Sniper area witnesses describe man in van

CNN ^ | 10-15-02

[dogbyte12]

Three witnesses in the vicinity of two of the Washington area sniper shootings saw an olive dark-skinned man in a white van, law enforcement sources said Tuesday.

The accounts -- including one in which a witness saw two men in the van -- were being used by investigators to develop a composite sketch of a sniper suspect.

They marked the first time law enforcement has described a suspicious person in the case.

One of the witness accounts came from the site of Monday night's fatal shooting of a 47-year-old woman outside a Home Depot in Falls Church, Virginia.

It was unclear when the sketch would be made public, if at all. Police also said they were working with witnesses on another angle in the latest shooting.

"We received license plate information from several witnesses -- different information on different tags," said Fairfax County Police Chief Tom Manger. "We're following up on all that information. We are not ready to release any tag information about a suspect vehicle."

[laconic]

If the sniper (or snipers) does turn out to be a terrorist or terrorist-sympathizer, which I suspect (an easy way to damage the economy of the nation's capital and scare its inhabitants), the FBI will doubtlessly refuse to acknowledge it, just as they have never acknowledged that the murderer of the ElAl passengers at LAX was a terrorist.

[Clinton Is Scum]

No, the profilers have already concluded that the Beltway sniper is an angry white male who collects guns and enjoys hunting. I guess the witnesses hadn't heard the news.

[demlosers]

Will Moose now release a composite picture of the perp?

[Camel Joe]

Perhaps they will tell us its Boris and Natasha trying to get Moose and Squirrel

[Shermy]

Or like Hadayet, the LA Airport shooter, profile him as just someone suffering personal, financial issues.

Oh, and I'm starting to see the "can't be terrorism if someone doesn't take credit" angle lately again.

[porte des morts]

They marked the first time law enforcement has described a suspicious person in the case.

What poor reporting, and complete and utter bull shat.

At either the second or third shooting, witnesses described a ME or hispanic male, and a white van with another person driving. This soon faded from the news. Either these witnesses were told to keep quiet, or they were discounted as un-PC.

The information has been there the whole time, for whatever reason it was ignored.

[crypt2k]

As soon as the sniper knows he's close to capture,
his buddies from Al Queda spirit him away in a
clothes basket and on to the nearest tramp steamer
bound for Sudan.

[Billthedrill]

the profilers have already concluded that the Beltway sniper is an angry white male who collects guns...

You forgot "NRA member." Man, the media are gonna be upset if he turns out not to be an NRA member...

[Common Tator]

It was unclear when the sketch would be made public, if at all.

That is media-ese for the cops don't think the guy the witness saw was the killer.

The witness says he got a good look. It has been nearly 24 hours. In that time the cops would have a sketch made. If they though they had a sketch of the real shooter it would be all over every TV set in the world by now.

It isn't.

The odds are very high that someone would recognize a sketch that was even sort of close to the real killer. They might have the guy by tomorrow if they had a valid sketch.

There are two possibilites. The guy really saw him and they have a match from a mug shot. They are just trying to find the guy to arrest him. The object of the media stuff about a sketch is designed not to alarm the suspect and make him run before they pick him up.

The other, more likely possibility, is the guy the witness saw was not the shooter. They cops know he did not see the real shooter but they don't want the killer to be sure they don't have a make on him.

I would say that if the killer or killers are at home and no one has blown down their door, the cops are only fooling themselves and the public with the witness who didn't see the real killer. The killers know they have not been fingered. If the killer or killers are at a safe house some where it may be a different story.

[lelio]

If they have the license plate number then it should be short work to go to where it was registered (provided that the van isn't stolen and the plates are valid). I'm wondering why we haven't heard anything today about cops talking to the van's owners.

[lelio]

If the killer or killers are at a safe house some where it may be a different story.
Agreed. It wouldn't be too hard pre Sept 11th to bring in your cousin from Afghanistan and then have him just stay in your house for a year, not letting anyone see you. Or life out in Montana and come into VA just for this hit.

[mfulstone]

My bet:

The sniper has a local support base - an Islamist terror cell. This is not the last serial sniper incident this country will have to deal with. Right now, this is partly to test the effectiveness of the tactics and training of the teams.

He may be wearing a bomb while 'working.' There may be a bomb in the truck or van.

If I were a LEO, I would approach with extreme caution even if the suspect surrenders. I would make him walk at least 100 yards away from his vehicle before I approached him.

As a military man, I would want to just put a round through his brain stem even if he was surrendering. Then he couldn't trigger a bomb.

[lelio]

Then he couldn't trigger a bomb.
What I can't understand is why these terrorists don't hook themselves up with a trigger that goes off if their hand slips off the button. So if they are shot dead, their fingers slides off and the bomb goes off. Maybe brainpower isn't their speciality.

[mfulstone]

What I can't understand is why these terrorists don't hook themselves up with a trigger that goes off if their hand slips off the button. So if they are shot dead, their fingers slides off and the bomb goes off. Maybe brainpower isn't their speciality.

If you sneezed, you could blow yourself up.

[lelio]

Is that really a concern to most terrorists? This could be the trainee model for the useful idiots that the higher ups aren't so sure about.

[mfulstone]

Is that really a concern to most terrorists? This could be the trainee model for the useful idiots that the higher ups aren't so sure about.

Yup - you want to be able to pick your target and not blow up on the way there. Terrorism is Psychological Warfare. You want the maximum psychological impact from your mission.

If the perp can blow up a bunch of LEOs when they arrest him, it will be a huge score.

[randita]

The sniper has a local support base - an Islamist terror cell.

I agree. The sniper either himself is very familiar with the territory or knows someone else who is. The vanishing act is too slick for people who don't know where they're headed.

Also, the fact that, despite numerous tips, they have not been able to pinpoint this individual tells me he keeps very much to himself, or is himself new to the area and relying on a long time resident for assistance.

I mean, if you had a friend, relative, neighbor or co-worker who had a vehicle like that widely described and was a known marksman, wouldn't alarm bells have gone off for you? It would have for me. The people in this operation are obviously a VERY tight knit group.

[cynicom]

White, uneducated redneck, hunter, NRA member, gun collector