This Is A Bit Scary... (DC Sniper merged thread) (1 Viewer)

[Andrew_Sch]

Seems some wacko has taken it upon himself to go around the sourthern Maryland/northern VA area shooting random folks with a high-caliber rifle. The latest shooting was a 13-year-old boy standing outside a middle school this morning:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53540-2002Oct7.html
His excellent marksmanship and ability to evade detection and capture would lead me to theorize that he's had some training in this kind of thing, possibly from the armed forces. Scary.

 

[RonR]

I'm thinking this guy has some military background also. Will be interesting to see how they end up nailing this guy. Talk about someone being a few fries short of a Happy Meal. Bad part is he's patient, careful and a good shot.

 

[ChrisMatson]

Yes, it is scary. I almost posted a thread about this earlier. I am surprised there was no discussion of this sooner. I am not one to be easily scared, but it seems that no one is safe in the area. I mean, walking down the street at 3 AM in a bad section of town is one thing, but pumping gas or going to school is another. I just hope they catch the shooter(s) soon, as I'm afraid he/they won't stop.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

The guy has clearly had a lot of practice, but I don't think he's necessarily had military training. It isn't like sniping from inside a vehicle (the most likely scenario) is a skill much valued on the battlefield, or one that most soldiers would develop. Also military snipers are trained to work in pairs, and are most effective when working that way. I suspect a few things:

1) There may well be two of them, a driver and a shooter. It seems to me that both security and escape would be easier if there were someone to act as lookout and to drive away the instant the shot was fired. Also it seems unlikely that you could either sit in a vehicle and manipulate a rifle with a scope and not be seen, or get rid of it, put the car in gear and leave fast enough not to be noticed. Getting out of a vehicle carrying a rifle and setting up a shot seems even more unlikely. But a guy in the back of a truck or van, firing through a loophole cut in the side, with someone else at the wheel, seems plausible. That would also help explain why no one seems to have heard the shots. During rush hour a shot fired inside a vehicle, and not through an open window, would be much quieter.

2) Given the apparent range of the shots, it seems impossible that a handgun is being used, and equally unlikely that a "silencer" is being employed. Any sound supressor is going to reduce the both the gun's range and its accuracy. This guy is killing with a single shot from long range. That sounds like an unsilenced and probably scoped rifle to me.

3) Even if the early report of an Izuzu or possibly Mitsubishi "box truck" actually has something to do with the case (which is by no means clear), the shooter or shooters has almost certainly disposed of it by now. It was likely stolen anyway.

4) Can't help but wonder if the school shooting isn't related to the assurances given by the authorities the first day that they had no reason to think that schools were vulnerable. While the schools in the first county were likely under increased police protection, those in the neighboring county obviously weren't. This guy is probably playing games with the cops and getting off on the publicity.

5) I doubt that they'll find any shell casings. They are likely falling into the vehicle, or the shooter has done something that has been done in other cases - connecting a small bag to the side of an automatic weapon to catch the shell casings as they're ejected.

It is clearly going to be difficult to find this guy or these guys based just on the physical evidence and the circumstances of the shootings. If they're firing from a distance, the shots don't make much noise, and the shooter is out of sight, the people in the immediate vicinty of their vehicle simply won't know that the truck or van they see pulling away from the curb has something to do with a shooting - because they won't know that the shooting happened until at least several minutes later. How clearly are they going to remember the vehicle when they become aware of the shooting? (Which they may not do until they see or hear a news broadcast, if they don't happen to walk to where the victim is lying.)

I strongly suspect that somebody in the area knows something - even if they don't know they do. No matter how much of a loaner a single shooter is, or how exclusive a pair of them might be, he/they are going to interact with other people during the day: at work, at the store, in their neighborhoods or appartment buildings. Somebody is going to notice a change in one or both of them. Somebody is going to remember that one of the other owns a gun (or guns) Eventually (like Ted Kaczynski's brother) they are going to put two and two together and call the cops. This seems to me the mostly likely way for the shooter(s) to be identified, and eventually captured. I just hope it doesn't take too long. I have friends and relatives in the D.C. metro area, and used to live in Annapolis, just down the road a bit from Bowie.

Regards,

Joe

 

[ThomasC]

my college choir had a four day tour planned for the weekend of the 18th-21st of this month, which included the university of maryland and mit (boston). thanks to the sniper, who hit just 10 miles from um today, we're probably going to have to skip um and just go straight to boston. it'll give us more free time in boston, but i'm still a bit ticked.

 

[Nathan*W]

5) I doubt that they'll find any shell casings.

They already have, in the Pizza Hut parking lot across from the Micheal's crafts store.

 

[Bill Slack]

Quite scary and freaky. There seems to be no motive and pattern to the victims (other than the area) which makes it even more difficult to track for law enforcement, I'm sure.

And it seems the person is being covert and patient enough to not be seen, which after this many shootings should be much harder, with the general public naturally on the lookout for things out of place.

Hopefully more evidence will start showing up and they can return the favor to the sick ****.

ThomasC: It's a great city up here. Getting cold though!

 

[Eve T]

:frowning:
It hurts me to know that there are people out there in society doing such dastardly things to each other.
Whoever it is has got splinters in the wind mill of his/her mind....

