The Hindu : Sniper picks his ninth victim

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 16, 2002

International

International

Sniper picks his ninth victim

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

Washington Oct. 15. The "beltway sniper'' who has been terrorising the Washington D.C. area for the last two weeks has picked off his ninth victim — a woman loading groceries into her van on Monday night in Falls Church, Virginia.

Police are on the look out for a light coloured van with a ladder rack on the top.

The latest killing in Fairfax County, Virginia, makes it the sixth county in and around the Washington D.C. area that has been affected by the killer who chooses his victims in a random fashion.

The killings have led to a sense of panic among residents besides placing the school system on a heightened state of alert. Business houses, especially gas stations, have been reporting a sharp drop in income over the last several days.

With the latest development in Fairfax county the question now is if the Federal Bureau of Investigation will formally take the lead role. The FBI has thus far maintained that there is no need for this as all possible support has been given to the county investigators.

What is so galling about this latest killing is that the victim was chosen at a very busy area even at night-time. According to the Governor's Office the woman and her husband were loading packages into the trunk of the car outside Home Depot. "This is not bold, this is brazen. It's a much more highly congested area, even under the cover of darkness'', a former profiler of the FBI has been quoted in an agency report. Police have formally linked this shooting and killing to the sniper spree of the last several days.

Investigators of the Task Force that include the FBI, the Secret Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms have not said much on what they have up their sleeves, if anything at all.

In fact there is a lot of non-official speculation going on of the sniper who has simply defied the authorities for so long. One view is that since there are no killings on weekends it could be that the sniper, with or without an accomplice, may be having a part-time job over the weekend.

The other is that the sniper may wish to lead a `normal' life so as to not raise suspicion in the neighbourhood he is living.

But there are at least three things that the Task Force has taken into account seriously in the investigation: each victim, including the two injured, has been shot only once; four of the victims have been killed at suburban gas stations; and the sniper apparently likes to taunt authorities for he left behind a Tarot Card that read, "Dear Policeman, I am God''.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International

Stories in this Section

Iraq, U.S. drift further apart

Troop reduction will help: Pakistan

Balasingham to meet Prabakaran

Bali blast a warning to U.S.: Russia

Pressure on Jakarta to nab terrorists

Sniper picks his ninth victim

AIDS spreading fast in Russia

NRI doctor's registration suspended

Musharraf may amend conduct of general elections order

Northern Ireland Govt. suspended

J&K polls free and fair: Russia