Posted on 10/13/2002 1:43:35 PM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection
US police have said they do not want to the muddy waters of an investigation into a sniper who has killed eight people and wounded two by releasing an inaccurate sketch, amid reports the meticulous killer circling the nation's capital has been sighted.
Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose was asked to comment on reports that the sniper who has electrified the Washington area has been spotted, and police are working on a composite sketch.
Chief Moose, struggling for the right words, said he did not want to "muddy the waters" by releasing an image to the media too soon.
"Please rest assured that when we have something where we are sure that the media can help us we will use that," Moose said.
"The concern is that we pollute the whole thought process, we cause people to have tunnel vision, think they see what they heard on TV and mix that up with reality."
The power of the media has taken center stage in the hunt for the shooter - or shooters, who has used a high-velocity rifle to slam a single bullet into 10 victims since October 2, eluding the largest federal, state and local manhunt in the history of the Washington region.
Chief Moose released a composite image of an older model, mid-sized commercial truck, with light damage to its right rear bumper and black lettering -- a row of large black block letters above a row of smaller letters, on each side.
Chief Moose said the white truck, which has a roll-up door at the rear, was seen at more than one of the shootings by more than one witness and he asked the media to distribute it widely.
He declined to discuss any of the witnesses further.
"None of the witnesses have been able to give us the exact wording" on the truck or its license plate number, Chief Moose said at a news briefing.
The chief said the image is generating new leads.
"Maybe he has had this vehicle repaired," he said, calling on mechanics and body shop workers to think back.
Investigators are working on a sketch of a second vehicle, described as a white Chevrolet Astro van, seen near the latest shooting on Friday, Chief Moose said.
"We're working with a sense of urgency" to get that photo to the public, he said.
Physical evidence has been scant, with one taunting clue apparently left by the shooter near where a 13-year-old victim was shot - a tarot "death" card with the words "dear Mr Policeman, I am God" scrawled on the back.
The cold, methodical killer, who picks off random victims while concealed in a sniper's nest at a comfortable distance, claimed his 10th victim and eighth fatality on Friday.
Kenneth Bridges, 53, a businessman and father of six on the road from Philadelphia, was killed on Friday at an Exxon gasoline station near a busy interstate highway in Virginia.
AQ's first post-9/11, post-anthrax attack was on a synagogue in Tunisia that killed 13 people. Not exactly the kind of high profile target you're talking about. The DC-area killings are getting more coverage than anything they've done in the past year (since the anthrax trial balloons). Coverage is what they crave.
Not every terror attack is going to be 9/11. Just look to Israel for proof of that. I believe they bombed an ice cream parlor, killing a single infant, just a few months ago.
To think that their playbook is limited exclusively to large scale attacks on highly recognizable targets is flat-out inaccurate.
I would agree except for one fact. A terrorist's goal is to "terrorize" large groups of people and these guys are terrorizing MORE by doing it this way, than if they were to just blow up a gas station/night club/etc.
It happens daily. That's how liberals and their press create their illusions of "normal."
Without TV propaganda, Liberal nut cases would be in prison or the nut house.
Don't think it's not coming. I didn't realize that much damage could be done with a "car" bomb.
The shooter is a trained military guy, maybe SAS or IRA, and will slip across the Canadian border and fly back to Europe from Toronto or Montreal.
The local team is expendable but has had almost two years to build escape routes and position cash and resources. My bet is that the truck is in a warehouse or garage in such a fahion that it won't draw attention for a least 5 or 10 days. The local team will easily move across both borders and be home in the Becca Valley or Saudi Arabia by next Monday. There are, of course, other teams in place trained and ready to use the weapons and material that comes so easily across the Mexican border.
By both. They have identical agendas.
He described a cake with a stick hanging down and when I look at a bird's eye view of the Capitol building with it's long Mall, it's exactly what I see. The two sticks he mentions earlier may be Oct. 2nd..
Well, he knows what we would set up OUTSIDE of the Capitol loop and would likely be casing the inside of the Capitol loop on foot.
Heard there's a big food festival this weekend and saw people all over the place.
He must fit right in so I'd guess a johnny jihad "cleaned up" type....there's only thousands of those.
The question is: What's the end game??
I do think he plans to die.
Sac
These guys are sending a message that absolutely no-one is safe anywhere.
They'll kill you when you're washing the car, pumping gas, mowing the lawn, waiting for the bus, going to school, shopping at Michael's, absolutely anywhere. They're trying to be totally unpredictable.
You can't protect yourself by not flying, staying out of federal buildings, nightclubs, etc.. There's nothing you can do. Any moment anywhere you may be shot to death.
That's the definition of terror.
I remember that. Do you also remember when the Palestinian sniper shot a baby in the head... or when the sniper shot the pregnant Israeli woman and her child in the car? It's the same type of killer that shot down the school boy. Palestinians, Al Qeada, Abu Sayef -- It doesn't matter which group -- they are all trained out of the same hate-filled, cold-blooded playbook. Come to think of it, why doesn't some expert come up with a profile of an Islamic terrorist for us.
Terrorists, or their hired guns, are in the business of terrorizing. They, like the anthrax mailers, have accomplished that mission.
Whether the puppetmaster is a jihadist is beside the point, those folks down there are scared witless that thier kid is next in the crosshairs.
May the bastards die a horrible death, whoever they are.
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