Cops Hung Up Phone On Beltway Shooter(!)

Houston Chronicle ^ | 10/23/2002 | Sari Horowitz and Carri Morello

[Dirk McQuickly]

An angry letter found tacked to a tree behind a restaurant where the sniper wounded a man this weekend complained of six failed attempts to reach police, and threatened more killings, of children in particular, if millions of dollars were not deposited in a bank account within two days, law enforcement sources said.

The letter listed half a dozen calls that had been "ignored" by operators answering phones at the command center in Rockville, Md., the Montgomery County police station and the FBI. It even named some of the people who had answered the phones.

[Dirk McQuickly]

The part where the head of this investigation is groveling on worldwide TV for the sniper to "call us back" and "set up a secure P.O. box". We've turned into a nation of MUSH. Granted, it's prudent to keep the kids out of school until the threat can be properly assessed, but this guy has proven he's going to kill whether or not people zig-zag their way down the street. The only way this ends with justice is if we turn the tables on the killer. And we're not doing that by talking about how scared we are and wondering how we're going to "comply" (Moose's word) with his demands. The only justification for this circus is if this is a) foreign terrorism and b) something much MUCH worse at stake than we've been indulged with to this point. Either way, it stinks.

[MedicalMess]

The letter was neatly printed on lined paper and included a number of grammatical errors, including sentence fragments and misspellings.

Proof that you don't need to be educated to shoot straight. A reason why intellectuals fear the common man...

Oh my G.., a sentence fragment.

[dalebert]

Now we know what it would be like if Saddam had nukes ready to fire.

[blondee123]

If the cops or anyone gives this sicko any money, our freedoms are lost forever! They need to put the FBI in charge of this investigation, the locals mean well, but don't have the experience. I thought once this crossed into another state that the FBI would have jurisdiction. Guess I was wrong.

[Howlin]

I saw that and just didn't have the energy to get into it...............it's just unreal how facts have flown out the window lately!

[Howlin]

Well, I'm assuming the sniper is a guy........I could be wrong. He's obviously insane and now we have him quoted in the WashPost (that POS.....LOL).

[mlbford2]

I say give him the $$$$$$$ and then look for a guy shooting people from the window of a Ferrari or Porche. At least they will be able to norrow the cars down.

[let freedom sing]

Was there anything in that letter about Reparations? /sarcasm

[JudyB1938]

It doesn't surprise me one bit that this happened. I've read comments by FReepers who tried to report things to the proper authorities, but were also treated rudely and "cut short".

BTW, "somebody" reported the sniper does have an accent. (Don't remember where I picked that information up though)

[Cobra64]

IF the LEO had any logistical brains in terms of the news media, they would shut down this mental masturbation. This is a circus. Throw some raw blood in the coral reef and 10,000 sharks go into a feeding frenzy. This is what has been happening for the last three weeks. It really is pathetic.

[Howlin]

LOL........not that I've heard. Yet. Who knows what tomorrow will bring!

[clintonh8r]

The trainees will be on the case just as soon as their diversity and sensitivity classes are over. Put 'em on mountain bikes, dress 'em in shorts, Oakley shades and a funny helmet and they're ready for crime fighting action!

[per loin]

If this guy got as mad as it sounds, the recording (I'd hope they are recording the calls) should accurately indicate the caller's native tongue. Linguists should have that pegged by now.

[hole_n_one]

OK, smartypants......

you now have Chief Moose's responsibility placed upon YOUR shoulders.......

What are YOU going to do?

[motexva]

I'm beginning to go with a Die Hard scenario - the killer is some sort of Eurotrash criminal mastermind who is essentially holding an entire metroplex ransom. He wants ten million dollars deposited in some data haven somewhere, and then the killings will cease.

We need John McClane . . . but what what we've got is Moose.

[nunya bidness]

Got it. Author of the Post piece or the alleged shooter was the confusion.

For what it's worth I don't think the shooter is insane, otherwise this would have ended when he shot up some cops. POS fits though.

As for him being quoted it appears that the only way he would accept communication was through the media.

Like him or not Chief Moose needs our prayers. Stay safe down there.

[billclintonwillrotinhell]

According to this article, the sniper sounds like a money-hungry loser who throws brutal temper tantrums whenever he doesn't get his way. He's constantly starved for attention, and he thinks everything in the world is about him. In addition, he makes many grammatical and spelling errors when writing messages. Does Babs Streisand have a twin brother by any chance?

[LibWhacker]

LOL!!

[Howlin]

I was glad to see you were thinking of going hunting this week; at least you'll be armed!

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks for posting this.

This is incredible: The handwritten letter running at least three pages was found sealed and wrapped in plastic in the woods behind a Ponderosa restaurant in Ashland, Va., after Saturday's attack, several sources said. The letter was neatly printed on lined paper and included a number of grammatical errors, including sentence fragments and misspellings.

If there were any good cops left after the PCing of the various police forces, good cops would have taken that letter to every school in the DC metro area. They would have meet with all the teachers and given them a copy of this writing. I can guarantee you that a good teacher would remember if they had a student who wrote like this. Then every teacher who retired in the last 20 years should get a house call from their local cops with a copy of this letter. Of course that is real old fashioned cop work, not today's Diversity Queens planning the next Diversity Quilting party.

PC/Diversity driven fools on the staff can't even take a message from the sniper. I have posted several times that in the first 2-3 days, this sniper left a message or someone who saw him left a message and it was lost, buried or thrown away. This is even worse than I thought.