Posted on 10/12/2002 3:42:32 PM PDT by 11th_VA
A composite graphic issued by the FBI (news - web sites) and the Montgomery County, Md., police to the news media shows the white box truck that authorities say multiple witnesses reported seeing at more than one of the sniper shootings in the Washington, D.C., suburbs. The graphic was issued by police October 12, 2002, at Montgomery County police headquarters in Rockville, Md.
The day of the FIRST day of shootings over a week ago, the BOLO was for a white Box truck of this type.
There was no mention of ANY vans at all until the first shooting near Fredericksburg..there, there was a BOLO for a White Dodge Caravan. The driver of that Van was later located and cleared.
The White Astro Van was from witnesses YESTERDAY at the LAST shooting. Interestingly, the media apparently got to pretty much all the witnesses, and one stated he focused on the white van because of all the white vehicle talk. I didn't see any of the witnesses interviewed state that the white van they saw did anything unusual or move at a high rate of speed. The van that was supposedly "bumping cars" getting away was located and cleared, and is NOT the van seen at the shooting yesterday.
Meanwhile, they spent 3 days promising a "graphic aid" which kept getting delayed. During the delays, we had the last two shootings with people seeing VANS, not box trucks. Then they finally release the graphic aid which is just a picture of a box truck.
I think most of the "Unknown Words" franchises in the DC area are open on weekends.
These vans are active in the AM delivering over-nite merchandise in many areas and they are always in a hurry. Not everyone drives the BIG BROWN TRUCK in this business...
I believe the "Total Recall" stuff was a complete botchjob by the media. Apparently David Martin from CBS got some sort of "Scoop" that the words "Total Recall" or "Total Access" were on the White ASTRO VAN from yesterday. So all the CBS radio and TV affiliates spent all of last morning obsessively repeating this. Law Enforcement finally got through to them and said that it wasn't on the van. In the first Spotsylvania press conference, a reporter asked about "Total Recall" and the guy looked GENIUNELY baffled at what he was talking about....not faking a reaction...and said he had no idea what the reporter meant. It seems there never was a Police BOLO with "Total Recall" mentioned.
It appeared to me the media successfully got to pretty much all the witnesses yesterday; none SAW anyone SHOOT from the White Astro Van.
And unless the police is hiding stuff there are no witnesses that saw any shots FIRED from the box truck, either. And I can't imagine why they'd cover that up were it true.
The sniper may not be in a white vehicle, at all. He/she may wait to shoot (now, thanks to the media) until a white vehicle shows up, then shoots; won't be long of a wait.
What I find hard to believe is that no one "knows" this man. Granted, he's probably a loner, may have a mental instability....but his routine has obviously changed in the past week. Even if he lived out in the woods, like a militant, he still needs to gas up his vehicle. Where do you most often go to get gas? To places nearby where you live, and fairly frequently. If he lived in an apt. or house, even if the neighbors don't know you, they still can observe "normal" comings and goings.....this guy has to have changed the "normalcy" in his life. He must live in the area of the shootings. I doubt he lives in the woods, but maybe lives in a remote, secluded dwelling. Then there's always doctors to check with. If this person has been off meds for the past month....the doctor's offices should check to see who of their patients haven't called in for more scripts, or have missed appointments, etc. I'm telling you, this guy has changed his life patterns in the past week and it's curious "no one knows" about it/hasn't come forward with any good leads/tips.
I used to make these white box trucks. I don't mean ones like it- I mean, the company I used to work for made this one. The company is called Supreme Corporation. I've literally put together thousands of them. I used to be the lead man over the main assembly line in the Georgia plant. I've done about every job there is to do there (this was before I joined the military). Put together the floors, the rear doors, the lining on the inside, even painted them and held down the Quality Control slot for a while.
The width of this truck's door will be 85 and one quarter inches. The height will be either 77, 83 or 89 inches (note, these are inside door opening measurements- not outside body measurements). The Astro is 75 inches high and 77.5 inches wide.
On a side note, it is possible for the shooter to be on the inside of the truck with the door in the down position and locked and make his shot without his partner (?) getting out to unlock the door. The top panel for this type of roll up door (most likely a Todco) is adjustable. You can take the top rollers out from inside with a 9/16 wrench and the top door panel will fold down towards the inside. Theoretically, he could take his shot and quickly fold the panel up again and even if somebody looked in his direction, all they'd see would be white truck with the door shut and latched. His partner could crank up and drive away and nobody would have ever seen anybody with a gun. Nobody even need get out of the truck. His partner could find a suitable spot, park the truck with the rear pointing the right direction. They could communicate with cell phones. The driver tells him when it's all clear. The shooter folds down the door panel, picks out a target, makes the shot, the driver cranks up and they're off.
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