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.
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.