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ELECTIONS and OMISSIONS!
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Posted on 10/17/2002 12:52:05 PM PDT by RCW2001
STEPHEN MANNING, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, October 17, 2002
©2002 Associated Press
URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2002/10/17/national1512EDT0714.DTL
(10-17) 12:28 PDT (AP) --
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."
Montgomery County police: www.co.mo.md.us
FBI: www.fbi.gov
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms: www.atf.treas.gov
©2002 Associated Press
IIRC, the witness who saw the shooters clearly, as they backed out their van, was not the witness who saw and recognized the gun.
How much of this is politics? Pressure from elected officials whose pro-gun-control stance would appear absurd, if this turns out to be a Saudi with a smuggled rifle?
I've met several Iranians, and they seem to have the "not serious" "grinning strangely" aspect to them. Could be genetic.
Actually there are a couple of things. One the shear magnitude of the effort, and the fact that while. as you say. the FFLs are required to maintiain the records, the feds are prohibited from doing so themselves. They can legally trace individual guns, but "forward" tracing is (supposed to be) illegal. I'm pretty sure that the FFLs are not required to turn over their records anytime the BATF asks for them, but are required to provide information on specific weapons in the course of a criminal investigation. Having the records exist at all is dangerous, but not nearly as dangerous as having them all in a BATF computer in the District of Criminals.
That's who I think it is, too. That would be the chief witness. BTW, that never sounded like our shooter.
Seeing that the FBI has "nada" and they are just going through a list of 1000s of gun owners trying to find a clue. I would help them cross me off their list. I would volunteer to go in. And bring my alibis with me. That way they don't waste time with me or my lawyer and continue working the list.
How many FFLs would really dare to refuse a request from the BATF? They know the BATF can put them out of business in a heartbeat.
Having the records exist at all is dangerous, but not nearly as dangerous as having them all in a BATF computer in the District of Criminals
How much has this difference slowed them down in the case at hand?
Eye-witness testimony in doubt? Really?
Since when has eye-witness testimony ever been 100% (TWA800, OKC bombing and JD#2 'sightings' ...)
Have you ever seen the 'spread' of what witnesses claim to have seen regarding AA FLT 587?
"Those accounts were all over the ball park ..."
The CREDIBLE ACCOUNTS on TWA 800 were from those pilots who were IN THE AIR at the time, and in particular, one crew who was BEHIND TWA 800 - and they did NOT report seeing 'a missile' ...
Whether he intended to or not, that would be the effect of what he did. The police had roadblocks looking for the cream-colored van and likely the murderer just drove off in some other vehicle.
I wonder if the police know who he really is, or is he part of the plot and he give them a fake id. I haven't had the time to look at all the threads to see if that issue has been addressed.
I tend to think he is not part of the plot because cnn.com (I know, I know) is reporting that sources say he was in the store at the time of the shooting. If he was part of the plot, you would think he would pre-position himself in a location that would make him a more believable witness.
If his actions aided the escape in any way, I think he should be charged as an accessory after the fact to murder.
...he was in the store at the time of the shooting. If he was part of the plot, you would think he would pre-position himself in a location that would make him a more believable witness."
True..and I bet the feds know by now what grades he had in jr high..
Actually it was Raymond Masis and my spouse and I were trying to place the accent. We thought it was Eastern European.
TONIGHT! 6pm PDT/9pm EDT Unspun With AnnaZ and Guest Hostess DIOTIMA!
ELECTIONS and OMISSIONS!
Plus, let's hear from FReepers around the country about what you're doing in YOUR local area with the midterm elections!
Call in! 1-868-RadioFR!
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