This Guy Must Be Ex-Military

[GulliverSwift]

This guy must be ex-military. Look at his skill in slipping away, only trained snipers can do that.

The most recent shooting in Virginia happened when he shot the guy with a police officer 50 yards away. Dang, how do you slip away from that?

That's one of the things they know how to do, not only shoot the guy, but slip away with skill.

Either that or these Washington-area police are complete bafoons, which I'm willing to accept. All looking for a white van, even though there are so many white vans out there you could count 30 easily if you stand by the road.

[Hail Caesar]

Understood. No offense meant and none taken.

Peace, brother.

[PatrioticAmerican]

"How can someone get away TEN TIMES?"

My point is that it doesn't take a sniper to do that in America, where most cops are simply high-school graduates with a 4 month police training program behind them (POST).

Most cops that I have met are as dumb as door nails. They are more concerned over arming themselves with seven knives (I actually had a cop challenge me to find them all. I did.) and three guns and making the SWAT team than helping. Hell, most cops know more about guns (well, they think they do) than the law, meaning they know more about killing you than helping you.

Besides, how many snipers do you know? I know plenty, and none of them have ever trained to kill in urban America and escape.

[my_pointy_head_is_sharp]

If you want to catch a sniper you should put a sniper on his trail.

That's exactly what I was thinking. They need a team of snipers to THINK like this guy; to anticipate where his next hit might be; to be in hiding, just waiting for him.

[RebelDawg]

No, it could be anybody. Anyone with minimal rifle skills can hit a human-sized target at 100 yds and getting away is no more complicated than driving off. 1000 yds, that's definitely military or a very well-trained shooter. A tenth of that, my little sister could do it. (No offense, sis...oh heck, I'd better start watching the bushes now...)

You are dead on the money with your analysis.

I've tried to explain this so many times to the posters on these threads that its become tiring. Those of us who actually know firearms and marksmanship have pointed this out time and time again, unfortunately it would seem that the majority of the posters on these sniper threads seem to think that watching movies and playing video games qualifies them to be "firearms" experts...

Anyone who thinks that making a 100 yard shot on a mansized target with a scoped rifle requires extraordinary skill is (for lack of better words) an idiot! 400yds or 500 yds then maybe I'd agree with them. Hell I can hit a man sized target at 100 yards with my hunting revolver. I realize that must shock the hell out of the video game players in the crowd, but oh well they should probably get some actual information on the subject before continuing to spread their fictitious nonsense!

One of these people needs to tell us, If they know that they have absolutely zero knowledge on the subject then why do so many of them continue to post their theories in such ways as if they are stating some factual evidence and just what in the world are they basing them on???

By the way, I shoot with plenty of people on the 400 yd range at my local gun club and most of them (except for myself and two others that I know of)have absoultely zero military training. I hate to burst this theory but in fact most rifle owners have no military training and they are very capable shooters. It's time for these people to put the playstaion 2 in the closet for awhile...

Here is a link on long range shooting and hunting, most of you will be amazed that they refer to ranges between 1000 and 1500 yards. This is indeed long range!

Long range

And here is one of my favorite safari hunting and reloading sites

Accurate Reloading

If we can get these people to spend some time here maybe they will gain some actually knowledge and stop posting their disinformation. At least we can hope...

[RebelDawg]

That's exactly what I was thinking. They need a team of snipers to THINK like this guy; to anticipate where his next hit might be; to be in hiding, just waiting for him.

Nonsense! This guy is obviously NOT a sniper?

Questions for you.

How many trained snipers fail to kill their intended targets at ranges of only 100 yards?

How many trained snipers make body shots at this rediculously short range?

[Nitro]

Hell man, I gotta agree, when I was a squid we didn't take much if any long range rifle training and yet if I had a Ruger Mini-14 and a week or so I could easily make center-mass shots at 200 yds!!

[AStack75]

They probably have sophisticated technical gear locked in on all police communications.

AKA a police scanner

[jackbill]

My opinion: two or more "video game" freaks, probably high school or drop-outs, competing against each other - with the same weapon. One driving, one shooting.

I don't do "video games" but I believe that a common "taunt" of people who do is "I am God".

Fits for motive also. Competition!

Too crazy? Columbine would have been thought so too, some years ago.

[Artem55]

On WCCO radio yesterday, they had a guest on who trains military and police snipers. His position was that the shooter was not a true sniper and offered several insights.

