Posted on 10/21/2002 7:36:55 PM PDT by blam
Blunder, mishap and farce in hunt for sniper
Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington and Jon Henley in Paris
Tuesday October 22, 2002 The Guardian
The hunt for the roving sniper of the suburbs descended from high drama to fiasco yesterday with police begging the killer to ring in again because they had not heard him properly the first time. The appeal brought a dismal end to a day that began with a swoop on two men by swat teams in bulletproof vests that was televised live. Hours later, it transpired, the men detained were illegal workers from Central America who had no connection with the sniper.
Charles Moose, the beleaguered police chief of Montgomery county, Maryland, who is heading the investigation, revealed at a news conference that a bad line had made the much anticipated communication from the killer difficult to hear.
"The person you called could not hear everything you said. The audio was unclear and we want to get it right. Call us back so that we can clearly understand," Mr Moose said.
The confusion deepened further with reports from France that Interpol had been asked to track down an officer trainee - and expert marksman - who had deserted from an elite military academy. The student, who was due to start his second year in September, had disappeared while on holiday in the US and Canada.
The authorities confirmed that the two men detained at Richmond, Virginia, near the site of the most recent shooting on Saturday, had no link with the 19-day rampage through Washington and several other counties, but were most likely illegal workers.
The men were arrested with television cameras straining for a glimpse of the police swat teams pouncing on a white van that had pulled up to a phonebooth at a petrol station. One was believed to be a Mexican citizen, and the other a Guatemalan. Both were handed over to the immigration authorities.
The arrests were triggered by a tantalising clue - or taunt - left near the steakhouse where the sniper had last struck, wounding a 37-year-old man in the abdomen.
Reports said police converged on the area yesterday after FBI headquarters in Washington received a call shortly after the steakhouse shooting made from a nearby phonebooth. According to the FBI, a man with a foreign accent had told agents to search for a note near the car park where Saturday's victim was wounded.
The clue, a relatively lengthy handwritten scrawl, was discovered in the woods nearby, and reportedly included ransom demands.
If the letter were genuine, it could mark another attempt by the sniper to communicate, or perhaps torment, his pursuers. Two weeks ago, police discovered a tarot card outside the Maryland school where a teenage boy was wounded. It read: "Dear policeman, I am God".
As police in bulletproof vests and armed with military rifles crept up to the Richmond petrol station, Mr Moose spoke directly to the sniper: "The message that needs to be delivered is that we are going to respond to a message that we have received. We are preparing our response at this time."
Amateur video footage and eyewitness accounts portrayed police inching forward through nearby car dealerships, drawing closer to a white van. Eventually one of the men was bundled out and slammed to the ground. He apparently offered no resistance. The other man was arrested elsewhere.
Yesterday's farcical events came at a time of increasingly open criticism of the police. There are also suggestions that the posting of a $500,000 (£325,000) reward for the capture of the sniper has encouraged cranks. Earlier yesterday, a judge denied bail to a man accused of fabricating his eyewitness account of last week's shooting of a woman in a Virginia car park.
Yup, just read it here on FR somewhere too.
That is a very good thing!!!
Now if the note had said "Praise be to Allah", it would mean something far, far worse.
(this is not a serious post, folks)
Thus ends the 9/11 theory...
Well, that says it all doesn't it? Of course we could add 'flustrated' and over our head.
Huh oh! Hmmmm. This freeper might consider stopping, but what about the four little freepers that I've taught to say bad things about the french???
FROG EATING SURRENDER MONKEYS!!!
Doh! Hmmmm. MIght be harder than I thought. Sigh
That comes from CNN, although their exact words are open to interpretation:
"The note "hinted at a demand for money" and threatened "more killing," law enforcement sources said Monday."
...and we already know who will be the 'fall' guy.
I'm not so sure about that. If this guy is as smart as we think he might be, I'm sure he'd have the sense to make misleading comments about himself. Same with the phone number. One need not be a criminal mastermind to think of disguising one's voice with an accent.
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