Maryland Sniper Shootings Update Thread

CNN, Fox, Local Radio and Television | October 8, 2002 | CNN, Fox, Breaking News

[Peach]

It's 6:30 a.m. EST and we're waiting to go to the second press conference providing media and local updates on the Maryland sniper shootings. To date, the 13 year old boy has survived the evening and seems to be improving. Fox News mentioned that his aunt is a nurse. The police briefing at 6:15 a.m. mentioned Todd Beamer's Let's Roll comment and police are urging people to use caution, good judgment, but remain strong and try to continue with everyday life as much as possible.

Police had a search warrant last night (didn't say for who or where) related to the sniper shootings, but the search did not provide any information to LEO.

[antivenom]

	First shot fired at a store...named Michaels (arch angel???) shot most likely fired from the "symbolic" cemetery  (GATE OF HEAVEN) that has a CROSS in the center of it. RED circle represents 900 ft diamter - see scale in the upper right hand corner in all little maps.   WEDNESDAY first of two shootings
	Second shot FIRST victim - safety of a park again? WEDNESDAY second of two shootings
	Third shot - 2nd victim - the "comfort of a park??? THURSDAY FIRST shooting
	Fourth shot - 3rd victim - BACK at the first scene...is it symbolic? "Gate of Heaven"??? Felt safe there? Wanted to practice LONG range shots??? THURSDAY second shooting
	Fifth shot - 4th victim - hmmmm 2 parks to pick from....3 THURSDAY third shooting
	Sixth shot - 5th victim- Parks near by but suspect shots were fired from the railway tracks...possible walked from one of the parks. Suspect probably has a knapsack and field strips the gun to conceal it ??? THURSDAY fourth shooting (another PERP that doesn't need to use a park???)
	Seventh shot - sixth victim- walking near a ....PARK! THURSDAY fifth shooting
	Friday - one assualt victim - out of state...seems to break pattern...BUT the target has shot victim at a Michaels store...wonder about the surroundings...wonder if area is surrounded by trees to allow "cover", I suspect entrance to the area was alond the stream/river from I-95 heading WNW towards the red star.  (another PERP that doesn't need to use a park???)
	MONDAY - one assualt victim - BACK to the "park" pattern.

[FreedomPoster]

Nice work, both of you, for 502 and 520.

Pings to the rest of you on these excellent posts.

Now, we need a #520 done with TerraServer images.

[Palladin]

Hey, that's pretty good detective work. Have you sent it to Chief Moose?

[FreedomPoster]

Obviously, I meant #521

[Mat_Helm]

The firing pin indentation signature leads one then to speculate on the feds starting to "print" each and every firearm before it leaves the factory or dealer. Is that good or bad?

This would certainly be a good instance. What would the downside be?

In 2 seconds with a file you can change the firing pin signature. You can change the firing pin altogether. For a handgun other than a revolver you can swap out the barrel. For a rifle you can change the bolt and reheadspace. There are to many simple ways to defeat ballistic signature. Plus, if you sell a gun or have it stolen the LEO are still going to look for you if a bullet or case is found that matches your orginal purchase.

Do we fingerprint tires for all new cars purchased? How about taking photographs of every drunk before they leave the bar? How about DNA samples from everyperson born before they leave the hospital? How about manditory chip implants so everyone is tracked by satelite 24 hours a day for their entire life and cameras on every street corner and light post?

[Joe Hadenuf]

Thanks for that......

[YoungKentuckyConservative]

What Maryland needs is someone to contest the laws to the Supreme Court. I don't think any of the residents are interested. They seem to be more than happy to live under those laws and vote dem every election.

The problem is the Supreme Court has taken the liberty to "write" laws and not interpret them. The plain wording of the 2nd Ammendment is clear and simple. A child could properly intrepret it's meaning and everyone should understand our HISTORY with guns.

[Dead Dog]

That is one thing about a .223, it doesn't matter what position you put it in, it isn't going anywhere. If they were using a Weatherby with a Tasco scope we could BOTLO for a Sandclown with a shiner.

Hey, in response to the strategypage artical listed above, how does the safety on the AK work again? Never know when that might be useful.

[blackdog]

I always thought that Mexican landscaping crews, (those guys who tirelessly fluff and primp lawns in the DC area 24/7), mail carriers, and UPS/Fed-Ex guys/gals would make the perfect killers. We go out of our way to not notice them. Hotel room maids, portable toilet pumper-outers, and those people who collect the dead rotting animals that we hit with our cars come in a close second. They all handle machines, tools, equipment, and vehicles that we don't like to look at. They go un-noticed. The noise they make annoys us all and we try to avoid them. They all have an alibi. They all can dispose of any evidence in seconds.

[YoungKentuckyConservative]

for practice, kid. it'll get worse ...

Now that was an excellent answer. Kudos to you. Unfortunately, how right you are?

[Fred Mertz]

Good work av!

