US sniper may be linked to Bin Laden (DC SNIPER ALERT)

The Evening Standard ^ | October 14, 2002 | James Langton

[MadIvan]

Intelligence experts in Washington are increasingly concerned that the gunman known as the "psycho-sniper" could be a terrorist with links to Islamic terror groups.

From the evidence gathered so far, which includes a handwritten note by the gunman, investigators think English may not be his first language.

The shootings, which have left eight dead in fewer than 12 days, coincided with a warning that Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network is planning new attacks. The FBI warned last Wednesday that supporters of Bin Laden were "targeting key sectors of the US economy" and has long suspected that a number of "sleeper" cells are still active.

The latest victim, on Friday morning, was father-of-six Kenneth Bridges, gunned down at a petrol station in Fredericksburg.

Investigators are troubled by the gunman's behaviour, in particular his habit of selecting targets at random. Recent reports suggest he may have a female accomplice and drives a large white van.

[ET(end tyranny)]

I think the person is either self employed or does not work. They just use the work day to hide one of their vehicles in (the white truck).

[Chapita]

As much time as the dude spends in front of the cameras, you'd think he would have something to say! I guess the doctor doesn't know what 'redundancy' means!

BTW, if I was involved in the search, I would tell the others that the shooter may have a back up team to ensure their egress. That would keep heads down while they departed the area.

[alnick]

Seems like the sniper discovered by chance the ease in picking out victims at the gas pumps.

Yes, I think that the only significance in the fact that some of the shootings occurred at gas stations is that the targets are so easy there.

[oceanperch]

Yes!

[KsSunflower]

Thank you for posting this!

The thing that makes that information even more sobering is that this was published on September 4th in World Net Daily, this is not some Sunday Morning QB info in light of the sniper attacks.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

Would a devout Muslim go to a strip bar and get drunk before flying planes into civilian targets?

[Cultural Jihad]

You have a point. I was writing about al Qaeda in general rather than this case in DC.

[EverOnward]

Yes, but a devout Muslim would have nothing to do with Tarot. I just can't buy this scenario, even though I would prefer to think that we don't have a case of an American killing his fellow Americans.

How well do you know "devout" muslims? LEOs know a foreign writer when they see it -- and no American would write the message found on the tarot card. Also tarot card experts say the way in which the tarot card was used was incorrect.

[KsSunflower]

This is true, however, the shooting last Monday of a 13 year old boy going into school is something that even with nutjobs, is very strange in our culture. I am very aware that there are those who target children, but those people do it for reasons that are not consistant with this type of killing.

The random shooting of a child really ups the terrorism quotient for me. We may have our sickos and nutjobs, but to shoot a child is pretty extreme for one of our own.

[isthisnickcool]

I posted this a few days ago after some of the first shootings. At that time, it appears that even if you give a few minutes one way or another from the reported time of the shootings that none come close to the same time as prayers. The times start at AM and move to PM. Sorry for the formatting.

Day Date Fajr Sunrise Dhuhr Asr Maghrib Isha

Tue 1 5:51 7:02 12:57 4:16 6:50 8:03

Wed 2 5:52 7:03 12:57 4:15 6:49 8:02 - SHOOTINGS-*5:20PM-*6:04PM

Thu 3 5:53 7:04 12:56 4:14 6:47 8:00 -SHOOTINGS- *7:41 AM-*8:21 AM-*9:58 AM-*9:15 PM

Fri 4 5:54 7:05 12:56 4:13 6:46 7:58 -SHOOTING-*2:30 PM

Sat 5 5:55 7:06 12:56 4:12 6:44 7:57

Sun 6 5:56 7:07 12:56 4:11 6:42 7:55

Mon 7 5:57 7:08 12:55 4:09 6:41 7:54 -SHOOTING-*8:09 AM

Tue 8 5:58 7:09 12:55 4:08 6:39 7:52

You can check the muslim prayer times here

[conservativejunkie]

Just thought of this:

Mobile Oil--Mid
Exon--East
Sunoco--Sniper

Can't remember the name of the other gas station.
Just a thought.

[justlurking]

But the problem is that airlines have slashed their prices so deeply that even with a loaded plane, they are still losing money.

I won't pretend to know about all airlines, but prices are not down on the major airlines that I fly. If anything, the prices are slightly higher -- and aggravated by the recent rules on changing tickets with restricted fares.

The real problem is apparently that lucrative business travelers (who pay full coach fares in excess of $1 per seat mile) are not flying. Some of it is because the economic downturn have caused travel budgets to be cut, but some of it is because the hassle of flying has induced businesses to find alternatives to travel, such as videoconferencing.

Without the full-fare travelers, the airlines are between a rock and a hard place. They can't operate flights at a profit without raising leisure fares above the point that most recreational travelers are willing to pay.

[Clovis_Skeptic]

investigators think English may not be his first language.

Well that narrows it down to about half the population!

[Prodigal Son]

I'd only buy this disgruntled soldier story if all the victims were Canadians.

This is probably something I missed out on since I moved away from America- but I didn't understand your comment. What has Canada to do with this? Tim McVeigh was a loser has been soldier and disgruntled. Lot's of people serve in the military for brief periods of their lives. And from experience, I can tell you, there are a fair amount of nut jobs in the military- hell, they thought I was one at one time ;-)

[4Freedom]

Sobering further still is that even with sufficient forewarning the authorities are powerless to prevent these kinds of attacks.

The liberals have disarmed us and now we're at the mercy of these terrorists.

[areafiftyone]

To be honest I think if MOOSE keeps his mouth shut hopefully no more children will be targeted. I think this psycho did that to show Moose that HE is in control NOT Moose. But the children should remain indoors anyways until this JERK is caught. Believe me serial killers don't have a conscious. Look at the Atlanta child serial killer. He killed only children and had no qualms about it at all. We seem to forget our past serial killers because we are so paranoid about terrorists now that the serial killers can have a field day. Moose needs to get some professionals in from the NYPD or some other big city who have worked on serial killer murders before. The FBI are lost when it comes to that.

[KsSunflower]

I wish it were as simple as blaming the libs for this. What is worse about these "small" terror tactics is that short of intercepting communication, which is more difficult because of the local aspect. We have only Israel to look to. They have excellent intelligence and amazing security, but there is little a government can do in the face of these types of attacks.

[rs79bm]

I have always had a theory of why there are picking people at gas stations, but I'll leave that one for you to decide.

[kjam22]

I think the guy is a football fan. He was on a roll last week, then took the weekend off. Lots of good games on this week. I know I was glued to the recliner!

[KSApplePie_two]

"In fact, the only "rational" reason (in his sociopathic mentality) why he would've returned to Fredericksburg is because he needed someone to die in that location (the first victim down there survived)."

25 posted on 10/14/02 3:09 AM Pacific by AntiGuv

________________________________________

So if your theory is correct then they really need to beef up security at schools in that area.