1. Most of the shots have been body mass shots. This type of shot is typically taken by a true sniper when firing from great distances, say 1,000 yards. Closer shots would likely be head shots 2. A trained sniper would probably be using a .308 and not a .223--one of his shots missed because the .223 slug shattered while penetrating a pane of glass. 4. The shooter is getting only one shot off which may mean that he is using a hunting rifle and not an assault weapon.

The upshot of his comments is this; the miscreant may be a fairly good shot, but he is probably not a true trained sniper.

[xkaydet65]

I'm no expert in riflery so I'll take your word about the skills needed to do a one shot one kill from 200meters. I do remember those kids from Kentucky who shot up the school yard from 100 meters using carbines and scored 25 hits out of 34 shots. But one thing qualifies this shooter as special. He's not range firing. He's killing real people in public places with the world looking for him. That's not some boot from Parris Island. That's a stone killer who knows his job, who practices cover and concealment and evasion and escape while the local cops, who are not all Keystone types, spin their wheels in frustration. Maybe the mechanics of the shot doesn't ID this guy as an expert, but everything else in his package shows he knows exactly what he's doing, how to do it, and how to get away with it. That part of what he's doing is special. You're a Marine Race, could you do what he's done as successfully?

[BradyLS]

Someone else in a thread a while back suggested he was simply a homegrown nutjob. I'm inclined to agree. That he hasn't been caught yet doesn't necesarily mean he's ex-military. Maybe he's just a little craftier than the average bear. LE hasn't even caught up with Chandra Levy's killer nor the Anthrax killer.

But we can rest easy that the crackdown on peanut butter in school lunchrooms is meeting with stunning success!

[RaceBannon]

I am still not so sure of his expertise in cover and concealment, either!

With his stepvan, all he needs is line of sight targeting, an open door, someone who stands still for a few seconds, and then pull the trigger.

If he has this van, and it has curtains or something to make shadow from those who look inside from any other angle than directly in the back, then he is concealed. His shot is through the curtain opening, he shoots, the door stays open while the driver drives away, or he closes the door while the driver drives away.

A second or 3rd person could act like a moving man or something, non-chalantly closing the door as if nothing happened after the shot, smiling to those around them on the outside of the truck.

This sounds like an easy setup mechanically, like you said, but also like you said, these are cold blooded people.

The scenario I just used, like you said, is awfully cold, takes coordication of effort, two to 3 people to accomplish.

What i dont understand, is why the shooters are using the same type of vehicle each time. That tells me they either bought a ton of these same vehicles, use a different one after 2 or 3 shootings; or, they are waiting for the chance to use the blue one for a while; or, they are really amatuers that have been extremely lucky.

The pro aspect of this scares me, because the white van is the standard color they come off the lot, in the step van variety anyways, there may be a fleet of these things already in posession of the pros, and they are heading out for the day they are called to do it nationally.

[xkaydet65]

I think if we see two or three shootings outside Evansville Ind. or Lawrence Kan. or some such place then we have a real problem.

Many years ago I heard Hearst News service military analyst Dan Brigham talk about terrism on the Barry Farber show here in NYC. He described a scenario of one very well trained gunman targeting people in and around CentralPark, hiding the weapon and returning to attack at a different lcale the next day Given the number of targets, the environment of the park, and a shooter with skill Brigham said that it would be difficult for law enforcement to run him to ground. On a larger scale that's what this shooter has done.

My own feling, and I think yours as well, is that this is the second wave. If the shootings start up in new places this week I think most everyone will agree. From a civvie to a Gyrene. Semper Fi!!!

[billhilly]

"Elmer Fudd could get hits under those circumstances. "

Agree, and on a wascally wabbit, a much smaller target.

[SamKeck]

Any Former Marine, who ever graduated from Boot Camp, can do a head shot with iron sights from 200 yards, this expert nonsense makes me sick.

Roger that, RB. And I also recall that the "combat sights" for a Marine's weapon were the windage and elevation settings that were fired from the 300-yard-line of the qualification course, but everyone was expected to be proficient with iron sights as far back as the 500-yard-line.

[Tink2742]

Muhammed was ex- military. He joined the Army in 1985 and got an honorable discharge in 1994.

[Tink2742]

The reason they were looking for a white van is because of the false leads they were getting. With an incedent of this magnitude, they must follow up on all leads until they are weeded out or dispelled. They finally got the leads they were looking for from Muhammed's ex-wife stating that Muhammed just purchsed a vehicle in New Jersey, a witness, and his priest. Once they got the lead that they were driving a 1990 Blue Caprice, they released it to the media and within hours a trucker called in their location and they were apprehended.