Posted on 10/11/2002 1:40:39 PM PDT by LSUfan
I'm watching this sniper coverage on the cable networks and everyone is so sure that this is a nut of some sort: a gun nut, a military nut, a serial killer, etc.
But we have evidence to indicate that there is more than one. Two nuts? The President of the Marine Scout Sniper Assoc was just on MSNBC and said that he is sure that the shooter isn't alone because he doubts that anyone could stalk, lay-up, take the shot, egress and just drive off in his minivan.
So now they have all the wonderful psychological profilers on...including some 300 lb private detective...and they are all talking about this like these guys are deranged or disturbed. They all refer to "spree" killers and "serial" killers.
Excuse me, but I'd like to see the list of serial killing TEAMS in American history! And I'd like to learn more about the spree killers who take 10 shots, get 10 kills, including one within 50 yards of a state trooper in plain sight and then vanish without a trace.
These guys have training, motivation, and resources and they are operating as a team. The fact that they shot with the cop right there tells me they were totally confident. I believe they plan these like operations, script them, rehearse them, conduct recons and then execute them LIKE OPERATIONS.
Who does that sound like to you?
Why isn't the media even thinking about the Islamic terrorism angle?
Also: this sniper was taking a big chance with daylight attacks in an urban environment, including one with a cop in plain sight. That (to me) implies that he has area security and avenues of egress and methods of egress covered. That's a lot easier to do in a daylight urban scenario if you have a team, as opposed to a lone gunman.
The fact that these attacks occurred just as the tanker was blown up in Yemen also makes me suspicious. Not to mention the 1 year anniversary of Enduring Freedom.
Just talked to a close friend who is with a DC think tank and is also a retired Col. of Marines. He is tuned in to law enforcement in the DC area as well as he is also a director of a company that sells computer equipment designed for tactical and security use. He has personal and professional contacts with law enforcement in the DC area. Also, his wife was two blocks away from one of the shootings when it happened, and in fact when he heard that a woman in her 30s had been killed in that particular spot while vacuuming her vehicle, he was extremely worried, because that fit her description. He couldn't reach her by phone for a good 15 minutes.
In general: it should be remembered that the month of October was the month in which Sheikh Omar Abdel al-Rahman, OBL's favorite mullah, and a top OBL lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahiri, were convicted in connection with the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Also, October was the month in which we started our assault on the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan.
These aren't some bad militia boys who got into some bad moonshine...these guys aren't shooting up the countryside. They're likely conducting recon, setting up their shots and bugging out to live to do it again. My friend tells me that terrorism is definitely on everyone's lips and minds and that the Feds have involved in this out the ying yang from the get go...BATF, FBI...even Secret Service because of the proximity to DC.
My buddy points out that Al Qaeda said specifically that it would target schools, so this might be the start of something.
GET THIS:
Two of the shots were HEAD SHOTS at a moving target at 150 meters. While a tourso shot at 150 meters is not a terribly hard shot for someone with training, a HEAD SHOT at 150 meters on a moving target would be a virtually impossible shot for a nut with no training. Next time you go to the gun show, take a look at the guy to your left and the guy to your right. Chances are, unless they grew up hunting or were in the military, you'd be pretty safe if they took a shot at you at 150yds while you were moving. Hint: Marines qualify out to the 500 yard line with the M16A2. That is what training will do. I qualified expert and am still an avid shooter today. I shoot a heavy barrel AR15A2 in 5.56mm and a National Match M1A in 7.62 NATO. I am NOT at all confident that I could get a head shot on a moving target at 150 meters. In fact...I would not even try. I would shoot center of mass. What all this indicates is a very highly trained shooter with good gear and most likely a spotter.
And GET THIS as well:
My buddy tells me that the FBI al Qaeda profilers have been predicting some sort of random attack as a contrast to 9-11. Something that sends the message: "no one anywhere is safe from us." al Qaeda has specifically said that they have the right to kill hundreds of thousands of "American children." This fits in with the critique of the al Qaeda training video that came out not long ago.
Here is another coincidence (?): In his Oct 4th column, Bill Gertz of the Washington Times said: "U.S. intelligence agencies received reports this week indicating Islamic terrorists have targeted American schools for attack, intelligence officials said. The reports indicate that the targeting includes plans to attack all levels of educational institutions in the United States, ranging from elementary schools to colleges and universities, said officials familiar with the reports." One of the victims was a 13 year old schoolboy.
Now REALLY GET THIS:
In the public release, law enforecemnt has not mentioned any race or ethnicity of the perps. But the unclassified bulletin that is being circulated by the Feds describes says that one of the local deputies got a description of two "Hispanics" but the feds think the guy just profiled them as Hispanics from law enforcement experience and that the two could easily be Middle Eastern. My buddy did not know if the deputy saw the perps himself or took a description from witnesses. The original vehicle was described as a white delivery van and today the suspect vehicle was a white Chevy Astro Van (but if these guys are pros like everyone thinks, neither vehicle will be showing up again).
