Terror link to Maryland shootings? Experts divided whether killing spree work of al-Qaida

WorldNetDaily.com ^ | Friday, October 4, 2002

[JohnHuang2]

Though al-Qaida training videotapes and manuals captured in Afghanistan specifically show the planning of attacks on Americans in drive-by shootings, experts who have analyzed those materials are cautious about concluding the murder spree outside of Washington yesterday is connected in any way to terrorism.

The videotapes and training manuals, which show Osama lin Laden's terrorists have prepared to kill Americans with small-arms fire from trucks and vans, were first revealed in a WorldNetDaily report last month.

But John Holschen of Insights Training Center, who produced a report on the tape for military and law enforcement officials, said the rash of shootings in a small area of suburban Washington in a short period of time is unusual but not altogether unique.

"It's not inconceivable that this will turn out to be a terrorist attack," he said. However, he cautioned against jumping to any conclusions without more information.

The training video captured in Afghanistan shows al-Qaida operatives practicing the following kinds of assaults:

• using pickup trucks with shooters concealed in the bed of the trucks;
• using motorcycles as a shooting platform for drive-bys and assassinations;
• execution of prisoners;
• ambushes of law-enforcement officers;
• residential assassinations;
• assassination on a golf course using a rocket-propelled grenade and rifle fire;
• drive-up kidnapping of target walking on a street;
• use of tunnels, storm drains and sewers for infiltration during urban raids;
• rappelling from rooftops of buildings to make entry on upper floors;
• use of motorcycles for grenade attacks; and
• raids on buildings with large numbers of occupants -- perhaps schools or office buildings.

Skip Gouchenour, a licensed detective in Pennsylvania who has analyzed the videotape and other training materials and made a presentation on them for the Pennsylvania Detectives Association, agreed that the Maryland shooting and murder spree is very unusual.

"I'm not dismissing the possibility of a terrorist connection," he said. "It's strange, indeed."

Gouchenour specializes in investigating murder cases for district attorneys, defense attorneys, police agencies and private citizens. He says he has run across similar murder sprees in his career, but finds some of the details of this case unusual.

Police across the Washington area are searching for what they describe as "a skilled shooter" who killed five people in a random death spree beginning Wednesday night and continuing yesterday morning in Montgomery County, Md.

The shootings took place at two shopping centers, two gas stations and on the lawn outside an auto dealership along Rockville Pike. The victims were ordinary people doing ordinary things on a seemingly ordinary day.

As a result of the attacks, children were kept indoors at schools in the county.

"We do have someone that so far has been very accurate in what they are attempting to do, and so we probably have a skilled shooter," said Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose yesterday. Police said they are looking for a small, slightly damaged white truck that may have black lettering on the side. Witnesses to the shootings said they saw a truck matching that description leaving some of the crime scenes.

Montgomery County police spokesman Derek Baliles said police suspect the shooter was armed with a rifle.

About 40 minutes before the first killing, a shot was fired through a window of a Michael's craft store in the 3800 block of Aspen Hill Road. No one was hurt, but Montgomery County police said they believe the incident may have been related to what followed.

The first fatal shooting occurred Wednesday night at 6 o'clock, when James Martin, 55, of Silver Spring was killed in the parking lot of a Shoppers Food Warehouse at Randolph Road and Georgia Avenue in Wheaton. By yesterday morning, the stores in the area were open for business as usual. A security tape from a camera that monitors the lot had been turned over to police.

Then about 7:40 a.m., James Buchanan was pushing a lawn mower over a narrow strip of grass in front of the Fitzgerald Auto Mall on Rockville Pike when he was shot.

The next victim was Premkumar A. Walekar, a part-time cab driver. It was about 8:10 a.m., at a Mobil gas station on Aspen Hill Road at Connecticut Avenue in Aspen Hill, when the killer struck and Walekar died pumping gas.

About 8:30 a.m., Sarah Ramos, 34, was sitting on a bench at the shopping center near the Leisure World retirement community off Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring when the killer next took aim and fired.

It was just before 10 a.m. at a Shell gas station in Kensington and Lori Lewis-Rivera, 25, was vacuuming her minivan. The station, at the corner of Knowles and Connecticut avenues in the heart of Kensington, is visible from all directions. But again the killer struck as if coming from nowhere.

Throughout the day the manhunt intensified, but as night fell there had been no arrests. Though authorities have downplayed the possibility of terrorism, the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Secret Service have all been involved in the investigation.

[Mat_Helm]

There is no such thing as a "silenced" weapon, especially a rifle firing a high vel round which cannot avoid sonic crack.

A "silenced" weapon means a weapon that has a silencer installed on the muzzle. Where did I say that a silenced weapon makes no sound? Only a specials ops military or LEO would describe with first hand knowledge what a silenced weapon sounds like unless they want the BATF all over their butt.

The sound that most witnesses are reporting would not be impact sounds nor sonic impluse unless they were between the shooter and the target. It is most likely the shooters are firing a weapon with no supression invloved based upon what has been reported thus far.

[wardaddy]

You are correct.

[556x45]

You have no clue what youre talking about. Making highly accurate shots from 100m with a handgun, built for long range shooting, isn't hard. For example, high power pistol silhouette has stations between 50 and 200m and small bore pistol silhouette is between 40-100m, both offhand. Few shooting disciplines, other than BR, give sighting shots during the event. So everybody (should be smart enough) starts with a cold fouled bb. Its only necessary to foul the bbl not made it hot. Now consider that none of the targets expected to be shot, center of mass of a human is as big or bigger than any silhouette target and the shooter could have shot in any convenient setup. Making a head shot wouldnt have been hard.

