Maryland Sniper Shootings-FR Commentary

Fox News, CNN | October 10, 2002 | Fox News, CNN, Press Releases

[Peach]

To avoid multiple vanity threads regarding any news that comes from press conferences, let's keep a live commentary thread going again today.

[sharktrager]

With tinted windows in a Dodge Caravan, and the rear window cracked open a bit (they open rearward about four inches with the "Open Vent" control near the driver), it could make a good mobile shooting platform. The barrel need not protrude from the window--I have a Caravan and had thought of this scenario before.

OK. Now you're scaring me. ;)

[TheOtherOne]

Timeline on Sniper Shootings in Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C.
The Associated Press
Published: Oct 10, 2002

Details on shootings in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.

- 5:20 p.m. Oct. 2: Windows shot at craft store in the unincorporated Aspen Hill area of Montgomery County, Md. No one hurt.

- 6:04 p.m. Oct. 2: James D. Martin, 55, of Silver Spring, Md., killed in grocery store parking lot in Wheaton, Md. (Montgomery County)

- 7:41 a.m. Oct. 3: James L. "Sonny" Buchanan, 39, of Arlington, Va., killed while cutting grass auto dealership in unincorporated White Flint area. (Montgomery County)

- 8:12 a.m. Oct. 3: Taxi driver Prem Kumar Walekar, 54, of Olney, Md., killed at gas station in Rockville, Md. (Montgomery County)

- 8:37 a.m. Oct. 3: Sarah Ramos, 34, of Silver Spring, killed outside post office in Silver Spring. (Montgomery County)

- 9:58 a.m. Oct. 3: Lori Ann Lewis-Rivera, 25, of Silver Spring, slain as she vacuumed her van at a gas station in Kensington, Md. (Montgomery County)

- 9:15 p.m. Oct. 3: Pascal Charlot, 72, of Washington, D.C., killed while standing on a Washington street.

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

- 8:09 a.m. Monday: 13-year-old boy wounded as he is dropped off at school in Bowie, Md. (Prince George's County)

- 8:15 p.m. Wednesday: Man killed after paying for gas at a station in Manassas, Va. Possible link to previous shootings under investigation.

AP-ES-10-10-02 0841EDT

[Cynderbean]

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. I will feel better when my Dad contacts me.

[Cynderbean]

Thanks Twigs, it does give me assurance : )

[John H K]

Once again, in the Manassas incident, no one saw anyone FIRE from a White Dodge Caravan, and in the (single) Montgomery County witness that saw a white vehicle, after the initial media confusion got sorted out, they apparently saw a white Mitsubishi or Isuzu panel TRUCK with lettering on the side.

This white vehicle business is going to be self-reinforcing, it seems. And simply leaving the gas station right before the shot, or driving by, is seemingly being interpreted as "fleeing."

Most recent Washington Post article includes info that the DC police think they've identified where the shot was fired in the one shooting that was just inside DC...the one that killed Pascal Charlot....dogs alerted on some gunpowder residue.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4858-2002Oct10.html


Which would mean THAT shot wasn't fired from inside a vehicle.

[palmer]

I drove by on 66 about 15 minutes before the shooting and it wasn't raining yet. There was some light rain on the way though.

[Woodman]

If I were to do this, there is only 3 ways I would attempt it. 1) Alone well hidden with an escape route that would leave very little possibility of being observed or connected with the shooting. 2) With a driver/accomplice (has to be someone you could trust with your life) most likely shooting from inside the vehicle. 3) With support from a paramilitary type group.

Here is my reasoning. #1 very unlikely to get caught as long as you keep your mouth shut. #2 Easier to get away without being apprehended, even if seen (could always change vehicles when the news reports a hit on yours). #3 Helps solve all sorts of logistics and intelligence problems. Could have someone unrelated to the actual shot pick locations, different drivers (that would he screw up possible witness identification). You could frequently change vehicles or firearms.

My gut feeling is that #3 is the answer because I think in #1 & #2 there would be some pattern to the victims. #3 would have a pattern to the victims only if the group had an agenda to put forward. OTH there is a pattern to the victims; they are so far all U.S. citizens/residents that are not dressed in appropriate Muslim garb. My bet is that this is a terror cell or some very sick individual.

[John H K]

Well, we'll see how psychic I am...can't solve the case, but I will predict that within the next week there will be a press release and media campaign from PETA requesting that all hunting seasons in Maryland and VA this Fall be closed to "assist the police and reduce confusion in light of recent events" or some such nonsense.

