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.

[Jackie222]

But the amazing thing is what the bullet stopped next to, the store's employees said: a book called Inspiration for the Heart from the Prayer of Jabez, by Bruce Wilkinson.

The bullet has not been recovered.

I wonder why the bullet has not been found?

[GreyWolf]

I have some theories regarding what these shootings are all about, all related to terrorism:

1. A demonstration of how easy it can be to take out anyone in broad daylight in the shadow of the Nation's capitol and withdraw without a trace.

2. Police baiting. Create a panic situation and have associates observe and study the arrival and methodology/patterns of responding authorities, medical teams, etc.

3. Assasination rehearsal. Long range (probably scoped) target practise on ordinary citizens in the hopes of improving accuracy, methodology, exit plan execution, etc. in preparation for a bigger future event.

IMO, the authorities need to "think outside the box" on this type of scenerio and abandon conventional investigative procedures. Of course, they may already be doing that and just keeping quiet about it. I would hate to think that they have not even considered the possibility that this is more than a fruitcake loose with a "Texas Tower" mentality.

[toddst]

The one-shot one-kill at long range indicates a very much higher level of training and experience. These appear to have been head shots and heart shots.

This is an urban area so true long range shots is unlikely. Probably a maximum of 100 yards. No great skill required. Any decently trained police officer or military soldier could definitely manage one-shot kills, even to the head. However, apparently some took hits in the chest. Even easier.

[Dante3]

I wondered the same thing.

[harpseal]

What type of rifle or bullet would leave such a large hole the size of an average coffee cup rim? Unless he was shot at close range.

Just about any medium to big game hunting rifle would do this. I could cite calibers but any citation would be mere speculation on my part. Modern hunting ammunition for say deer expands after hitting the target. Such a projectile is less likely to merely wound the deer and cause it a slow painful death. Stay well - stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown

[varon]

Yeah. 2 Whites, 2 Hispanics, 1 Black. 3 men, 2 women. About as random as you can get,........

At least the perps are PC and are practicing "diversity"........ ;-)

[harpseal]

Okay if it is an exit wound then just about any hollow point may have caused this damage. If it is an entry wound then It could be something in the.375 caliber and up range or something along the the lines of a 6mm magnum. It is impossible to be more specific than that because we can not see the wound.

Stay well - Stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown

[piasa]

Evidently a casing's been found. Fox just said it was .223 ammunition

[mewzilla]

Anyone know anything about the Prayer of Jabez? Could the shot have been fired at that book in particular? To leave a message?

[Joe Brower]

Thanks for the flag.

As for theories involving this series of events, I don't have enough information. There are a variety of viable possibles that have already been floated on this and other threads, including terrorist activity, gang initiations, and thill-kills, although the precision with which this has been conducted would indicate the first postulate more than anything else.

It is also noteworthy that the perps purposefully chose one of the most heavily disarmed areas of our nation in which to conduct their operations. This would give them a longer lifespan, although, if terrorists, I would fully expect such creatures to anticipate dying during the course of their attacks, which gives them another added advantage.

The anxiety that this series of attacks has inspired is exactly what terrorism seeks to accomplish: to destabilize the inhabitants of a society, have them constantly distrustful, worried, and angry with a government that obviously cannot protect them. Civilized society is based on trust -- trust that the person next to you will not arbitrarily seek to harm you, and that they can think likewise. When that is dissolved, so is the society.

One thing is clear: It is the duty of each and every citizen to stay alert, stay armed and take the proper steps in their own defense in situations such as these. Anyone ditty-bopping around in condition white expecting the "authorities to take care of everything" faces a much greater probability of winding up in a bag.

[mewzilla]

FWIW, I think the Prayer of Jabez is found in I Chron., Chapt 4, Verse 10.

[Fred Mertz]

Thanks for that article post. Lots of details in it.

[Free Trapper]

Good thinking and I bet our LEOs have those thoughts and more running through their minds right now.

I've been expecting something like this from the Islamic terrorists for some time but it (could) turn out to be a couple of warped kids or even someone else.

I don't see any extra special skills involved in pulling this off.These shooters are just roadhunting with a lot of targets to pick from.

I hope it's not terrorists learning the ropes to pass their experience on to others all over the U.S.or that we see a replay,even as early as today in more places.

CYA.

[RogueIsland]

Fox just said it was .223 ammunition

No doubt in my mind now that the AWB will be re-instated in 2004, possibly with even more draconian provision (outright ban on "military style assault weapons"?). VPC and company will milk this for all it's worth.

[Damocles]

Police dispelled initial fears that the shootings were racially motivated by stating that the first and last victims were white...

Does this statement bother anyone else? Just because white people were killed it can't be racially motivated.

Maybe I'm being a little oversensitive but this seems odd.

[G-Bear]

"I don't know if it was terrorists, but from what I've read, it has to be someone who had some sort of advanced marksmanship training."

Such as your average deer hunter.

Truly, hitting a human-sized target from 100 yards away
with a decent rifle is not that difficult a task.

That said, if this was just a "nut case" as the media
keep trying to say, they would be targeting specific
groups of people, depending on whatever sort of grudge
or fantasy they were working out.

If this is a sleeper cell getting active, just look at
how much panic they have caused with just 6 shots.

[Damocles]

Police dispelled initial fears that the shootings were racially motivated by stating that the first and last victims were white...

Does this statement bother anyone else? Just because white people were killed it can't be racially motivated.

Maybe I'm being a little oversensitive but this seems odd.

[G-Bear]

"What type of rifle or bullet would leave such a large
hole the size of an average coffee cup rim?"

Again, anything you would use to go deer hunting, a soft
or hollow point rifle bullet.

[backspace]

I doubt the suspect(s) are young thrill-killers. They got their thrill Wed night and to continue the spree 12 hours later (after having the time to reflect on what they'd done) might indicate someone with a more resolute and sinister motive. They started pretty early Thurs morning which might indicate that the shooter had no trouble sleeping (also could indicate that the shooter DID NOT sleep) I would expect young, thrill-killers to stay up late celebrating their adventure and, of course, they could have decided that it was worth continuing as soon as targets were available the next morning. We should consider why the shooting stopped at 10 AM Thurs. morning. Was it getting too risky to carry out the shootings? out of ammo? Lack of targets or was the "operation" complete?
Answers to these questions might help to establish motive. Obviously, at this point and with the little information we have, we can only speclate.....as I have done.

[Flyer]

BLOAT

---