I think though the perp didnt make his job hard by handicapping himself w/ a handgun. I think hes a smart hunter and used everything that would favor his success.

[Atlas Sneezed]

"No matter whodunit, we can tell you it was someone who was VERY SERIOUSLY (or VEY SERIESLY, if you prefer) well-trained by someone."

Not necessarily. It could just be a calm, clever, motivated nut. Like the Unabomber. Someone who will never be caught unless he gets arrogant.

[ko_kyi]

That is what is scary. Someone who is doing this for FUN will slip up, brag, or otherwise get caught. Those types can't stand the idea that other people aren't aware of their superiority.

If it is someone performing their assigned mission, we will probably never catch them unless we get someone else who spills the beans on them.

[tomkat]

I would bet money that the perp/perps are under surveillance as we speak.....

i'd take that bet.
at this point, i think the cops are clueless, almost literally.

*disclaimer - i've been out in the shop for over an hour, so dunno if anything's broken since noon ...

[Atlas Sneezed]

"There is no such thing as a "silenced" weapon, especially a rifle firing a high vel round which cannot avoid sonic crack."

There are sub-sonic rounds of many calibers. A 300 Whisper (heavy 240 grain slug with a low powder load) might not be ideal for 500 yard shots, but at 100 yards, it would be perfectly accurate and lethal (>500 FPE @250 yards.)

[ezo4]

My thoughts on this is its either one or two sycos on a shooting spree. Or its a prob/test mission to see what the leo's responce time and methods are. with it.

This is truly a unnerving situation. As mentioned here before, if a sniper/marksmen teams were to deploy and start targeting civilians. It would have horrible effects on the populace in the area and the country

One of the most horrible effects a sniper has is the ablility to insure terror.

[spunkets]

"Uh...dOOd...been there, done that, and you don't know what you're talking about. the crack penetrates quite nicely."

I've had a bunch of diff. calibers pass by within 10yds. I've always been able to distinguish the muzzle sound from the sonic crack. The sounds have a different quality and the sonics, 10 yds away, never caused me to want ear protection and that 10yd area is a nasty echo chamber. I even had a 300 Winmag go by at ~80ft. It's a quality thing I can't describe well, but I can't see the cops in the station being startled by a 223, or 308 going down the street outside. Take notice, yes, but not a jump and startle.

[Poohbah]

Only a specials ops military or LEO would describe with first hand knowledge what a silenced weapon sounds like unless they want the BATF all over their butt.

Ahem...Travis is a former SEAL.

[spunkets]

"Are you sure they said they found the casing. I haven't heard anything..."

I'm sure I saw it reported here in a news paste, but not sure what thread. The chief announced it.

[wardaddy]

Thanks for the ping...I'm late. So someone thinks an AK( is that 47 or 74?) or SKS(if 47) will shoot comparatively with an AR-15?...LOL

My little bro's Bushy V-Match will shoot the pants off an AK in single mode or an SKS. It's no contest.

Have they found a .223 casing?

If this/these guy(s) are really professional terrs, they could have one of those new .17 caliber jobs....

Pardon my ignorance, I'm not up on this thread's info....yet

[Poohbah]

I've had a bunch of diff. calibers pass by within 10yds. I've always been able to distinguish the muzzle sound from the sonic crack. The sounds have a different quality and the sonics, 10 yds away, never caused me to want ear protection and that 10yd area is a nasty echo chamber.

WHAT DID YOU SAY? I'M A WEE BIT DEAF FROM PULLING TARGETS ON THE RIFLE RANGE! :o)

I even had a 300 Winmag go by at ~80ft. It's a quality thing I can't describe well, but I can't see the cops in the station being startled by a 223, or 308 going down the street outside. Take notice, yes, but not a jump and startle.

Except those cops, unlike Joe Citizen who's never been around firearms, would know what it meant: some a**hole was shooting at them...

[SLB]

But for an effect of greatest magnitude, it would need to be more random. I would pick out some of the heaviest truck traveled routes. Do it on both coasts, and city and rural. With the proliferation of cell phones the coordination would be simple. With the truck drivers all on CB's I imagine traffic would grind to a halt rapidly.

[Atlas Sneezed]

"Also, don't discount the sound of round impact, such as the round that hit the window."

Even the sound of impact on the victim can be loud. I have read an account that describes a head shot as sounding like a popping paper bag (which reminds me of the vacuum bag description.)

I give even odds that the perp, if solo, will never be caught.

[Shooter 2.5]

A .308 round going past your head sounds like a 3/4 inch wooden dowel being broken a foot away from your ear.

[harpseal]

This is an appropriate time to point out that currently the intell community is evaluating the information that Al qaeda is looking to target the American Educational infrastructure. Nursery school through College.

Stay well _ Stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown

[Poohbah]

A .308 round going past your head sounds like a 3/4 inch wooden dowel being broken a foot away from your ear.

WHAT?

[Atlas Sneezed]

"Only a specials ops military or LEO would describe with first hand knowledge what a silenced weapon sounds like unless they want the BATF all over their butt."

You are perpetuating the myth that sound supressors are illegal. They are manufactured and sold to citizens to this very day. There is a $200 transfer tax and a bit of paperwork, but that's about it.

Don't surrender our rights by convincing others they lack them.

Also, for one who is engaging in murder, the penalty for a home-made supressor would not be daunting.

[js1138]

You laugh, but I'm 50% deaf in my left ear from a coaching accident in basic training.