Beltway Sniper Shootings-FR Commentary-Saturday, Oct. 19, 2002

Fox News, CNN, Press Conferences | October 19, 2002 | Fox News, CNN, Press Conferences

[Peach]

To avoid multiple vanity threads regarding any news from press conferences, let's keep a live commentary thread going again today.

[nicmarlo]

BTW, sometimes it's good to "just check [things out] on a hunch."

[livius]

A real possibility.

I'm still not convinced this guy flew away - although I think it should be kept as a possibility - because I can't believe that INS enforcement is particularly good yet.

Also, whoever drove around that area clearly knew it well. You couldn't do that just a couple of weeks after landing. So even if the shooter flew away, it's possible the others are still here.

Or maybe the driver changed IDS with the shooter and returned to his native land (whatever it was), leaving the shooter to go on to another contact in another city.

Or maybe it's a video game-crazed white middle class teenager...

[livius]

Even more interesting.

[King_of_Hindsight]

Cpl...Here's an earlier post I made on another thread referencing Total Car anf TRuck Rental...

KILLER AND HIS TRUCK ON VIDEO

Posted by King_of_Hindsight to Fudd
On News/Activism Oct 14 9:52 AM #149 of 151

I'm leaning heavily towards the Monday thru Friday slug who works for someone else and lives or works near Waldorf, MD., using vehicles rented from a local company there. Check out www.totalcarent.qpg.com and look at the mapquest map from the rental company website, scroll to the bottom and click on the Map button. Routes 5 and 301 run north for easy access to Interstate 495, the beltway around DC, and to the areas of the shootings. His daily work takes him all around the beltway, including possible deliveries to Michaels Crafts, etc. Choose not to go to I495 and the road takes you north to the Bowie, MD. area, scene of the school shooting. Go south on 301 and you end up in VA, just east, and within striking distance of I95/Spotsyvania, VA. Work takes him to these places also.

Take a look around, next time you're out, at work vehicles...courrier services, delivery services, etc. Many are rentals. Total Car and Truck not only offers cars, but also mini vans and full sized trucks...It's not a stretch to say many are white in color, is it? A large, large percentage of work vehicles and delivery vans are white, aren't they.

Someone close to that area, or it's other location in Sterling, VA. should take a drive by and look at their lot...see what the lettering looks like on the side of their trucks. It must be lettered. Not only is it good advertising for the rental company, but it's the law in VA...Commercial vehicles, even rentals, must have the company name displayed on both sides. Sorry, not sure about MD law on this.

Chief Bullwinkle and others have never explained why they told us to disregard the lookout for a white van with the words "Total Recall" or Total something. He did a press conference one night and just said "Nevermind those words, we have discounted them". Total Recall, Total Car Rental...hmmmm?

Anyway, the only thing that doesn't seem to fit would be the Manassas shooting, right? Except that Total Car and Truck Rental has that Sterling, VA. location. If the boss sent the badguy(s) out to Sterling to pick up a vehicle, possibly a needed minivan versus the normal delivery truck, the best rush hour drive back into the Waldorf, MD area would be through "Manassas" to I95 and back up 301, all against the flow of the infamous Wash, DC rush hour traffic.

My two cents...

[valleygal]

"I don't mean to be a scold, and I'm way out on the left coast anyway. I think though that terrorism is going to get MUCH worse, perhaps to Israeli levels, and we are going to have to be very stoical about going about our normal lives.

If we don't, they win."

I knew you weren't trying to be a scold. And I wasn't
offended at all.

I just remember Mom telling the stories about the bombs and hiding under the table. I also know my grandfather was a fireman in London during the Blitz and had to put out fires and deal with body parts after bombings. I think the Brits were pretty stoic.

I hope we can be, too.

[RS_Rider]

Any comments on the manhunt going on? My yahoo page has a Reuters headline about a fugitive that is being chased. This seems like some kind of a development.

[livius]

I'm not sure they'd tell us - yet. The fact that the killings have stopped is what matters. Beyond that, perhaps they're - uh - interrogating these people to see what was next in the playbook.

