CARD STORY BY ANY POLICE OFFICIAL This may have changed since I last made this point if so please tell me when and where this has changed. Until the story is confirmed you may well be speculating on a false premise.