Shithappens

Topic: - on October 17, 2002 at 6:18:11 PM CEST

sniper

The Sacramento Bee -- sacbee.com -- Sniper may revel in media spotlight, experts say
Published in Sacramento Bee -
By EUN-KYUNG KIM, Associated PressPublished 6:53 a.m. PDT Tuesday, October 15, 2002 WASHINGTON (AP) - The only predictable thing about the elusive sniper - or snipers - terrorizing the Washington area is the unpredictability of the crimes. The 11 apparently random victims were male and female; old and young; black, white, Hispanic and Asian. The shootings have occurred in the morning and at night. Four were at gas stations, but the crime scenes also have included a sidewalk bench outside a post office and strip mall parking lots.

The Sacramento Bee -- sacbee.com -- Latest sniper shooting yields better clues
Published in Sacramento Bee -
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) - An FBI terrorism analyst was identified Tuesday as the ninth person killed by the Washington-area sniper, shot in the head in an attack investigators say has yielded the most detailed clues yet. For the first time, witnesses were able to give information about license plates on vehicles seen fleeing the scene, including a light-colored Chevrolet Astro van with a burned-out rear taillight. A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said another witness gave a description of a dark-skinned man, possibly Hispanic or Middle Eastern, in a white van.

The Sacramento Bee -- sacbee.com -- Pentagon to help in hunt for D.C.-area sniper
Published in Sacramento Bee -
Pentagon to help in hunt for D.C.-area sniper By PAULINE JELINEK, Associated PressPublished 3:40 p.m. PDT Tuesday, October 15, 2002 WASHINGTON (AP) - Authorities called in the military on Tuesday to help solve the 2-week-old sniper case that has left nine people dead and terrorized the capital area. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld agreed Tuesday evening to the FBI's request to use military surveillance aircraft in the hunt for the killer, said Lt. Cmdr.Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman.

The Sacramento Bee -- sacbee.com -- Friends, co-workers call sniper victim 'courageous'
Published in Sacramento Bee -
Friends, co-workers call sniper victim 'courageous' By MATTHEW BARAKAT, Associated Press Published 6:09 p.m. PDT Tuesday, October 15, 2002 ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) - Linda Franklin had beaten breast cancer, raised two children and a niece practically by herself and was expecting her first grandchild in just a few months. She was looking forward to moving this week into a bigger home. The 47-year-old FBI intelligence specialist was gunned down Monday night, the ninth victim killed by the Washington-area sniper.

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Snipers sow fear and panic
Published in BBC News -
In November 1990, a 21-year-old hunter, Jamie Paxton, was found dead in a forest in southern Ohio. He had been shot three times. There were no witnesses. His mother, Jean, began a letter-writing campaign, using the local press to try to contact her son's killer. Eventually, she received a reply. Gun lover "I am the murderer of Jamie Paxton. Jamie Paxton was a complete stranger to me," the letter said. He had shot Jamie, the killer wrote, because of an irresistible compulsion that had taken over his life.

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Panic grips Washington
Published in BBC News -
Police sealed off the area after the shooting, hoping to catch the shooter. But he - or she - slipped through the dragnet once again. Meanwhile, residents try to carry on with life as normal but are finding it increasingly difficult as people continue to die as they go about their daily routine. White van The sniper had already killed seven, and police responded to the latest shooting with increased urgency. Click here to see the sniper's trail On Saturday, they concluded that "ballistics evidence has conclusively linked the shooting to the other shootings", bringing the total to eight.

OpinionJournal - Scene & Heard
Published in Opinion Journal -
Slipping Appeal What is it about Colin Powell that drives Harry Belafonte bananas? BY COLLIN LEVEY Thursday, October 17, 2002 12:01 a.m. EDT Here's to Harry Belafonte for coming through when we all really needed him. The impending battle with Iraq is stressful, there's a sniper stalking the Washington area, summer is over. For moments like these we pay our top entertainers so gloriously--they go well with beer, make us laugh and distract us from the world. Just like a trouper, Mr.

