The Hillandale Shopping Center consists of three buildings north of the Beltway on the eastern side of New Hampshire Ave. As you go from north to south, the liquor store is in the central building (also the building that's furthest to the east). The store fronts in that building, including the liquor store, face west. The liquor store is the second or third store from the northern edge of the building. There's a clear line of sight between the front of the liquor store and a wooded area on the western side of New Hampshire. New Hampshire itself is in between, so a shot would be blocked by the traffic on New Hampshire -- there are no elevated parts of that wooded area. That wooded area, by the way, is around an entry to the Beltway.
To get to this scene on New Hampshire, I drove east on Randolph Rd. and therefore also passed the site where the first person was shot dead, in the shopping area of the Shoppers Discount Warehouse on Randolph Rd. just off Georgia Ave. The supermarket and its parking are on the north side of Randolph Rd. The Glenmont police station is right across the street on the southern side of Randolph Rd. A bit east of that police station is a wooded park area that would have a clear line of sight to the supermarket parking on the other side of Randolph. That area too is not elevated, and a shot would be blocked by the traffic on Randolph.
Thanks so much for the personal research. I wish more locals would help us. Working with just infomation from Moose and Squirel has been really hard.
I see you have been busy...What, no pictures(just kidding)....when I saw the liquor store owner interviewed last night, he seemed to think the shot came from across the parking lot...they did not show how the strip mall was laid out so I have no reference point.