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.

[lonevoice]

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. LOL!

[clintonh8r]

Yeah, Grampa, maybe the cops could ride around to the schools on their bikes and do some cool community policing, you know, rappin' with the youths and such.

[DoughtyOne]

When I heard his threat against children, it immediately said terrorist to me. I don't mean domestic either. As for his broken English, "I don thenq ths gy s eny dumr then yu or I."

[Dirk McQuickly]

If I clearly can't handle it, I step aside and let someone competent take control. If my obligation is to protect the public and I can't, then my next obligation is to find someone who can. It smacks of pride to stay on this track when there are clearly not enough resources to do the job in Montgomery. If it's on my shoulders, I turn to the federal government and say -- "HELP!" Is that so hard? Not everyone is cut out to be Superman.

[jenny65]

I'm betting there's an angry Palestinian (or Palestinians) on the loose (funded by Saddam, of course)...

I'm tending to agree with you at least partly. The part about "your children aren't safe" just has that feel to it. The ransom demand seems a bit naive, like he couldn't come up with anything better. Of course we don't know what else is in the letter. My own take on it is that he could be a Palestinian with an axe to grind, but acting on his own. Hard to put a finger on it, it's just a gut feeling.

[John Jamieson]

In the letter he claims that he had to kill 5 extra people before anyone would listen to him.

[Not_Who_U_Think]

You know, I think I would put the whole thing out there - instead of playing this 'I know a secret' nonsense. As I read this, they are trying to get him/her/they to physically take the cash rather than wire it to some off-shore account. . .

My cat is smarter than that.

[billclintonwillrotinhell]

Excellent ideas. With the handwriting from the lengthy note, I think it's very possible police could solve this case with some good old-fashioned shoe leather - door to door until you run out of doors. I'm afraid that Moose and the FBI have just surrounded themselves with a bunch of wishy-washy brain doctors and profilers whose theories probably are changing as often as the weather.

[spunkets]

"The only justification for this circus is if this is"

A diversion, to draw the attention of all available LEOs away from whatever else they're doing.

[per loin]

Even faster would be to release this letter to the public.

[hole_n_one]

CNN had a reporter with a camera behind the Ponderosa Steakhouse in the brush where it is suspectedthat the shooter was positioned,......and where the police had searched for evidence.

I grabbed this pic on Sunday night, at most, a mere 24 hours after the police scoured the site for evidence.........

What is with all that "evidence" just strewn about?

[stlnative]

BINGO - This is one of our own unfortunately - What terrorist writes a letter with the names of the people who answered the phones, but ignored him?

[Howlin]

That is NOT what he asked you. He asked you what YOU would do in Moose's place.

[Maximum Leader]

In Mr. Hoover's FBI, I wonder how long this trainee would continue to earn a government paycheck?

[billclintonwillrotinhell]

Yes, WHY HASN'T THE NOTE BEEN RELEASED TO THE PUBLIC? I mean the coward is already killing people left and right, so angering him further shouldn't be much concern (unless he has a dirty suitcase from Russia).

[freebilly]

"Give me what I want or I'll shoot a kid." What a jerkoff. As much as I'd hate for children to be harmed, giving this guy money doesn't guarantee he'll stop sniping. What it will do is show him and others like him that we're weak, incompetent, and would rather give in to evil than fight it....

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

Next time warn me about this so i can put on my tin foil hat

[Howlin]

:-)

[NRA2BFree]

I bet he doesn't have the guts to shoot at that person standing over there holding that CNN microphone.

LOL!!