President's bodyguards join hunt for sniper

THE hunt for a sniper whose killing spree has been terrifying Washington was stepped up yesterday, with members of the Secret Service who normally protect the President and foreign embassies sent to guard schools and highways. After the roving marksman switched his sights from adults to a 13-year-old boy, who became his eighth victim when he was shot outside his school on Monday, the Washington region awoke yesterday traumatised by fear, increasing the pressure on the police and FBI to make an arrest.

Yesterday, a $160,000 (£102,000) reward was offered for information leading to a conviction, as President Bush described the killings as cowardly and senseless.

All school sports were cancelled, with tens of thousands of pupils locked inside school buildings, having been delivered by parents and escorted inside by security guards. Shops were largely empty and helicopter patrols were increased across the region.

Many people said that the random nature of the attacks had left the American capital more anxious than after last year’s September 11 strikes on the Pentagon and subsequent anthrax mail deaths.

“September 11 opened our eyes to let us know that we’re vulnerable to a terrorist attack, but this random shooting, you can’t describe it,” Donzell Cockrell, a Washington postman, said. “Here, we can’t say what this guy’s purpose is.”

Vast numbers of people in areas where the gunman has struck are now reluctant to leave their homes. Trips to petrol stations are being postponed, thousands are shopping for groceries after dark and teachers at some schools have masked ground-floor windows with paper.

The FBI confirmed last night that its federal agents had greatly increased their role in the manhunt. Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose, in whose area six of the attacks have taken place, said that police had received 1,250 credible leads from 6,025 calls and that a police officer had been stationed at every school in Montgomery and Prince George’s County. What is most unsettling for investigators, who have called on psychological profilers, is that the sniper, who uses a .223 calibre rifle, does not fit any of the usual categories of multiple killers. While many have a grudge to settle and pick a particular group, often leaving clues because they want to get caught, this killer appears to be cool and cautious. He is the rarest form of spree killer: one who does it for fun.

The murderous spree began last Wednesday evening, when a 55-year-old man was killed in Montgomery County. Four people, aged 25 to 54 and from diverse ethnic backgrounds, were killed on Thursday morning in Montgomery.That night, a 72-year-old man was shot closer to central Washington and a 43-year-old woman was wounded near Fredericksburg, 80 miles south in Virginia, on Friday afternoon.

The killer did leave one clue near Monday’s shooting. Police found a bullet casing in woodland about 300ft from the school, from where they believe the sniper fired. The boy, who had parts of his stomach, pancreas and spleen removed, was in a critical but stable condition last night.

I think this is the most telling aspect that marks this as suspected terrorism.

I also think there's a good chance that the sniper is some way connected to the child.

I don't think it's an accident that the victim was thirteen. Thirteen is the age of accountability in Christianity and for the bar mitzvah in Judaism. I think the sniper used a thirteen year old so he could rationalize that he was shooting an adult instead of a child.

I also suspect that to know this boy was thirteen, he had to have some passing knowledge of the victim's family. He may even have chosen him because he knew the kid would be getting there early when he'd have a pretty clear shot.

I'm betting the sniper is black muslim and probably connected to al Fuqra.

Thanks for your reply.

Parts of your reply are those gnawing things that many of us have had since the sniping began:

I think this is the most telling aspect that marks this as suspected terrorism.

That was the first thought that entered my mind when I heard about this.

Second you posted, I'm betting the sniper is black muslim and probably connected to al Fuqra.

Those of us who know the relationship fo the Black Muslims to the al Fuqra thugs and on to al Qaeda will not be surprised if what you posted here is the reality.

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With thanks to " ET(end tyranny) " for help in compiling these.. I'm posting brigette's contribution unbeknownst to her. Hope she doesn't mind!

