Posted on 10/09/2002 2:27:11 PM PDT by pttttt
A Different Kind of Killer
Gunman Doesn't Conform to Usual Patterns,
Experts Say
By Patricia Davis and Carol Morello
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, October 9, 2002; Page A01
Most mass killers relish watching their victims die. They are motivated by anger or revenge and kill people or categories of people they hold responsible for their problems.
But the sniper who has killed six people and wounded two others in the Washington area is different, experts on mass killings say. By firing a high-powered weapon at long range, he doesn't have the same connection with his victims as other killers, they say.
"He stops and shoots and doesn't hear the screams," said James Alan Fox, a professor of criminal justice at Northeastern University. "Others enjoy squeezing the last breath from their victim. It makes it easier for him psychologically to murder."
Keeping his distance and firing just one shot also has made him that much harder to catch. With no known motive and little physical evidence, experts and police officers who have chased mass killers agree that absent luck or an alert witness, the shootings will be difficult to solve.
The experts said the man who eludes police -- and experts believe the sniper is a man -- is not comparable to other mass or serial killers they know. The Washington area sniper doesn't appear to be shooting in an act of rage, Fox said. Most mass killers will open fire and continue until they run out of bullets or time or are shot by police, he said. This gunman has no category of victim -- women, for example -- and no exclusive geographic area for his killings. ...
Full article not reproduced because of Washington Post litigation. The rest of the article may also contain information of interest.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
And is a .223 - lethal as it has been - considered "high powered"?
Their use of "weapon" instead of "rifle" is interesting here, suggesting they may be thinking Contender or the like. It would throw things off if the killer is switching barrels.
What the heck? Of course he does - that area in Maryland. His first shot was a "miss" at a Michaels store. Just hit a window. The only "outside the geographic profile" incident "just happened" to be another Michaels store, in Virginia. Out of some twisted purpose, to settle accounts in his mind, to give himself a sense of completion, to correct a sense of failure, he looked up Michaels in a telephone book, or on line, and found the Virginia store. Or perhaps he remembered it from driving past it.
He's from that Maryland area.
But, hey, what do I know? I thought if the Anthrax letters were mailed in Princeton NJ, and showed a return city address and zipcode from central NJ, the perp would have a familiarity with the area that could only be gained by residing there for a time. Turns out the perp was a middle aged guy in Maryland named Hatfill. < /sarcasm>
That being said, the sniper may now expand his area due to surveillance pressure. that maybe where he makes a getaway mistake, and gets caught.
And is a .223 - lethal as it has been - considered "high powered"?
Their use of "weapon" instead of "rifle" is interesting here, suggesting they may be thinking Contender or the like. It would throw things off if the killer is switching barrels.
I guess it's fair to call a .223 "high-powered" since they do pretty well at HP rifle matches.
I think you're reading too much into the word "weapon." I think the reporters used it since it sounds more sinister than "rifle." Given the lack of firearms knowledge that these newstwinkies possess, I think that the idea of a switch-barreled firearm is beyond their comprehension. Except that they are evil assault weapons used by crazed NRA members to kill innocent children. <\sarcasm>
How 'bout having terrorized the entire National Capitol region?
Scouts out! Cavalry Ho!
So I guess you wouldn't mind being shot in the foot with one, right? ;^)
dan
sniper
n.
A real sniper is better defined by the targets he selects: high-value enemy personnel or equipment, preferably at a critical time. Taking out a key officer, a satellite dish or other piece of commo gear or crew-served weapon is the mark of a sniper, not the distance from which he engages his carefully-selected targets or the equipment he uses.
A trained sniper with the average grunt's issue weapon is still a sniper; an untrained rookie with the sniper's weapon is still just an amateur, though he may learn. But by picking unarmed ant-people not even trusted by their own government with weapons with which to fight back, the Maryland shooter has shown he's not much of a real sniper. He's shooting drones and pawns.
-archy-/-
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