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Beltway Sniper Shootings-FR Commentary-Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2002 [Another Shooting?]
Fox News, CNN, Press Releases | October 22, 2002 | Fox News, CNN, Press Releases

Posted on 10/22/2002 2:09:43 AM PDT by Peach

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


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events; US: District of Columbia; US: Maryland; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: banglist; dc; maryland; shooter; sniper; virginia
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To: David
Ashcroft yesterday also announced that they are going to reopen the investigation into the Oklahoma City bombing

WOW! Is this is reaction to the Davis interview with Sen. Spector? This would be huge, and I'm shocked it hasn't gotten any press. Is there a thread link?

621 posted on 10/22/2002 7:27:54 AM PDT by Wordsmith
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To: David
There are just so many unanswered questions about all this. To me, if I were a reporter, I'd be hammering that quote from Moose, and then ask the pertinent questions that go along with it. But again, I don't think we'll get the answers at this point. Not anytime soon, anyhow.
622 posted on 10/22/2002 7:27:58 AM PDT by rintense
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To: wewillnotfail
Yes, but not as a part of a very selective process through a sniper scope vision in the domestic United States. Also, I am reversing liberal logic on immediately fingering whites in various racial 'hate crimes' that are not solved.
623 posted on 10/22/2002 7:28:09 AM PDT by AmericanInTokyo
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To: Peach
Most definitely. I was in law enforcement/ criminal prosecution for over 10 years. I can remember several cases, where the evidence pointed so many different ways that it was mind blowing. I remember one case where we arrested the wrong guy for a multiple murder. Had him in jail for days. Until another killing occurred. Boy did we have mud on our faces.
624 posted on 10/22/2002 7:28:35 AM PDT by yukong
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To: CougarGA7
I was thinking this morning that this is probably close to his home and mentioned early, early this morning it was time for the geographic profilers to get busy again. Very good comments and theories; don't be shy - as you can see, most of us aren't.
625 posted on 10/22/2002 7:28:56 AM PDT by Peach
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To: slimer
I can't help but wonder if this isn't something personal with the Chief and somebody he tickrd off some where along the line.

Either that or someone from Oregon that was in the protest of GWB's visit there in August.

626 posted on 10/22/2002 7:28:59 AM PDT by TexKat
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To: iceskater
I was thinking all weekend, if it is an Islamic nut case, then when are they going to target a church or synagogue. Hopefully the media or police won't yap about how churches or synagogues have not been hit. That would pretty much guarantee the sniper's next target.
627 posted on 10/22/2002 7:29:00 AM PDT by caa26
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To: Peach
From NY Post this AM:
Gunman: Pay or I'll Kill Again

The Psycho Sniper says he wants blood money to end his terrifying murder spree - and he's opened a dialogue with cops to negotiate the payout.

The Beltway sharpshooter made his demand in a three-page note found after his latest attack, on Saturday night, federal law-enforcement sources told The Post.

The handwriting and some of the wording in the letter matches that of the "Dear Policeman, I am God" note scrawled on a tarot death card left at the scene of an earlier sniper strike, sources said.

An anonymous call to the sniper tip line led investigators to the note - which was found attached to a tree behind the Ponderosa steakhouse in Ashland, Va., where the crazed gunman had critically wounded a 37-year-old man.

The man was the 12th victim - and only the third to survive - in the mad marksman's three-week rampage.

The note demanded money and warned that the horrific slaughter would resume unless the cash was paid by a stated deadline, sources said.

It also contained threats against children - threats that prompted Richmond-area school officials to cancel classes yesterday and again today.

Officials were concerned because the deadline had passed by the time FBI evidence technicians opened the note, ABC News reported.

Police Chief Charles Moose of Montgomery County, Md., responded by holding a press briefing on Sunday night at which he told "the person who left us a message at the Ponderosa last night:"

"You gave us a telephone number. We do want to talk with you. Call us at the number you provided."

Yesterday morning, Moose held another briefing at which he again addressed the sniper:

"The message that needs to be delivered is that we are going to respond to a message that we have received. We are preparing our response at this time."

And then early last evening - apparently after hearing from the sniper or an accomplice - Moose asked for another call, because part of the message was inaudible.

"The person you called could not hear everything you said. The audio was unclear, and we want to get it right. Call us back so that we can understand," he said.

Moose refused to elaborate, explaining that it "would be inappropriate and detrimental to our investigation." But he did say police were sure they were dealing with the sniper.

The killer disguised his voice for the call, MSNBC reported.

He also may have disguised his voice in the call that led cops to his extortion note. It was made by a man with "an accent of unknown origin," CNN said.

In one phone exchange with police, the sniper boasted, "I am God," the Washington Post said.

Sources said the sniper's money demand has them all but convinced that he is not a foreign terrorist.