A few more interesting insights from my friend:
The killer (or killers) must have felt secure in his surroundings. Most of the killings happened on or near busy main avenues during rush hour.
To say nothing of the fact that the region is crawling with law enforcement of every kind, being so close to the nation's capital.
Obviously it's someone who has murdered before or has been trained and conditioned to kill people. My buddy doubts many first-time killers, to say nothing of social outcasts or sickos, would have the nerve to kill with a single shot, then drive to another location within a half-hour, then kill again with another single shot.
Notably, all the areas of the killings are highly integrated racially. Had the killings been two miles west or south, they would have been in practically all-white or all-black neighborhoods, respectively, so a non-white/non-black killer (i.e., Middle Eastern) would not have been noticed in the areas in question.
Finally, the coincidental timing of these two incidents is another reason to suspect al Qaeda terrorism. Blow up a ship at the same time they're plinking away at innocent civilians...
If they haven't already done so, the cops and Feds need to bring in some guys from the Scout-Sniper School in Quantico to analyze this thing. Most law enforcement snipers don't think like the guys who did these horrible acts. And street cops certainly do not. The best way to get a sniper is with another sniper. The Marine snipers are the best in the world.
I would tend to agree with you, but there is a real possibility that there are a number of terrorist cells in this country operating entirely on their own. The only thing they have in common is that they were all trained by al-Qaeda over a period of several years.
Yup. That's as good a guess as any I've seen.
I think he would say either - esp. if they have blended into the landscape and learned the country culture/codes. It wasn't a self-message, it was a message to the infidels.
It's called keeping people from panicing.
I'm sure the Feds are in play as far as that goes. If (when) something begins to happen that gets even more out of control, they'll be forced to head in that direction. But at this stage, if they announce that Al Qaeda death squads are roaming the countryside, one of several things will happen:
Depends on how stupid and unable to connect-the-dots he thought we were.
That doesn't throw me at all. Islam is historically steeped in all sorts of spiritism, demonism and strange superstitions.
This 'operation'--and that is exactly what it is--has every hallmark of exactly the kind of operations that Al Quada 'soldiers' were trained for. Same with the killing of the Marine in Kuwait.
The training materials found in Afghanistan described just these kinds of attacks.
EV
You never know, he could have popped the cop that was standing a matter of feet away from the victim in todays shooting... But he didn't.
Also, some of the pictures taken on the freeway during the highway "round-up" leads me to believe that there are LOTS of plain clothes sniffers on the ground.
Ya know, if they catch this bastard (alive or dead) and it's found out that this was indeed a terrorist organized operation, there are going to be some blowback (anger) that the Islaminazi perps could never have imagined.
Having a clear idea of who the enemy is and what its motives are can be refreshing.
as for what happens to the ragheads -- let them come out publicly for us or against us. It's time we knew if they respect the absolute right of religious freedom for all people everywhere.
Police weigh multiple killers, vehicles
'If this is 1 shooter, he's got a helluva lot of energy – and luck'
WASHINGTON – Authorities here are now investigating the possibility that the Beltway sniper shootings are the work of multiple shooters using multiple .223-caliber rifles and traveling in multiple white vehicles, WorldNetDaily has learned.
"We're looking at that angle," said Prince Georges County Police Department Detective Paula Pascarella, working on the special ATF task force.
In 10 days, 10 people in Washington and four surrounding counties have been shot. Eight have died, all from a single bullet wound to the torso or head.
Authorities are growing increasingly doubtful that a single sniper could strike with such frequency over such a broad territory in such a short period – and still avoid detection.
"If this is one shooter, he's got a helluva lot of energy – and luck," said a federal law-enforcement officer.
In addition, eyewitness accounts of the vehicle seen fleeing the scenes of at least four shootings have varied.
An eyewitness to a shooting in Montgomery County last week reported seeing a white box truck with two Hispanic-looking men in the cab, according to an initial Montgomery County Police lookout bulletin released to law enforcement last week.
A witness in the Prince Georges County shooting claimed to have seen a man leave the woods carrying a duffle bag near the school where a 13-year-old boy was shot. The witness said the man got into a truck.
Witnesses at a Sunoco gas station in Prince William County say they saw a white panel van (with no side windows) resembling a Dodge Caravan leave the scene.
Now police in Spotsylvania County, site of the latest shooting which occurred at an Exxon station, are looking for two men in a white box-shaped cargo van with what they describe as "ladder racks" on top. It's said to resemble a Chevy Astro Van.
Authorities say white cargo trucks and vans are common, making it hard to track down the shooters.
They also say that – with the exception of the school shooting, which apparently came from the woods – it's possible that the sniper or snipers are firing from inside the windowless cargo areas, and not the passenger windows, of the vehicles.
Previous stories:
New al-Qaida training tape shows another side of terror
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