Date:11/10/2002 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2002/10/11/stories/2002101100221500.htm

International

Panic as one more shot dead

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

Washington Oct. 10. A serial killer, with or without an accomplice, who has been stalking neighbouring areas of Washington D.C. appears to have struck again on Wednesday night.

A man was gunned down in a Virginia gas station shortly after filling his tank and paying for the same.

Police are not immediately confirming the link between this incident and six other killings that have happened in Maryland, Washington D.C. and Virginia in the past one week which has led to panic in the neighbourhoods. The shooting and killing spree began last Wednesday in Montgomery County, Maryland.

The latest shooting has been in Manassas in the Prince William County and according to the Virginia State Police two men were seen driving away in a white minivan.

The victim was not from the area and was travelling alone.

The sniper, believed to have an accomplice, has so far struck nine times claiming seven lives in the process.

All the victims appear to have been chosen randomly and have been felled by a single bullet fired from a distance.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday police investigators were upset that a television station and The Washington Post reported that the killer did indeed leave a note for the police on a Tarot Card, known as a Death Card. Tarot cards are used for fortune telling.

The message on the card read, "Dear Policeman, I am God''. The note was found about 150 yards from where a 13 year old boy was shot outside his middle school in Bowie, Maryland.

The youngster is still in critical but stable condition.

Authorities are upset at the media for releasing this information for apparently the killer had made a request that it not be revealed to the media. But the television station which first reported on the Tarot Card has shot back saying that while it will not jeopardise investigation in any fashion it will not be satisfied with police `handouts'.

The President, George W Bush, who has expressed outrage at the killings in the Washington area, has pressed into service several federal agencies to help local investigators.

The investigators and the Task Force which have been set up are getting a whole lot of help from not just the neighbouring counties but from such agencies as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Secret Service.