Beltway Sniper Shootings-FR Commentary-Friday-Oct. 18, 2002

The terrorists in captivity sure do talk alot, don't they?

I'm amazed at the amount of info (we are told) they keep giving up.

walk a busy highway, with a bag carrying a weapon, leaving the scene of a shooting, when they shut down traffic in all directions within a few minutes? takes a long time to jog 2 miles and he would be able to stop and chat with the traffic stopped on 50 was he went by!

"I'd trust a bloodhound over an excited witness any day."

I agree with you.

To the contrary, there is a white work van that is suspect, and there are reports that partial plate info was obtained.

From the New York Times ---

"Investigation leaders said at a news conference here that a light-colored getaway van, while still being credibly sought in an earlier shooting, was not spotted on Monday night at the ninth and latest killing, in Falls Church, Va., as the police had originally reported."

I think this means that witness sightings of a white van for Monday's shooting have been determined to not be the shooter. I specifically don't think they have any van on videotape for Monday's shooting.

because no one was looking across the street into that dark parking lot!

"...maybe (they) have been in communication?"

Wash. Times had a story the other day where some official admitted they had evidence the shooter(s) were carefully watching the coverage. That was my question the other day, as well.

...they are already 10min late..

get to the beltway on foot. it is at LEAST two miles on a busy highway

It's almost four miles.

Sorry, the OJ on the gold course post was meant for Peach!

even more unlikely then. Anyone who has any knowledge of Route 50 would realize how impossible a getaway on foot would be.

Is it possible to walk that highway?

Sure, its possible. But not likely.

"walk a busy highway, with a bag carrying a weapon, leaving the scene of a shooting, when they shut down traffic in all directions within a few minutes? takes a long time to jog 2 miles and he would be able to stop and chat with the traffic
stopped on 50 was he went by!"

I'm not saying he was definitely on foot, but I am saying it's a possibility. He could have made it through traffic better than the cars and I know there a weapons that fire that caliber which fold and pack very unobtrusively. You could also conceal the weapon under a vest or jacket and walk along without appearing to be carrying anything.

But whether on foot, on a bike, motorcyle or in a vehicle - I still think the school was where he was and this is the route he took to escape.

Based on some stuff you posted earlier, I found this movie "The Glimmer Man" starring Steven Seagal (I'm sure it was a real winner </sarcasm). Anyhow, here are some synopsis excerpts from various sources. I've bolded some things that jumped out to me.

The Glimmer Man (1996)

Synopsis:
In the jungles of the Third World, his unsuspecting targets would hear nothing. They'd sense nothing. And they'd see only a glimmer before it was too late--he would strike and be gone. His shadowy government superiors called him the Glimmer Man, and they dispatched him on the riskiest, most sensitive covert assignments in which the United States was never officially involved. Now, as detective Jack Cole, he has abandoned his former occupation and identity. When a serial murderer with a macabre, ritualistic style plunges the families of Los Angeles into terror, the L.A.P.D. are forced to summon the one man whose instinct and understanding of the criminal mind are unrivaled: Jack Cole from New York. This time, in the urban jungle of Los Angeles, Cole is not the killer hunting prey, but the hunter seeking a killer. The iconoclastic Cole is paired with seasoned local homicide detective Jim Campbell, and the two quickly discover that their match was made somewhere other than heaven.

Two cops with almost nothing in common find themselves brought together to capture a psychotic murderer in this action thriller. Jack Cole (Steven Seagal) was once a government intelligence operative known as "The Glimmer Man," because he could move so quickly and quietly that his victims would only see a glimmer before they died. Having left international espionage behind him, Cole -- steeped in Eastern mysticism and not used to working with others -- has become a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department, where he's paired up with Jim Campbell (Keenen Ivory Wayans), a tough, no-nonsense cop with a weakness for weepy movies (Casablanca is one of his favorites) and little patience for Cole's New Age philosophies and outsider attitude. Cole and Campbell have to set aside their differences when they're assigned to track down a serial killer the press has dubbed "The Family Man," for his habit of dispatching entire households at once. However, when the Family Man's latest victims turn out to be Cole's former wife and her current husband, Campbell learns about Cole's secret past, and they both think that Cole's former bosses may somehow be involved with this current crime wave. Leading man Seagal also wrote and played guitar on several blues-based songs that appear on the film's soundtrack. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A string of serial killings in Los Angeles forces the LAPD to call on a specialist from New York: detective Jack Cole, who's dubbed the "Glimmer Man" because he's so fast his targets only see a glimmer of him before they're caught. Teamed up with a reluctant local cop, he uncovers a sinister conspiracy which points to him as the actual killer.

My questions: Are tarot cards from Eastern Mysticism? Is this whacko going to try to claim (once caught) that he is the subject of a govt. conspiracy? GULP--If your "Glimmer" is related to this "Glimmer", and if this movie is his inspiration, is he through with the "sniping" part and ready to move on to becoming "The Family Man" killer?

.....no new info....

well as one who travels the road daily, multiple times, foot traffic is nil. he would have been extremely obvious, even if he were leisurely strolling. i would imagine he would be intent on leaving the area quickly and there would be no way to be on foot and go unnoticed.

They're not mine, I just got pictures of the web. I own pugs.

Quilla - Thanks - Arcadia

I agree. I think the discredited witness is the one who said he saw the shooter in the parking lot, saaw him step from the van, take a shot and then get back in a drive away.

I own 3 pugs too!

....could it be possible that the shooter stayed in the area...put his weapon in a car(not a van) and mingled with all the bystanders, press etc....then later just drove off?

"Why did the shooter not take out the husband, a far bigger target?" We talked about this other day and figured it was for shock value. Just the terror factor here, that women and children aren't safe.

I still think it was random.