Beltway Sniper Shootings-FR Commentary-Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2002 [Another Shooting?]

Fox News, CNN, Press Releases | October 22, 2002 | Fox News, CNN, Press Releases

[Peach]

Let's keep a live commentary thread gonig again today.

[madison10]

Fox shouldn't be saying this. They are trying to keep the road blocks quiet.

[Catspaw]

I wonder if that 6:40 time is right (which is why I didn't put it in my post). The first call came in at 5:56 a.m. and that'd mean a delay of almost 45 minutes for him to arrive at the hospital. I wonder if it's more like 6:14. But then, I don't know what the paramedics did to get him stablized at the scene and how long that took.

[rintense]

That was the first thing I thought of. You just don't go out at 5:30am looking for targets. He knew the bus schedule and predetermined his target.

[aristeides]

Who phoned it in?

I haven't heard that reported. But if there two drivers on the bus, I imagine the other driver did.

[livius]

I hope we're all remembering to keep this poor bus driver in our prayers. For some reason, I always feel particularly badly when bus drivers get targeted by thugs, because many of them are really nice guys who get to know their passengers, etc., and can either make or break your morning by their attitude and driving.


Prayers for him and his family.

[Freedom2specul8]

He's definitely got a plan going..

[Letitring]

I can't believe it either, none of it, really. I think he's lying about the money. If that's what he wanted, why did it take him so long to demand it? I think he just wants to torment the cops as he shoots Americans.

[aristeides]

If it's an outsider like the French guy, he wouldn't have family members around.

[rintense]

It's almost as if he's attacking people's routines... oh man, think of things that happen on a daily or weekly basis? Garbage men, mailmen, etc.

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

Read this:

"There has been no contact between him and his family since he left for the United States," he added.


Soldier Is Sniper Suspect

A French soldier who went missing on a holiday trip to America is reported to have matched an image of the serial sniper terrorising Washington.

The soldier is reported to have been identified as the man in a US police sketch of the gunman who has killed nine people in the Washington area since October 2...Bureau did not give the man's name or town of origin but said he was French.

"There has been no contact between him and his family since he left for the United States," he added.

The man was reported as a deserter to police in October and his details were sent to the international police force, Interpol.

http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,0-12148625,00.html

[mhking]

Too much has not been released to the public.

Then tell me, what would be enough, to release the text of the entire letter?

[aristeides]

At least in Fairfax County, lot of school bus routes start BEFORE 6, and a lot of commuting parents leave home by 6.

Hmmm, I wonder if that's part of the reason he chose that time.

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

When I heard that last night, I immediately felt it really could be the French guy.

[Catspaw]

I've got a friend of Japanese descent (born in Hawaii). He speaks perfect English. When he wants to pretend he's foreign-born, he speaks like his grandfather. Given how twisted this killer is, it wouldn't be hard for him to fake broken English to throw the cops off. Or he could be foreign born. No one is going to know until the cops find him.

[Quilla]

I heard about this shooting as I was getting ready to go to the office. No time to freep at the house and customers were lined up at the door when I arrived. Sheesh! Boy am I behind - 400+ posts.

I feel this is indeed the work of the beltway killer. He knows drones may be in the area and took advantage of the cover of night. No need to case out the place for several days, he's quite familiar with the area.

I'm praying for the victim. his family, and law enforcement - they need all the help they can get!

[Letitring]

That is what CNN said, strange, medivac helicopter took victim to hospital.

[txrangerette]

I agree that things shutting down &
people changing behavior to "avoid"
the shooters DOES result in their just
using new tactics in their killings.
No doubt they revel in that. As to the
good FReepers who are upset by you, I
see why they didn't like NAMES you
called them. Your POINTS are spot on,
however.

[Lion's Cub]

The time probably is right.

One of stations (I've een switchng back and forth) mentioned that the first officers on the scene had to get to the bus slowly because they had no way of knowing if the sniper might be inside. The reporter said they set up a perimeter outside the bus before the attempted to approach it. Bad as that might be for the victim, I can understand the necessity of doing that.

OTOH, the victim arriving at 6:40 was an opportune time. Shifts in hospitals usually change between 6:30-7:30, so they probably had plenty of help on hand. In an emergency, all staff usually pitch in, regardless of whether you're officially scheduled to be there yet or not.

Fox saying it was the driver.

[mhking]

You just don't go out at 5:30am looking for targets.

In a locale like Washington, or for that matter almost any large metro area, morning rush hour starts around 5A. If you go out at 5:30 in the morning, you're bound to find commuters on the roads, people waiting at bus and train stops, going to filling stations, coffee shops, bakeries and what have you.

Don't read anything extra into the time, other than continuing to establish that he looks when he can find a target-rich environment.

[Hatteras]

My money is on his escape route will take him right back into his apartment right there at the Northgate apartment complex. I say he has temporary quarters right there in those apartments. Just a hunch...