One investigator said cops are not sure if the killer is really negotiating for money or "just playing games with us."

In a dramatic subplot - featuring a police SWAT team - two illegal aliens were caught in a stakeout set up to catch the killer.

Police had traced the sniper's tip-line call to a Richmond suburb, where they staked out pay phones.

Yesterday, at about 8 a.m., two men in a white van with a roof rack and temporary license plates pulled into an Exxon gas station and parked at one of the phones.

One of the men remained in the van for 45 minutes; the other crossed the street to use a pay phone at another gas station.

The two men - one Mexican, the other Guatemalan - were detained by cops, and their van, which carried Bush-Cheney, Marine Corps and National Rifle Association bumper stickers, was towed away.

After hours of interrogation, the two men were cleared of any ties to the sniper and turned over to the Immigration and Naturalization Service for deportation, officials said.

The two gas stations were closed down for several hours while cops removed the pay phones, and searched for evidence that may have been left behind by the sniper.

Several cops said they feared the widely publicized SWAT-team action against the two men may jeopardize negotiations with the sniper.

Meanwhile, ballistics tests linked Saturday's attack to the Beltway sniper.

The victim remained in critical condition yesterday after his spleen and parts of his pancreas and stomach were removed.

In other developments:

* France notified Interpol about a French army deserter and known marksman who is believed missing in North America.

* The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that cops have found tarot cards at more than one sniper crime scene.

The only tarot card cops have acknowledged was found in woods near the Bowie, Md., school where a 13-year-old boy was shot.

* Officials said ballistics tests failed to link a shell casing found in a truck at a rental agency near Dulles Airport to the attacks.

628 posted on 10/22/2002 7:29:26 AM PDT by mhking
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To: livius
>>Sadly, some of this "enemy army" is not foreign born or even Middle Eastern. They range from Johnnie Walker to Padilla to the mostly American-born black members of the cell busted in Portland recently<<

This is true.

The size of the enemy army, however, would be reduced by 95-99% by the concentration or deportation of enemy aliens.

It is inconceiveable to me that this has not been done.

629 posted on 10/22/2002 7:29:32 AM PDT by Jim Noble
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Comment #630 Removed by Moderator

To: iceskater
Add me to your whiplash. There is a lot of good speculation that it could be either. But after hearing that Moose quote, I think I'm leaning more toward international terrorism.
631 posted on 10/22/2002 7:29:52 AM PDT by rintense
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To: Wordsmith
IF these shootings are jihad-related, can we definitively rule out multiple shooters?      what's been ruled out is Multiple Weapons... not shooters.   btw, nice to see you stop-in.
632 posted on 10/22/2002 7:29:53 AM PDT by GirlShortstop
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To: yukong
Don't think a money request rules out AQ. Someone on these threads a couple of weeks ago pointed out that the jihadist pattern of being tight with money (ie...trying to get the truck rental deposit back after the first WTC bombing) might have contributed to the choice of method here. One rifle, one bullet per shooting, because they are working with very limited financial resources and have been cut off from access to more.
633 posted on 10/22/2002 7:29:58 AM PDT by Wordsmith
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To: mhking
ok NOW i know where it is...never been on that road, only travel Connecticut and Georgia...
634 posted on 10/22/2002 7:30:15 AM PDT by Merovingian
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To: caa26
True enough. It seems like whenever the media makes some observation, the sniper reacts to that.
635 posted on 10/22/2002 7:30:27 AM PDT by iceskater
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To: Hatteras
Dumb question, but what is a "ride-on" bus? I mean to distinguish it from anyother bus we ride on?
636 posted on 10/22/2002 7:30:32 AM PDT by wewillnotfail
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To: mhking
Then let's do it this way, and we can both be satisified. LE can release all info they have on the sniper, and whenever it is broadcast, you can stand up, put your fingers in your ears, and shout: "I'm not listening...I'm not listening...I'm not listening"
637 posted on 10/22/2002 7:30:37 AM PDT by per loin
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To: Mudboy Slim
Well, they all have the same goals: the destruction of the American way of life.
638 posted on 10/22/2002 7:31:28 AM PDT by RandallFlagg
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To: caa26
Reformatted:

I was thinking all weekend, if it is an Islamic nut case, then when are they going to target a church or synagogue.

Hopefully the media or police won't yap about how churches or synagogues have not been hit. That would pretty much guarantee the sniper's next target.

639 posted on 10/22/2002 7:31:28 AM PDT by caa26
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To: wewillnotfail
Dumb question, but what is a "ride-on" bus? I mean to distinguish it from anyother bus we ride on?

Ride-On: the name of Montgomery County's bus system.

640 posted on 10/22/2002 7:32:05 AM PDT by mhking
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