Witness may have given fake story about shooter, van, weapon

STEPHEN MANNING, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, October 17, 2002
©2002 Associated Press

ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) -- A witness who described the Washington sniper, his cream-colored van and his assault weapon may have given a phony story, police said Thursday in a setback for investigators trying to catch the roving killer.

The announcement cast doubt on much of what the public thought it knew about the gunman who has terrorized the region for the past two weeks.

Fairfax County police Lt. Amy Lubas said the inaccurate account was exposed by checking it against that of several other witnesses.

Asked if the witness may have intentionally misled investigators, Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose, who is heading the investigation, at first said: "I'm moving forward." When asked the question again, Moose simply said, "Yes."

Lubas said police and state prosecutors are investigating to determine whether the witness should be charged.

Investigators had showed a certain optimism after the latest attack seemed to yield the best details yet about the killer. The killing of an FBI cyberterrorism analyst Monday night in a crowded Virginia parking lot was the only slaying so far in which people actually saw the shooting.

But Moose said there was no credence to the chief witness' description of the cream-colored van. And while he did not give the witness' exact description of the shooter, he chastised reporters for running reports that variously described the gunman as dark-skinned, olive-skinned, Middle Eastern or Hispanic.

"When we have people from the media interviewing witnesses and publishing reports, we get confusion," Moose said. "We get this noise ... out there that gives people tunnel vision and makes them focus in on things that are not appropriate. ... We would like to be able to do our job."

Moose said the witness' emphatic description of the shooter's AK-74 is also bogus. But investigators cautioned that they still believe the sniper is using one of a family of more than 30 similar assault-type weapons capable of firing a .223-caliber bullet.

"The message we're trying to say is please keep an open mind," Moose said. "People saw a description of a weapon over the last day and a half and we're convinced they eliminated people they know because they say, `Their gun is not the weapon I saw in the paper."'

Moose said the disclosure of the fake story, coming a day after investigators said they were unable to draw a composite sketch, was hardly a setback. He said investigators were still chasing leads and he stood by previous composite drawings of vehicles witnesses reported seeing leaving the attacks: a white box truck and a Chevrolet Astro van or Ford Econoline van.

Since Oct. 2, there have been 11 shootings in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., that have left nine people dead and two wounded. One of the wounded, a 13-year-old boy shot outside his school in Bowie, Md., was upgraded Thursday from critical to serious condition. The other wounded person, a woman in Virginia, was released from a hospital last week.

The victims were men and women of varying ages and ethnic backgrounds, each hit with a single bullet while going about everyday activities. A tarot death card left at one scene was inscribed: "Dear Policeman, I am God."

Law enforcement sources said the investigation by federal, state and local authorities has led to information about a number of people with high-powered guns, both legally and illegally owned.

A firearms safety instructor said the FBI has been asking registered owners of .223-caliber guns to bring them in for ballistic fingerprinting.

"They're looking for suspects," said Mike Heffernan, owner of Self Defense Technologies in Kensington. "They're looking at people who have a background in firearms, possess .223 weapons, and have the capability of using them."

from thefiringline.com http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=134951

The whole story
Yes cor-man, it has to do with the sniper shootings.

This evening about 8pm I got a call from a man who claimed to be an FBI agent surveying local gun owners (yeah right). Now this guy called me and started asking questions (I didn't answer BTW) about my lifestyle, what I've done this past week and about my guns. As some of you may know you should NEVER give out any kind of personal info to someone who calls you (too many scam artists out there). Also, I've never done anything wrong so why would the FBI call me? I assume it is someone trolling around until he finds someone willing to devulge info that will let him know who has guns worth stealing. I tell him this is who I think he is, so no I won't tell him about my guns (actually, I tell him I won't tell him IF I have guns, it is none of his business), my daily habits, my travels, etc. I tell him, that even if he is FBI I've done nothing illegal and so it is none of his buisness then either.

Then it gets really interesting. I dial " *69" to find the number he called from and then call the local FBI office to let them know that someone seems to be fraudulently identifing himself as FBI to get sensitive info about who owns guns (and their daily habits). I tell him the kinds of questions the guy asked (very aggressive- like he was trying to intimidate me) and the nice man at the local office told me it couldn't have been the FBI because, first they don't call people like that, and second they wouldn't use such tactics. I give him the number from *69- it is their Montgomery County MD task force ! I tell the guy that I may call back to apologize for my tone then, but I still won't tell him what guns I own or what I did this past week (it is still none of their business) to which he responds "I wouldn't either".

I call the office (though I don't have the agent's name) to find out who called me so I can apologize for my tone. The guy on the phone tells me that there are so many people there that there is no way he can figure out who it was without a name. I tell him the entire situation and he says "oh, wait, I think I know exactly who you talked to" "I'll have him call you back". A couple minutes later the phone rings and its the original guy (pissed as hell at me BTW).

I apologize for my previous tone, tell him that since I've never done anything wrong I couldn't imagine why the FBI would be calling me and reminded him that I had thought that it must have been someone trying to find out who owns what in the area to target homes. He tells me "Its a damn good thing you called. I had dispatched about a dozen local police and two ATF agents to your home."

I ask him how I came to his attention and why he is taking me so seriously (12 police and 2 ATF!!!). He tells me that "you've been buying an awful lot of guns lately haven't you" (btw, I have a fair #, but not like many here). I say that I have some guns but they are all legal so I still don't see the problem. I ask if he actually has a list of my guns (he does), how he got the list (won't tell me). I ask why he called (again). He won't tell me exactly but he then asks what I have been doing the past week. Now I'm getting REALLY mad (but I try to stay calm because I don't really want to go to jail). It becomes pretty clear in our conversatation that he somehow thinks I'm involved in the DC/MD/VA shootings . I then ask that if he has a list of my guns shouldn't he be able to tell that I don't own a .223, you know the round that the media has reported is the one being used. He tells me that many of my forms sent in by my FFLs were incomplete and didn't list the caliber (WHAT- who was the incompetent who sent the gov't an incomplete form and why is this the first I've heard about it, and I thought they weren't supposed to be used as registration/tracking/etc). Now he is clearly getting mad (and hinting that he won't call off the team he has coming for me). He DEMANDS to know what I've been up to the past week. I tell him that I've been home sometimes, at work sometimes, in Yeshiva sometimes and shopping sometimes (I know I shouldn't have said anything, but I'm tired, annoyed, a bit nervous, etc so I wasn't thinking straight). He then gets even angrier and threatens me with jail if I don't give him the answers he wants. I say it would help if he was more specific then. He asks where I was Fri morning (the time of the last shooting). I tell him I was at home. Now he's even madder (odd, I've just given him a specific answer like he wanted- once he gave a specific question). He wants to know if anyone can verify this (luckily my dad was home at the time- yes I currently live w/ my parents). He then ORDERS me to put my dad on the phone (luckily he was here) and tells me that if he doesn't verify my story exactly I should "be prepared to take a trip at around 11PM." My dad answers all his questions (incl. his birthday and why he was at home and not at work), I get the impression he was very hostile w/ my dad (he was shaking) and he kept telling my dad I have lots of guns (some of you may remember that my parents, esp. my dad, are strongly anti). Then they hung up.

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