Check out #521. Very helpful for me to visualize the areas with those detailed mappings.

[relee]

Re the Michaels window that was shot out - it was approx. 5:30 a.m. and I thought that odd but heard later on Fox that an employee was INSIDE the store and barely missed being hit.

From the Washington Times

Windows of a Michaels store in Aspen Hill, about 70 miles north of Fredericksburg, were shot out Wednesday evening in what police said was the first of a series of shootings that ended Thursday morning.

There could have been many people in the parking lot outside of the store in the evening.

[5by5]

So how many people do you suppose were in earshot?

Remember too that a silencer can muffle the muzzle blast but not the passage of a supersonic bullet. Pure physics.

It's why subsonic rounds are much more easily silenced.

You're not seriously suggesting that no one heard the shots are you?

[cake_crumb]

You make really good points in your efforts to put all the known facts together.

I'd like to add that the IF map points were meant to make the crescent moon-god symbol of Islam on a map of DC....it's just too neat. Too obvious. Too....pointed a 'message'.

I believe you're right about the scope...IMO, he's got a range finder. (I haven't seen the possibility brought up) Also, I believe he's scoping terrain and escape routes during the weekends. All this points to a domestic terrorist. Whether an Islamakazi sympathizer or paid operative....hard to tell.

[Freedom2specul8]

I thought you might want to see this if you haven't already..

Rush's fill-in says Sniper(s) is(are) Hispanic or similar...
Maryland Sniper Shootings Update Thread

[Freedom2specul8]

I thought you might want to see this if you haven't already..

Rush's fill-in says Sniper(s) is(are) Hispanic or similar... Whoops.. :) Just this one.

[aristeides]

Williams also called the sniper a "coward." I can think of lots of things to call the guy, but I really don't see how that particular term fits.

I was puzzled a couple of years ago when a gangbanger in N.E. D.C. walked up to a cop and shot him dead, and then the judge at his trial called him a "coward" too. What he did may have been dumb, it may have been highly immoral, but one thing I think he did show was guts.

What is it with this term "coward"?

[antivenom]

The problem is...in Maryland everything along the freeways are hidden in trees and hills, (I was raised in Maryland KNOW the areas well)...the CLUSTER of shots north of DC the first two days are the "key" to this investigation...the perp(s) are leaving "calling cards" and in this case, the symbolic cemetery with a BIG OL' CROSS in it...and the inanimate target (a store) called Michaels...

I think the perp, is a white male, computer nerd and goes to his computer nightly, he is from an affluent family (would have to be to know the Montogermy area well it is one of the wealthiest counties in the USA)...my bet is...his parents have him enrolled in college therefore have NO clue it could be him (and the times of day he is shooting would "fit" with a college schedule). The male is entering the first stages of paranoid schizoprenia, and is possibly hearing voices...may even return to the Gates Of Heaven cemetery to shoot again or to eventually die, either as a suicide or have the police chase him there to be killed by them.

The computer is where he is planning his attacks...he is using Mapquest, beacause IF you do a search on Aspen Hill and zoom down ONE level the first 2 days of victims fit in the ONE printable square...IF you move the red star of Aspen Hill UP to the top of the "printable square", he is using the Mapquest printout and has pre-planned his shooting areas with the map as an aid.

He is using a scope, I am female and have recently for the first time in my life shot a .223 assault rifle, my first 4 shots I hit 3 clays at 1000 ft with a scope (fourth one jumped in the air tho).... I hit ~6 inch diameter clays the first rattle out of a box WITH a HIGH powered sighted scope...trust me a torso shot at that distance is a "PIECE OF CAKE!" .

MY bet is he has had "target practice" and may have "collected" empty casings and will be smart enough to "leave behind red herrings as evidence", IF this individual is as smart as I think he is...he is using gloves to load the ammo into the clips, NO fingerprints on spent casings...

I will bet he is "shy" and even nerdy looking, probably is lugging around the weapon in a back pack that has been field stripped...and he is using the quiet areas of a park with "cover" to assemble the gun...wait patiently for a victim...takes a shot, is using a suppressor to hide the muzzle flash...(maybe a home-made silencer too) then quickly breaks down the rifle and casually walks back to a vehicle with a non descript backpack or even a brief case...or picnic basket...whatever...

I would watch areas around college universities next...I believe he will spread the panic across college campuses next and there are quite a few universities all over the western shore of Maryland and around DC...I would venture a guess he will fire in the the "Largo" area or near "Landover".

[Peach]

Thanks, Kim. I posted comments re Rush's fill in at #519 and was surprised no one jumped on it considering it seems police ARE looking for Hispanic (read Middle Eastern) looking men. Was going to post it again later thinking it just got lost in the shuffle. Will have to bookmark all over again! Will it override my previous bookmark of this thread? You've really done great work on this - we'll be using your links for some time it looks like. Thank you again.