ABCNEWS.com : Cameras Abound, But Can They Catch the Sniper?
Published in ABC News.com -
A Mathematical Method to Locate Killers In the Washington, D.C., area since September 11th, that's especially true. Security cameras abound that are capable in a time of crisis of providing sophisticated, cutting-edge video surveillance. They can gather details as small as license plates and can isolate individual faces in a crowd. "If we see anything in particular we have an interest in or suspicious we can take control of that camera and then zoom in," said Stephen Gaffigan of the Washington, D.C., Police Department. Big Brother is certainly watching — so could the serial sniper's identity already be locked on a videotape?

ABCNEWS.com : Is Sniper a New Breed of Serial Killer?
Published in ABC News.com -
New Fatal Shooting in Va.; Van Sought Tarot Misunderstanding in Shooting Case? Experts: Sniper May Be Challenging Cops Timeline of 11 D.C.-Area Sniper Attacks Scared Parents Collect Kids After Shooting A Mathematical Method to Locate Killers "This guy is unique," said James Alan Fox, a professor of criminal justice at Northeastern University in Boston. Fox said he's never seen a killer quite like this one in his studies. "Most serial killers care about the particular people they slay." This killer doesn't care about the 11 people who have been shot, Fox said. "They're just targets.

ABCNEWS.com : No Common Thread in Sniper Descriptions
Published in ABC News.com -
Sniper Search Intensifies Police Response Sniper Strikes Again Inside the Hunt COMMUNITY D.C.-Area Shootings: What's the Motive? RELATED STORIES Timeline of 11 D.C.-Area Sniper Attacks How to Be a Better Eyewitness "There are a couple of people who believe they saw a man shoot, but unfortunately because of darkness, distance and perhaps excitement and adrenaline at the time, we have been unable to come up with a composite that we can disseminate," Montgomery County, Md., police spokeswoman Capt. Nancy Demme said today. "The only common denominator so far is male," Demme said.

Salon.com News | Spy planes to help find sniper
Published in Salon.com -
Army planes with high-tech surveillance equipment were preparing Wednesday to take to the skies around the nation's capital to help track a sniper who has eluded law enforcement officials for two weeks. The planes were being flown to the region and were expected to join the hunt within days, a defense official said Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity. Authorities called in the military Tuesday to help solve the baffling case that has left nine people dead and terrorized the capital area, leaving people afraid to go out of their homes. Defense Secretary Donald H.

Salon.com News | New clues found in sniper hunt
Published in Salon.com -
The Washington-area sniper's latest slaying has yielded the most detailed clues yet in the search for the elusive killer: information about license plates and the description of a man in a white van seen fleeing the attack. In another development, the Pentagon has agreed to provide aerial surveillance in the hunt for a sniper who has terrorized the Washington, D.C., suburbs for the past two weeks, killing nine and injuring two. The new clues surfaced in the Monday night slaying of FBI employee Linda Franklin after she and her husband loaded their purchases from a Home Depot into their car.

CNN.com - Filmmaker Michael Moore takes on America's gun culture - Oct. 16, 2002
Published in CNN -
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The search for the D.C.-area sniper has thrust the issue of gun control into the political spotlight. Filmmaker Michael Moore takes an uncompromising look at America's gun culture in "Bowling for Columbine." In it, Moore goes after the NRA, Charlton Heston and the Kmart that sold the bullets to the killers responsible for the Columbine High School massacre. He stepped into the "Crossfire" with hosts Paul Begala and Tucker Carlson to talk about Columbine, his new movie and the sniper attacks. BEGALA: ... I love your economic populism.

TIME.com: TIME COVER: THE SCIENCE OF CATCHING A KILLER
Published in Time -
Sunday, Oct. 06, 2002 TIME COVER: Inside the Sniper Manhunt (p. 30) The FBI has asked the Pentagon to search its records for recently discharged GIs who had gone through sniper school, federal law enforcement sources tell TIME. The schools teach snipers to work in tandem - one as the spotter, the other as the shooter. Nearly 1,000 people are working on the case, including Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms units, U.S. Marshals and local police. The FBI.

