US sniper may be linked to Bin Laden (DC SNIPER ALERT)

The Evening Standard ^ | October 14, 2002 | James Langton

[MadIvan]

Intelligence experts in Washington are increasingly concerned that the gunman known as the "psycho-sniper" could be a terrorist with links to Islamic terror groups.

From the evidence gathered so far, which includes a handwritten note by the gunman, investigators think English may not be his first language.

The shootings, which have left eight dead in fewer than 12 days, coincided with a warning that Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network is planning new attacks. The FBI warned last Wednesday that supporters of Bin Laden were "targeting key sectors of the US economy" and has long suspected that a number of "sleeper" cells are still active.

The latest victim, on Friday morning, was father-of-six Kenneth Bridges, gunned down at a petrol station in Fredericksburg.

Investigators are troubled by the gunman's behaviour, in particular his habit of selecting targets at random. Recent reports suggest he may have a female accomplice and drives a large white van.

[CharacterCounts]

I'm convinced this has more to do with traffic than religion.

Yes, but the shooter said "I am God." And, God rested on the sabbath.

[dmz]

but the more you try to say that the kids at the daycare center were "random", the less it appears so. ChickenSh&t McVeigh parked the truck at a very specific site, in front of a first floor (IIRC) day care center. Nothing random there. The rat basta*d targeted them as clearly as the sniper targeted the 13 year old.

[texasbluebell]

I've been saying all along, on other threads, that I suspect Palestinians who are experienced with Israeli police.

There's a Hamas group right in DC and another in Springfield VA, among a total of 7 terror groups right around DC that are shown on this map. (Not to mention 2 AQ, 2 Hezbollah, and an Islamic Jihad.)

Plenty of likely suspects to choose from...

[My2Cents]

I thought the experts, using a profiler, were absolutely convinced the sniper was a white male...

[texasbluebell]

This guys never strikes on the weekends...

We can't be sure of that--the shooting on Sept 14 which is suspected by many to be perhaps the first of these, was on a Saturday evening. The bullet just couldn't be identified. The victim himself is convinced he was the first one in this series.

It does seem strange that the killer was inactive if so, from that date till Oct 2.

[aboutojump]

If you are the sniper and you scout an area before you carry out the shooting why would you need directions. Directions are something you give or take if you are going somewhere you've NOT been before? Several shooters taking direction from a central figure. Do the police say it's the SAME gun or the same TYPE of gun?

[tomkat]

i can't speak for the others you pinged,
but i stated my belief in this being a terr op about 15min after the second shooting.
(would have to search for the thread that sprang up, but it's there somewhere ...)

nothing has come up so far to dissuade me from that belief.

[cake_crumb]

"I still say it is either a sniper/cab driver or a sniper/government courier."

...Or a sniper/delivery man. Yes, it would fit...the guy sure seems to know the roads. Or maybe he just spends all of his free time driving around and familiarizing himself with the routes...

Seems to me that the police MIGHT want to put all the diners on notice...the guy might be a regular in one or more. With the schedule he keeps, he sure isn't eating at home. If it's an anti war type and/or Pali sympathizer, he might avoid McDonalds'

[aristeides]

Do the police say it's the SAME gun or the same TYPE of gun?

They say it's the same gun.

The directions allegedly were found at Manassas after the shooting Wednesday night. It was the first sniper shooting there.

[Marysecretary]

I think you're right. Someone on FR said he owns a fleet of white box trucks and the only ones they're pulling aside are those driven by hispanics, not the blacks or the whites. Gives you a clue, huh? Swarthy males? Now who do you think THEY might be? We just have to keep praying that they'll soon be caught.

[KsSunflower]

I wouldn't think it strange to find directions on the ground at a gas station just off the highway.

[cake_crumb]

"Lakanookie 6"

ROFLOL!

BUMP to your insightful post. Another thing our shooter isn't doing is regularly taunting the police, leaving letters to the media, etc. - with the admittedly weird exception of the tarot card. Serial killers generally want and need some sign that the police and public sufficiently "appreciate" and "respect" the killer's "brilliance".

[Elenya]

Don't forget that neighbors would be more likely to notice them on the weekend too. But as I said earlier, the fact that he doesn't strike during the weekend doesn't mean anything. It could be for all kinds of different reasons that could support conflicting theories. For instance: the guy's company is closed over the weekend/ traffic too light/ neighbors at home and more able to notice something/ Even God rested on the sabbath. etc... etc....

Besides, we don't even know for sure that the Sept 14 shooting wasn't the first of the series, And it was on a Saturday night.

So as far as I'm concerned, the no shooting over the weekend doesn't support nor disapprove any of the many theories advanced here.

[snickeroon]

Just got to thinking. There is a pattern here which seems very deliberately an attempt to appear as no pattern at all. If this person was actually choosing random sites, why not random (and busy) sites within the central area of the bulk of shootings....the Manassas and Fred. shootings are out of sync. The Tarot card is out of sync....almost like a deliberate throw-down. Then we have the directions on the piece of legal paper.....that could belong to anyone.....

Something is beginning to come into fuzzy perspective, but it just isn't quite there yet. There IS a reason this person is thumbing their nose practically at the doorstep of Quantico. And there is either symbology or a set route that keeps them coming back in such a wide circle. And if the Tarot card WAS real, the only reasons it would make any sense in a scenario which obviously is being controlled by a cold, calculating person would be to throw someone off, OR to communicate to a wider group in a secretive manner. IE the death card means CHANGE.... an embedded code in the wording perhaps?

[Prodigal Son]

I wouldn't think it strange to find directions on the ground at a gas station just off the highway.

Good point. People frequently go to gas stations to ask directions.

[areafiftyone]

I thought the experts, using a profiler, were absolutely convinced the sniper was a white male...

They have said numerous times they are looking for a white male with sandy hair. At the time of the last shooting he was wearing a grey sweatshirt.

[KsSunflower]

No kidding...we won't know anything until this is solved. I mean, while speculating is entertaining, it seems that law enforcement of all kinds are stumped and they certainly have much more information to work with than we have here.

With the introduction Chief Moose made at today's press conference of a post office box for correspondence, it doesn't seem like they feel they are anywhere close to solving this thing.

[Elenya]

IE the death card means CHANGE.... an embedded code in the wording perhaps?

The card also shows the number 13 (XIII). It could just as well mean that it's a satanistic or other initiation rite demanding 13 victims.

[Demidog]

They are not separate issues when the religion, as practiced, forbids individual initiative.

Chapter and verse please.

[Asmodeus]

Piece of Legal Paper Found at Last Scene Had Scribbled Driving Directions