 

[Rob Longmore]

It would not surprise me if this was another part of an organised terrorist campaign againts the US! it is the anniversary of the attacks on Afghanistan.

 

[Chris Knox]

But a guy in the back of a truck or van, firing through a loophole cut in the side, with someone else at the wheel, seems plausible. That would also help explain why no one seems to have heard the shots. During rush hour a shot fired inside a vehicle, and not through an open window, would be much quieter.

It wouldn't make much difference if he was in a vehicle or not if his muzzle is sticking out of the vehicle as that is where all of the noise emits from a rifle. And if it is silenced that would mean that the rounds being fired are subsonic (beneath the speed of sound).

More than likely, the only way this person or persons is/are going to be stopped is if they pull this crap within range of someone that carries a handgun and knows enough of how to use it. Being mobile, makes it difficult to pinpoint. Changing up vehicles makes it that much more difficult. I hope no one who spots the crime is foolish enough to follow them with a cell phone calling the cops.

Chris

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

It wouldn't make much difference if he was in a vehicle or not if his muzzle is sticking out of the vehicle

Which is exactly why I described a situation in which the muzzle wouldn't be sticking out of the vehicle. That was sorta the point.
Didn't realize a shell-casing had been found. I thought that the only available ballistics came from the (fragmented) bullets. Still, if the shooter had enough brains to wear gloves when handling the ammunition, they're still not going to get much from a shell-casing beyond the caliber of the bullets and extraction marks to compare against the gun. (If it is found. The shooter may already have disposed of one rifle and switched to another.)
Best chance the cops have remains a tip of some sort. The odds of someone being in the right position at the right time to see the shot as it happens (especially if it is coming from the shadows inside a truck or van, doesn't sound like a gun shot, and hits somebody 75 to 100 yards away who is standing behind the witness - which means the witness won't know that anybody was shot) is vanishingly small. The odds that said person will be armed with a handgun, trained well enough to use it and be willing to risk firing it on a public street at a target hidden in shadow - well, you get the idea. I wouldn't count on this scenario playing out.
Regards,
Joe

 

[Matt Stryker]

I think the other thing that most people don't realize is that it is extremely difficult to localize the sound of a single shot, especially at longer ranges. The fact that he is only expending a single shot at each victim shows that not only is he skilled, but he shows restraint/control instead of just spree killing. Even more terrifying.

Shell casings aren't good for a whole lot unless they are very specialized (.223 is a common enough caliber that this shouldn't be a factor) or if you are trying to link a person to a weapon that you have recovered.

Hope they catch them, and soon.

 

[Dick]

Another sociopath looking for his fifteen minutes of fame. If the media had just kept this low-key, the asshole wouldn't be getting nearly the attention he is and might actually decide it's not worth it. As it is, he knows from every t.v. station and newspaper on the planet that he has instilled great fear among hundreds of thousands of people, which gives him the old power and control and a lot of gratification.

 

[Andrew Pratt]

Another sociopath looking for his fifteen minutes of fame. If the media had just kept this low-key, the asshole wouldn't be getting nearly the attention he is and might actually decide it's not worth it

Unfortunatly even if the media hadn't picked up on it he would continue...and since it seems he's playing off the media that might be the best tactic to use to catch him. The FBI have used the media in several serial murders to get the guy to do something to they had planned. Its probable that the police already have meet this guy, that he's in his mid to late 20's, comes from a dysfunctional family back ground and has some military background. John Douglas's book provide a very detailed look into the minds of both a profiler and the type of men that commit these crimes and are very worthwhile reads if you are fascinated by this type of crime.

 

[Ted Lee]

i tell ya...it's not bad enough that this psycho is running around shooting adults, but then he has to push it and shoot a child?
boy, that sealed his fate big time.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

There's also a bolt-action single-shot long-barelled pistol that takes the .223 cartridge, used in target competition. So it is possible that we could have someone shooting outside of a vehicle in other concealment. Although by far the most common rifles to use the .223 are the M-16 or AR-15 rifles, and the Ruger Mini-14.

Edit: also the Remington XP-100 Custom (.223 REM): Weight: 4.6 lbs (2.1 kg). A .223 REM (5.56 mm Nato) bolt action pistol that is designed for high accuracy. It is drilled and tapped for a scope. The .223 REM variation has a 6 shot magazine. Caliber: .223 Remington Range: 880 ft (268 m) Payload: 6 shots

 

[Brian Perry]

i tell ya...it's not bad enough that this psycho is running around shooting adults, but then he has to push it and shoot a child?

boy, that sealed his fate big time.

I don't quite understand this line of thinking. One of the policeman said something similar, that the shooter "has now stepped over the line" by shooting a child.

He stepped over the line with the first victim.

 

[RonR]

I was watching CNN today and they scrolled some info along the bottom of the screen to the effect that the boy shot yesterday at the school, they think the shot was fired approx. 730 yards away. Anyone else see this?

 

[RonR]

After doing some reading I see I was a bit off:

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Couldn't the police tell the sniper's shooting position by the trajectory of the bullets? If the entry wound is at a downward angle it would suggest that the shooter was in an elevated position.
This guy/guy's is on a whole new level of sick! I just hope that the police are working their asses off round the clock to find this asshole.
Call in any branch of law enforcment they need to, just find this bastard fast!