TIME Magazine: How Science Solves Crimes
Published in Time -
By Amanda Ripley | Washington Posted Sunday, Oct. 13, 2002; 10:31 a.m. EST Pay attention, profilers have long warned, to a serial killer's first strike. The first of the bullets that strafed the suburbs of America's capital last week sliced through the air over a drab strip-mall parking lot in Aspen Hill, Md., and cracked a nickel-size hole in the front window of a Michaels craft store. It then arched through a leafy display of silk autumnal bouquets, zipped behind the head of a female cashier and pierced a hole through the lamp over the register of lane No. 5.

TIME Magazine: How Science Solves Crimes
Published in Time -
At the scene of the boy's shooting, police stumbled upon a trove of clues. A matted area in the brush opposite the school suggested the sniper had lain in wait for his victim. Police also found a tarot "death" card with the message, "Mister Policeman, I am God." The card, which may turn out to be a prank by someone familiar with the Vietnam War habit of leaving this calling card on the bodies of Viet Cong, was sent to the feds to be analyzed for fingerprints and DNA. The card, it would later be disclosed, also contained a request not to tell the media about its existence.

sunspot.net - maryland news
Published in Baltimore Sun -
For the first time since the Washington-area sniper slayings began, more than one witness saw a man fire and flee in a white van, but investigators said today that none of the witnesses got a good enough look to yield a sketch. "There are a couple of people who believe they saw a man shoot -- unfortunately distance and darkness and perhaps adrenaline have made them unable to give a clear composite that we can disseminate," Montgomery County Police Capt. Nancy Demme said.

Witness sure he saw Soviet-style rifle
Published in Baltimore Sun -
As investigators sort through conflicting witness statements about vans, trucks, facial characteristics and possible accom plices associated with the area's serial sniper, most have turned out to be too vague to publicize. But Monday's attack netted a seemingly solid lead -- a witness says he's sure that the gunman used an AK-74 assault rifle to kill 47-year-old Linda Franklin outside the Home Depot store in Falls Church, Va. That observation, if true, raises more puzzling questions about the serial sniper and his methods.

sunspot.net - maryland news
Published in Baltimore Sun -
Severna Park goalkeeper Scott McGuire was supposed to walk his parents onto the soccer field to celebrate Senior Night yesterday and then take on rival South River. Instead, he helped friends with a yearbook assignment, studied for a marine biology test and then got an early jump on some college essays. McGuire said he learned about 1:30 p.m. yesterday that all after-school activities in Anne Arundel County had been postponed because of the sniper shootings that have killed nine, injured two and altered daily life throughout the Baltimore and Washington areas for two weeks.

sunspot.net - maryland news
Published in Baltimore Sun -
WASHINGTON - The sniper shootings have cast the politics of gun violence onto the national scene, sending Congress scrambling to address a fiercely partisan issue that has become a focus of the election season. The House unanimously passed a widely popular gun safety measure yesterday that aims to close loopholes in the federal system that screens prospective gun buyers.

sunspot.net - maryland news
Published in Baltimore Sun -
One was a Rockville man who disappeared two days before the sniper attacks began. He had recently purchased a .223-caliber rifle, and he drove a white van with a ladder on top. A recovering drug addict, he had recently accumulated large debts. Another was a former Marine from Baltimore with a white Chevrolet Astro van whose enthusiasm for firearms was shared by his girlfriend. Investigating the couple after a domestic shooting, police found several guns and other tantalizing clues: a manual for snipers and a misspelled note declaring "Gihad in America.

sunspot.net - maryland news
Published in Baltimore Sun -
The latest victim of the Washington area's elusive gunman was awaiting the birth of her first grandchild and preparing to move into a new home when she was fatally shot Monday night outside a Home Depot store in Falls Church, Va. Linda Franklin, 47, an FBI intelligence analyst, was a "loving wife and mother who watched out for everyone in her family," said a family spokesman, Bill Murray. "The Franklin family is devastated by this tragic event and shocked by this senseless loss of life.

Evidence builds in hunt for sniper
Published in Baltimore Sun -
The Washington-area sniper's most recent strike appears to have left police with the most promising clues yet, including descriptions from witnesses of a Soviet-style assault weapon, the shooter and the getaway van, but officials said Wednesday that they still could not put a face on the killer. Without enough detail to create a composite sketch to show the public, the long standoff continued between the serial sniper terrorizing the suburbs around the nation's capital and hundreds of federal agents, state police and local detectives working to solve a case attracting worldwide attention.

