[eno_]

It could be a lone whacko. But the ability to get away augurs for lookouts, coordination, and signaling. Only the shooter has to extract himself promptly. I agree with you that these attacks were planned, and probably rehearsed.

You said they seemed to you the spec ops. Here are some more reasons to think so:

In the face of a HUGE LEA response, the attacks continue. This is a mission - an assignment, not an obsession.

There is a strange balance of operating in such as way as to get away, yet doing so in an environment where the first mistake will probably be the shooter's last. EVENTUALLY the shooter knows they will be caught, and they will continue to kill right up to that moment - it's a slow-motion suicide mission.

The LAX shooter turned out to have Islamist links. Not all terror will be sudden, large-scale killing.

Another strange combination: Strict discipline and evident training - as if for a secret op - but applied to killing innocent civilians. This is the hallmark of Al Quaida. They take the kind of training the CIA or Spetsnaz would give the locals in some hotspot and have turned it toward the purpose of terrorizing the West (Not just us, but France, U.K., Australia, etc.).

And, of course, the target area.

So, like I said, it could turn out to be a competent and/or lucky lone nut, but it is more and more likely to be an individual or small group terrorist cell.