[hoyaloya]

I used to live in Alexandria and then Arlington and have plenty of family in Fairfax. Have people in the DC area started talking about making this a positive thing - by forming community watch groups who routinely patrol their neighborhoods?

Gas stations could give out free coffee and cokes to people who want to do watch duty. Neighbors could use this as an opportunity to get to know each other a bit better while performing a valuable service. While the threat of being shot obviously exists, I wouldn't expect the sniper(s) to shoot into a group of people looking for him.

[Alberta's Child]

Good idea, but you don't set up "watch groups" like that. The only way to catch someone like this is by hiding in the plpaces where he would hide and wait for him to show up. Not practical, to be sure, but it would certainly work if you were only looking to protect a small piece of turf around your home or business.