Report: Sniper Left Tarot Card, Message for Police at Last Shooting>
Solve the Sniper Case and get $250,000 (Satellite Map to help you out)
The DC Sniper Nest: None Dare Call it Terrorism
Rush's fill-in says Sniper(s) is(are) Hispanic or similar...
13 Year Old Boy Shot Outside Bowie, Md. Middle School, Not Known if Sniper Related
This Killer Doesn't Fit the Expected Profile
Maryland Sniper Shootings Update Thread
Schoolboy targeted by sniper
Math Used in Hunt for Md. Sniper
Police Won't Confirm Missing Man Has Shooting Connections (Have YOU seen this man?)
Breaking- MD/DC Spree Killer Lookout Update
"Profilers: Montgomery County Shooters are Likely From Area"
Fox Cable News is reporting another shooting in D.C. area
Ashleigh Banfield, Feminist Icon: "Couldn't DC Sniper Be A Woman?"
Sniper kills for the thrill: 8th attack leaves teen near death
Police call in reinforcements in U.S. sniper hunt
Boy, 13, Wounded in Eighth Attack Linked to Sniper
CSGV Statement on Sniper Shootings in DC Metropolitan Area
In the Age of Terror, a Sniper Brings Danger Close to Home Again
Md. Shooting Linked to Sniper Spree
PROFILE HINTS WHERE MD. SNIPER WILL STRIKE NEXT
D.C. on Alert As Sniper Roams Free
Sixth death linked to sniper - Police want to talk to N.C. ex-resident [Robert Gene Baker - photo]
Another DC-area sniper-style shooting
Police Confirm shooting at Michael's
FBI: Maryland shootings fit no category
MD shooting update: Shell found in VA is a .223 caliber, shooting in DC now linked too
Two Hispanics Sought In DC Area Killings
Evidence links Monday's shooting to Spree
The DC Sniper Nest: None Dare call it Terrorism
Media Police Fudge Gun Facts in Sniper Shootings
White racist (Robert Gene Baker III) hunted after sniper attacks in Maryland

THE TIMELINE:

-- 5:20 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 2: Windows shot at Maryland craft store. No one hurt.

-- 6:04 p.m. Wednesday: James D. Martin, 55, of Silver Spring, Md., killed in Maryland grocery store parking lot.

-- 7:41 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 3: James L. "Sonny" Buchanan, 39, of Arlington, Va., killed while cutting grass at Maryland auto dealership.

-- 8:12 a.m. Thursday: Taxi driver Prem Kumar Walekar, 54, of Olney, Md., killed at Maryland gas station.

-- 8:37 a.m. Thursday: Sarah Ramos, 34, of Silver Spring, Md., killed outside Maryland post office.

-- 9:58 a.m. Thursday: Lori Ann Lewis-Rivera, 25, of Silver Spring, Md., killed as she vacuumed her van at Maryland gas station.

-- 9:15 p.m. Thursday: Pascal Charlot, 72, of Washington, D.C, killed while standing on a street in the nation's capital.

-- 2:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4: 43-year-old woman wounded in craft store parking lot in Fredericksburg, Va.

-- 8:09 a.m. Monday, Oct. 7: 13-year-old boy wounded as he is dropped off at Bowie, Md., school.

152 posted on 10/9/02 1:25 AM Central by brigette

islam... strikes again? who knows?

Of course Mr. Daschle does not believe the president needs the authority to move personnel to fit the needs of assymetric counter terrorism warfare or operations....

They should have authorized unfettered homeland defense... six months ago. And if this turns out to be islamikazis... the innocent blood will be at least in part, on the hands of those, who have sought to TIE our president's hands for political gain.

will we hold the democrats responsible?

yeah... the little b#st#rd-weasle is really dragging his commie butt on getting that life and death legislation through. Democrat delays kill children and old people. We shoulda had the homeland security program in operation full speed six months ago... not six weeks from now.

God I am sick of Tommy D... and the circus of clowns parade in the senate. They care NOTHING for the safety of Americans. NOTHING. By their delays and lies about our president and abandonment of our national security, once again they prove themselves to be TRAITORS... and terrorist enablers.

and jeffords was the one who put them in the place where their treachery has now killed even more americans.

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