Posted on 10/08/2002 10:58:46 PM PDT by Grampa Dave
President's bodyguards join hunt for sniper
From Tim Reid in Washington
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.
Luckily for that child, his aunt is a nurse in the trauma center where the boy was airlifted to for care. She got him initial help and probably saved his life.
Heard one of the talking heads saying that a lot of hotshots from the media live in the community where the first murders took place.
Reid again demonstrates he doesn't know soft s**t from apple butter. The UNIFORMED Secret Service is helping out. They do not guard the President. They handle the other Executive Branch guard duties from embassies, Cabinet members, Visitors, etc.Just another of the twenty or so guard/police units that operate in DC.
If they didn't think of it long before I did, I wouldn't be doing them a service--I'd just be getting them killed :)
In all seriousness, as many heads as they've got working on this, I'm sure somebody's already brought it up.
As someone else pointed out, this is directly affecting their own children, too--so I have every confidence that the guys who know what they are doing will push all the butt they need to in order to solve this thing.
That local mailman has every reason to fear for his life. Mailmen are not allowed to carry handguns for self-defense; only pepper spray, which, last I checked, has a range of approximately 2-3 feet. This infuriates me.
I haven't seen anyone post information on laws that restrict our God-given right to self-defense in the D.C. and Maryland areas, so I looked them up:
I respectfully submit that without these encroachments upon our God-given right to defend ourselves, our families, and our neighbors, someone could have taken this murdering SOB down by now. And the mailman is in a prime position to accomplish that task - he or she is on the street and familiar enough with his or her delivery neighborhood to be aware of strangers and strange vehicles.
We have security guards at the Federal Building in Montpelier since the OKC bombing. Only after September 11, 2001 was *one* of them *allowed* to be armed. It is positively ridiculous, IMO.
Alternately, it could just be that at 100-200 yards, it's hard to tell the difference between a 13-year-old and an adult
Stay well - Stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown
That's what I heard on the radio. The UNIFORMED Secret Service is providing manpower to assist local police forces under a mutual aid agreement that was put in place after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Except that the crime happened at a school...
If it's a terrorist? Yes. For not preventing it.
Homeland security may have already had plans to cover this sort of thing by now. Yes, they would have aided terrorism. Sure.
They would have put union votes ahead of human lives.
It depends on which branch. The uniformed division of the Secret Service are really nothing but rent-a-cops. They could "guard" schools, highways, etc., because that's really all they're good for. The anti-counterfeiting folks and the security details aren't going to waste their time chasing a wacko serial killer, as long as he isn't trying to kill Bush.
Wouldn't sending out weapons inspectors be more prudent than this course of action? What might happen if we attack him? He might respond.
According to a history of Tarot cards, 'The Death Skeleton' comes to all: child, father, mother, king and priest.'
The shooter has killed men, women, severely injured a child.
Been shootings in Prince George county. Could President be taken for King...
Perhaps another reason for SS.
What is the picture of?
You forgot to add that the Uniformed Division may be the least competent law-enforcement body on the planet. I used to live across the street from an embassy they were guarding, and a delivery boy dropped a stack of phone books on the ground, next a sleeping Uniformed Secret Serviceman. At the noise, the guard jumped up and started shooting away at the air. These are some of the stupidest people you'll find anywhere - and they are most definitely NOT the President's bodyguards.
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