The perps of 911 did this regularly to fit into the society and look like anything but what they were.
So, we cannot let the Tarot card be the issue that sways us on this. If it is a cell of terrorists, that could easily be a ruse of feint.
Same with the hhite van. The shooter could simply wait until a white van of some sort appears on the scene before taking the shot. In that urban area, they ould not have to ait long. In such a y they could sue our own information against us very effectively. They may have used it to begin with, but no more. If it is terrorists, they probably have (like fir the 911) little or no limit on funds.
The way this sniper has acted has been exceedingly cool and has been exceedingly successful in creating terror. We cannot, we dare not underestimate them. IMHO, it is clearly not some kind of a "whack-job". It is much more like a stone cold professional, not attached emotionally, going about what he/they consider a "job" behind enemy lines. The shoot and scoot, using one shot in an urban environment to insure their own egress and then very cooly walk/drive away and simply blend in.
Whom ever it is is acring much more like a Special Forces group on a mission than any whack-job or serial killer IMHO.
Now it could be a killer with those skills. But the more I hear and see, the more I think not. Partricularly with an accomplice. Just my opinion, and I hope I am wrong ... but if it is a terrorist, I believe they are creating a "play book" for others to use in the future.
I hope and pray I am absolutely wrong.
So far I've heard of 3 reports where a "white truck" was supposedly seen, and the descriptions have varied, from an Isuzu box truck, a white Dodge Caravan, a white "panel van" and a Chevy van.
The other day I was home watching FOX News coverage of a roadblock on I-95/495, and they were pulling over ALL white trucks and vans. And from the sheer number of them, it occurred to me that seeing some kind of a white truck at the scene of these things may just be coincidence and not related at all to the shootings.
So sad that we now define "a good day" is whether some one got shot or not.
From another thread: Chief Moose acknowledged that police had been on the lookout for an older model burgundy Chevrolet Caprice, which was spotted leaving the scene of an Oct. 3 fatal shooting in Northwest.
So heads up people. One more thing to do in our spare time.
A quick search of threads, and I can't find it, but I'm sure I had read about sniper video games on these threads.
heard it was mentioned by Bo Diehtl on TV today.
The idea that the FBI is checking out former military snipers is preposterous and shows a complete lack of ideas or direction. Anyone who completed basic training was taught to shoot better than these clowns. One is a barely adequate shot for an occasional Deer Hunter, the other is hopeless. I would certainly never let anyone as incompetent as either hunt with me.
So9
http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2002/102002/10052002/1033864835
The wound exited under the left breast, not just a glancing wound. So it was more serious than the impression that I had originally gotten. It could have missed the heart by only a couple of inches. So it was not as different as I had originally thought. Still... the damage seems to have been less than expected from the generic bullet type at that speed. Due to a longer distance shot? I imagine there was some lung and rib damage.
The shooting diagram appears to indicate the shot was taken from about 400' (or maybe somewhat more) out. The shooting location was between two restaurants (McDonalds and Pizza Hut) at 2:30PM, where there is nothing but driveway, parking lots, and I presume grass. That seems like a relatively awkward position from which to take a shot and get away cleanly. The shooter seems to have been focused on the Michael's parking lot to an unusually high degree.
The victim was located in between the shooter's position and the nearest freeway interchange. If the vehicle was facing away from the victim at the time, it would have to travel a somewhat circuitious path to get to the freeway.
Reports say a white vehicle was seen speeding away (no direction or further details reported to my knowledge).
So looking at this particular incident, I came away with some impressions...
At least two people are involved. One driver needed to get away from this one. Probably small vehicle involved.
Shooters are very brazen and have a fixation for specific types of targets in contrast to completely random (Michael's customers being one target).
Shooters do not seem disciplined in the formal military sense. This particular hit does not seem planned with a good escape route and not planned with a particularly good level of certainty that one would not be spotted due to proximity to restaurants (workers, customers, delivery people could have spotted).
Also, the shooters are going for torso mainly. I would expect a former military trained person would go for head shots only... just because they can, under the circumstances, and because they are "God". There is discipline involved (times of week, success of getaways, kill ratio, etc.), but it is a sloppy discipline. Therefore I would not expect much to come from looking into US military sniper records if the authorities are actually doing that with the notion it is likely to turn up something (note-- it could be a diversion by the authorities while they close in on some non-military crazy or terrorist ring).
Piggybacking, md2576's idea that a vehicle such as a jeep with a dark transparent soft-top could be involved seems plausible for a hit such as this one. It is a relatively common vehicle to be nondescript, can manuever in suburb and urban areas well (agility and speed, at least relative to a delivery van). It also has the convenient full rear field of fire capability.