Just watch.

[concerned about politics]

CNN just reported that the Tariot message also said "do not tell the press about this." Like the shooter was trying to make communication secretly with the police. (We don't get FOX. Grrrrr.)

[twigs]

BTW, I used to live in the dorm right across a side street from the Physics building on McCormick Street. Even fell down a flight of stairs in the Physics Bldg. after a class. I was crying b/c I couldn't understand the rest of my classmates as they spoke to each other in German. Hmm... the sensibilities of youth!

Anyway, from everything you've said and the info we've heard from the news, it sounds like this would not be your dad. I hope that you reach him very soon!

[browardchad]

Thought I’d post excerpts from the WP article, Probe Less Cohesive Than Advertised: Parts of Cross-Boundary Effort Fraught With Politics, Leaks, Confusion for those who have speculated on the role of the FBI in this case, and how (Democratic) politics and turf wars are interfering with the investigation, and may be putting innocent people’s lives at risk. The WP, which had nothing but praise for Moose before yesterday, has apparently taken the gloves off after yesterday’s Moose hysterics. (As others have posted, both Channel 9 and the WP contacted Montgomery County police before going with the tarot card story, and were not told to hold the info.) Of course, the Post attempts to blur the fact that the major political players are Dems, but it’s fairly simple to read between the lines.

“Hoping to reassure an anxious public, Maryland's two senators and Montgomery's county executive yesterday again touted the partnership forged during this crisis by more than a dozen local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.

Behind the scenes at command central, however, interviews with leading investigators suggest that while some aspects of the massive effort are working well, others are fraught with the same turf battles, politics, leaks and confusion that historically have characterized manhunts of this size.

"It's a total bureaucracy, with guys who have never worked a homicide wanting to know every little detail," said one Prince George's County detective. "We have all these hurdles to jump, just a lot of BS to wade through." "In some instances, there is duplication of work, and it's just a mess," a Montgomery officer said. "It's not a situation that's presented in the press conferences."

Local leaders often are leery of relinquishing control over cases to federal counterparts. In this instance, however, the federal agencies were involved from the start. Monday night, Moose made it official with a letter to U.S. Attorney General John D. Ashcroft.

His action came after Rep. Constance A. Morella (R-Md.) contacted Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan (D) to suggest that the FBI take the lead because the killer had crossed state lines. Duncan dismissed that as inappropriate and unnecessary.

Just hours later, in an announcement that was mostly symbolic, he and Moose invoked a federal serial killer statute to formally request the FBI's investigative assistance. In return, federal authorities continue to stress, as Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) did yesterday, that the locals are in charge.

"It's important that our community realize that this is formalized, it's not ad hoc," Moose said yesterday. "That's comforting to people."

Still, cooperation doesn't always mean agreement. Federal investigators and at least one local detective have different thoughts about the sniper's position during the District's fatal shooting -- with federal agents focusing on a stone wall and the detective believing the gunman fired from a car, a source said.

Meanwhile, possible leads phoned in to the local departments, which have no easy way to share that information, are being handled differently, depending on the jurisdiction.

In Montgomery, tip takers use FBI forms and computer software to categorize and distribute information to investigators. In Prince George's, an operator takes handwritten notes and walks them down the hall to the homicide division. The other day, Police Chief Gerald M. Wilson compiled a summary of the leads his department had received and hand-delivered it and a case file to Montgomery.

SNIP

The more agencies, the more likely it is that information some may want to keep secret will leak out. Wilson has held his own news conferences, releasing much more information than Moose about evidence found at the scene of Monday's shooting at a Bowie middle school.

Prince George's police found the tarot card hours after the attack but didn't share its discovery with Montgomery counterparts until Tuesday, according to sources. After a reporter was tipped, an angry Moose vowed to find the person responsible. He reconsidered, saying it would waste time and be counterproductive.

"Quite frankly, one part of the team thinks the other part of the team did it," a clearly frustrated Moose said at a news conference.

If the crimes were to expand into additional states, experts say, it might warrant the FBI taking the lead role. "We're bordering on that right now," said James K. Kallstrom, who headed the FBI's New York field office in the mid-1990s. "At some point in time, this is no longer the domain of local county executives and police chiefs."

[twigs]

Very good reasoning. Thank you.

[Freedom2specul8]

Thanks for the time line!!