By the way, I want to stress that I have no knowledge or even confidence that the snipers are cooling their heels at Gitmo It was suggested by another poster, and I think it's worth considering.

But I'm not sure it would be announced right away, in any case. If they announced it, the 1,000 lawyers sent out by the Dems to corrupt elections would be down at Gitmo trying to file lawsuits by dawn tomorrow.

[valleygal]

I just got back from the neighbors coffee for J.D. Hayworth. I really like him. He is such a normal guy. So normal in fact that the vet he takes his pets to didn't even know he was a congressman.!

Remember asking me about an update? Would you like me to freep mail you with it?

[Sacajaweau]

Sept 14th = 7th day of Rajeb

Oct 14th = 7th day of Sha'ban...

Don't know anything about those months and have to make a correction...The Islamic calendar alternates I think between 29 and 30 days. I remembered the 30 days from last year.

Sorry/Sac

Think the INS 30 day thing is more important but 14 to 14 is a way to keep track of the 30 days.

[livius]

There are a billion (well, maybe not quite a billion) rental companies around airports. I don't see why the snipers couldn't have rented a different truck every day.

But somebody had to know his way around DC, and that's the person they should look for. I'd say airport or courier service employee. Or maybe airport limo driver.

[Route66]

"BTW, sometimes it's good to "just check [things out] on a hunch."

Yes it is - and we can hope that LE is checking out possibilities like this and many more. I know they desperately want this to be a home-grown kook, but surely homeland security is quietly working on this from a terrorism angle no matter what the task force is doing.
[HOPE SO ANYWAY.]

[Sacajaweau]

Hey Valley: Did you tell him not to be surprised if in the future, people are writing on their bellies when something happens??

:-)

[nicmarlo]

but surely homeland security is quietly working on this from a terrorism angle no matter what the task force is doing.

I'm sure you can bet the farm on that one. Remember what President Bush said a year ago? Our government will be working to undo the terrorists, with "secret successes."

[Sacajaweau]

Interesting as they just had a media thing that UBL arrived in Saudi Arabia....Media Tip (or confirmation)from the other side?? except they're not talking about UBL.

[nicmarlo]

Interesting numbers there, sac; both of those days were the "7th day" of something, even though, on our calendar, they were a Saturday for one and Monday for another. And, yes, keeping track of the 14th of the month, good idea. And there just might be something to the 30-day imposition of visitors.

[GreyWolf]

Regarding the shell casing found in the truck, local (Baltimore) station is reporting that it is too old to be related to recent weeks' shootings. It apparently is quite oxidized and months old. That points either to a plant or a bad lead alltogether. I have no idea who their source was.

[Route66]

"Remember what President Bush said a year ago? Our government will be working to undo the terrorists, with "secret successes."

I do remember. And I also remember them telling us in one of the press conferences last week that the President was being briefed daily on the shootings.
I'll bet they are having to tell him something more than "It would be inappropriate for us to discuss that with you at this time."

[Gritty]

I'm still not convinced this guy flew away

I agree with you. If this were a terrorist operation, the guys are already safely here in this country and can go to ground quite easily. They already seem to have done so, so why leave and risk not getting back in? Just hang loose until the next mission. There's plenty of "sea" for the "fish" to swim in.

In any case, the ease with which this shooter moves around stongly implies somebody intimately familiar with American traffic rules, roads, maps and likely police strategies. That could be the driver who sets the shooter up, or both. A foreigner who can't speak much English and has spent little time driving in this area would likely have made a mission compromising mistake by now, either in traffic or negotiating the slick getaways. This team - and it's likely a team effort - hasn't. Execution has been flawless, as far as we can tell.

That means it is likely somebody involved in this country in an urban environment and driving here for a long time, even if not a local. Good planning and recon can be invaluable, but driving and execution performance under pressure in the suburban Washington environment - often at night - is a must.

[nicmarlo]

they just had a media thing that UBL arrived in Saudi Arabia

Clueless here. What about UBL arriving in Saudi Arabia....who said that? (Thought he was presumed dead, who's "presuming" he's alive?) Also, he was kicked out of Saudi, and much of his money confiscated. He was inciting the people there to overthrow the Royals.