[AdamSelene235]

We're dealing with a professional, someone who is becoming pretty good at one shot - one kill. This person is not firing several shots at random, and is deadly accurate.

A professional sniper would not choose a .223 due to its poor ballistics and mediocre wounding ability.

Most folks can reliably hit 100m targets with a .223 after a day or two of practice. It is unlikely the gunman is a "pro". An Al-Queda terrorist on a tight budget, perhaps.

[sharktrager]

They have reported that the most recent shooting was over 340 yards.

[Travis McGee]

A professional sniper would not choose a .223 due to its poor ballistics and mediocre wounding ability.

Clueless.

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

I took it to mean professional soldier, rather than true sniper. He/they are actually more of the category of stealth commandos, acquiring their weapons in their host nation. Easy to smuggle in the team, more risky to smuggle them armed.

A common calibur like .223 will keep you out on the streets killing much longer than the more easily traced .270, for instance. And he/they are quite effective, whatever their choice of arms.

When the sniping loses it's shine, they'll go to bombing or worse.

[taxcontrol]

I concur - understand that I have received military "sniper training"

The reasons I concur:

.223 is a weak round. It is easily deflected by any brush and designed to wound - not kill. Of course, that might be the idea. You have already mentioned it's poor ballistics.

Most shots were taken at 100 yards or less and the person has a poor kill %. A military trained sniper is considered "acceptable" if they can hold 1 MOA. A MOA is a measure of angle. The smaller the MOA, the tighter the shot group.

Roughly speaking, 1 MOA means 1" at 100 yards and 3" at 300 yards. A military sniper should be able to hold this level of performance out to about 600 yards. At my best, I could hold about 7" at 600 yards - there were MANY MANY others FAR better than I who could do much better. In short, a sniper at 100 yards should be able to target the eye of a stationary target and hit it with very HIGH percentage.

All of the shots were to the chest. A sniper looking to kill with one shot would not target an area as large as the chest. It is too easy to miss anything vital. I would point out that targeting "center of mass" is a common military training but is NOT common to snipers.

Just a few points to consider

[wardaddy]

223 due to its poor ballistics and mediocre wounding ability.

There are a lot of dead VC and NVA and whitetail deer and coyotes not to mention these poor victims who might choose to argue that point. Plus, the 5.56 in Nam was FMJ and not hollow point or some other frag prone round like this shooter is using.....although the old Nam rounds supposedly like to tumble.

[antivenom]

Kid who received a "varmit rifle" as a gift...and has a spiffy scope...probably a scope that is worth more than the rifle...

[spetznaz]

An Al-Queda terrorist on a tight budget, perhaps.

It does not fit the mondus operandi of Al Queda. Such an organization uses tactics that are nebulous, well cordinated, and with an intent of causing mass disruption and localized destruction! Also they are supposed to provide the most bang for the buck. Most of all they are meant to create a major statement ...for example the Khobar bombing and the Africa Embassy bombings saying US military (in the Khobar case) and political installations (embassy) abroad are not safe; the USS Cole being meant as an attritive attack to show the American warmachine is vulnerable( this was directed at the Arabs to show the Americans are 'vulnerable' ...in essence Al Queda propaganda); and 9-11 to show that even targets within the US and that are centers of political (Pentagon and the presumed Whitehouse/congress target that was never hit) and financial (WTC) power are vulnerable. The mark of a terrorist attack is the strive for a statement.

This sniper may have caused disruption (and it is mass disruption) and by killing 6 people caused localized destruction, but the only message inherent in his slayings is the quest for carnage! This is more applicable to some kook who is American and is trying to vent his rage (or madness .....i would say both) on innocents.

If it was Al Queda they would pick a target such as a kindergarten and go and slay all the kids in it! That would be more to their M.O than shooting 7 people last week and a kid this monday! Why do that when taking out a kindergarten would cause even greater disruption and have reverberations that would be felt around the world?

I know most people would rather not think an American could do such a thing but based on what is known right now this is the work of some crazy kook on some bloodthristy vendetta!

Were it Al Queda the carnage would be greater, more organized, more ruthless, better played for the media, with a target that is either of profound social/political/financial importance or would cause great anguish (eg the kindergarten example), and so forth.

Using .223 shots to pick off random people is something that is in the league of those sickos who storm into a Post Office and kill everyone in it with an AR-15, or the dude who got fired who walks into his workplace with two carbines ,pockets full of ammo, and veins full of stimulants. In essence your homebred psycho with a good gun and a bad brain! Al Queda on the other hand would try to get something that would cause more ripples than shooting 8 people.

And as for Al Queda being on a tight budget ....i know a lot of their funds have been frozen but they still have 'dynamic funds' from the Sauds and they definitely have enough funding to ensure they do not have to resort to .223 ammo. And why use such ammo when they could easily get some Frag grenades and lob them in the subway system terminal during rush hour and with 4 grenades take out scores of people?

In essence i highly doubt Al qeuda would waste an operative on a mission of picking off a few people at random. They would try their best to ensure that every operative they have is used to the fullest extent possible. In essence maximizing their minimal resources. Sending off an operative to do what this sicko is doing, even if it is just one operative, would be a total waste of resources.

[mark the shark]

I have also heard that the authorities have found casings at some shooting sites. The real guys with Marine Corps level training don't leave their left overs. This perp has some skills and obvious abilities, he's made shots out to at least 150 yards or better, but I'm not convinced he's a real pro, too sloppy. He doesn't really care if he goes down or not. But he is accomplishing what he has set out to do. Scare the devil out of folks. Defenitely a terrorist mind set, if not the real thing.
My gut tells me it's a diversionary tactic, to take focus off the bouncing ball, and to show us how vulnerable we are. Still and all, I think it's time to tell us the people, that we have got to have our eyes and ears wide open. These guys are beatable and they bleed and die like the rest of us. Let's begin to inform and mobilize our neighborhood watch and crime stoppers' programs. Americans love catching and hunting bad guys, so let's start hunting and catching them. In our current situation you can't miss some of the most obvious potential bad guys, They don't look American, don't act American, and like it or not the real hostile ones probably fit a "Profile" that most of us can figure out for ourselves. If it walks like a Duck and Quacks like a Duck, it's Probably a Duck!
Goody, Goody, I'll probably get flamed for this one!