[Woodman]

Ah, but I'm sane (as far as I can tell) so my reasoning could be miles off base from the actual murderers.

[Freedom2specul8]

If anyone has time today and is so inclined, you can listen to the Prince George County or Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Dispatches on the internet at http://www.sconfire.com/livedispatch.htm. The links are on the right side about halfway down.

I will try to be tuning in through out the day as well.

203 posted on 10/9/02 10:19 AM Central by Pete

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With thanks to " ET(end tyranny) " for help in compiling these..

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'I AM GOD'
Maryland Sniper Shootings-FR Commentary (10-10-02)
BREAKING: One more shooting in DC area
BREAKING: One more shooting in DC area
Maryland Sniper Shootings-FR Commentary (10-09-02)
First Major Clue in Sniper Attacks
Woman Is Detained in Sniper Hunt
Timeline of DC-area shootings
The DC Sniper Nest: None Dare Call it Terrorism
Washington sniper leaves taunting message on Tarot card
First Major Clue in Sniper Attacks
I did a google search "Tarot cards Islam" and found some very interesting results
President's bodyguards join hunt for sniper
Washington sniper leaves taunting message on Tarot card
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

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About 5:20 pm Wednesday: window shot out at Michael's store in Northgate Shopping Center. no one injured.

About 6 pm Wednesday:Jim Martin, 55 year old White male shot at Shoppers Food Warehouse parking lot in 2200 block of Randolph Road (Glenmont Shopping Center). a program coordinator with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a top notch professional and history buff with a unique sense of humor. Martin spearheaded the office adoption of a DC elementary school.

7:41 am Thursday: James L. Buchanan, a 39-year-old white male landscaper . Man shot while mowing a lawn at 11411 Rockville Pike (White Flint near intersection with Nicholson Lane (in front of Bryant Automobile?). Buchanan was identified as the son of a retired Montgomery County police officer.

8:10 am Thursday: Premkumar Walekar, 54, Indian from India was shot dead as he made his daily stop at a Silver Spring Mobil gas station. The cab driver from India leaves behind a wife, a daughter, and a son. Male cab driver shot while filling up at a Mobil station at the intersection of Aspen Hill Road and Connecticut Avenue. This guy worked for presidential cab.

8:37 am Thursday: Sarah Ramos, 34, of Silver Spring , Hispanic woman shot in head sitting on bench outside of the United States Post Office next to the Leisure World Retirement community in Silver Spring (on Rossmoor Road).a witness reported seeing a white van or truck speed from the post office parking lot.

9:58 am Thursday:Lori Lewis Rivera-- 25-year-old Lori Lewis Rivera white female who was gunned down while vacuuming her minivan at a gas station in Kensington Thursday morning. Woman shot in head at the Shell gas station at the intersection of Connecticut Ave and Knowles in Kensington.

9:15 pm Thursday: Pascal Charlot, 72, african american of Washington, DC, killed while standing on a street in the nation's capital. In Northwest Washington, The 72-year-old Northwest man was standing on Georgia Avenue just inside the distrcit line when he was struck by a sniper's bullet.

Michael's craft store-- On Friday afternoon, a 43-year-old woman (race unknown?) who had been loading purchases from a Michaels craft store in Fredericksburg, Virginia, was hit by a bullet that pierced her lower back, exited her chest and came to rest inside her Toyota minivan. She was in stable condition Sunday in a Fairfax hospital.

Tasker Middle school At 8:09 a.m. Monday, a 13-year-old boy (race unknown)was shot and critically wounded outside a middle school in Maryland's Prince George's County.

165 posted on 10/9/02 1:47 AM Central by Bella

[Merovingian]

Dean Harold Meyers was the victim in Manassas from Gaithersburg MD

Press conference in VA now

[aristeides]

53 years old.

[Cynderbean]

Latest vitim : Dean Meyers

My heart & sympathies to the Meyers family.

[John H K]

Tasker Middle school At 8:09 a.m. Monday, a 13-year-old boy (race unknown)was shot and critically wounded outside a middle school in Maryland's Prince George's County.

Given that every single friend/neighbor interview talking about what a great kid is he is is with a black person, I'll go out on a limb and say he's black.

[Merovingian]

Thanks

Only confirmation is WHITE VAN....no license tag #s.

Witness says it 'looks like Dodge Caravan', was seen leaving area immediately after shooting.

Rte 234 open