The Sacramento Bee -- sacbee.com -- ANALYSIS: Lack of pattern frustrates sniper search
Published in Sacramento Bee -
By P. MITCHELL PROTHERO, United Press InternationalPublished 6:31 a.m. PDT Tuesday, October 15, 2002 WASHINGTON (UPI) - Twelve shots, nine dead and two badly wounded in the 12 days, three hours and fifty-five minutes between the first shot - which harmlessly shattered a craft store window - and the death of a 47-year-old intelligence analyst in a parking lot on Monday. With law enforcement officers from five local police departments, 400 FBI agents, Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms specialists and even the Secret Service actively investigating, there is a more intensive focus on this case than any other Washington manhunt in recent memory.

The Sacramento Bee -- sacbee.com -- Sniper may revel in media spotlight, experts say
Published in Sacramento Bee -
By EUN-KYUNG KIM, Associated PressPublished 6:31 a.m. PDT Tuesday, October 15, 2002 WASHINGTON (AP) - The only predictable thing about the elusive sniper - or snipers - terrorizing the Washington area is the unpredictability of the crimes. The 11 apparently random victims were male and female; old and young; black, white, Hispanic and Asian. The shootings have occurred in the morning and at night. Four were at gas stations, but the crime scenes also have included a sidewalk bench outside a post office and strip mall parking lots.

The Sacramento Bee -- sacbee.com -- Profiles of D.C.-area sniper victims
Published in Sacramento Bee -
Profiles of D.C.-area sniper victims The Associated PressPublished 6:31 a.m. PDT Tuesday, October 15, 2002 (AP) - The nine people killed in the Washington-area sniper shootings: - James Martin, 55, of Silver Spring, Md. Killed Oct. 2. A Vietnam veteran and program analyst for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. His father died when he was 8, and he worked his way through college. Martin had an 11-year-old son and was a Boy Scout leader, school volunteer and church trustee. - James L. "Sonny" Buchanan, 39, of Abingdon, Va. Killed Oct. 3.

The Sacramento Bee -- sacbee.com -- Bush administration considers terrorism as possible sniper motivation
Published in Sacramento Bee -
Bush administration considers terrorism as possible sniper motivation By EUN-KYUNG KIM, Associated Press Published 6:31 a.m. PDT Tuesday, October 15, 2002 WASHINGTON (AP) - Absent hard evidence about motivation, the Bush administration is considering the possibility that foreign or domestic terrorists are behind the sniper slayings of nine people in and around the nation's capital. Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge said Tuesday that investigators are hesitant to rule out any possibility. "Under these horrific circumstances, you don't want to draw any premature conclusions," he said.

The Sacramento Bee -- sacbee.com -- Friends, co-workers call sniper victim 'courageous'
Published in Sacramento Bee -
Friends, co-workers call sniper victim 'courageous' By MATTHEW BARAKAT, Associated Press Published 6:31 a.m. PDT Tuesday, October 15, 2002 ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) - Linda Franklin had beaten breast cancer, raised two children and a niece practically by herself and was expecting her first grandchild in just a few months. She was looking forward to moving this week into a bigger home. The 47-year-old FBI intelligence specialist was gunned down Monday night, the ninth victim killed by the Washington-area sniper.

The Sacramento Bee -- sacbee.com -- Pentagon to help in hunt for D.C.-area sniper
Published in Sacramento Bee -
Pentagon to help in hunt for D.C.-area sniper By PAULINE JELINEK, Associated PressPublished 6:31 a.m. PDT Tuesday, October 15, 2002 WASHINGTON (AP) - Authorities called in the military on Tuesday to help solve the 2-week-old sniper case that has left nine people dead and terrorized the capital area. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld agreed Tuesday evening to the FBI's request to use military surveillance aircraft in the hunt for the killer, said Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman.

The Sacramento Bee -- sacbee.com -- Latest sniper shooting yields better clues
Published in Sacramento Bee -
By ALLEN G. BREED, Associated Press - (Published October 15, 2002) FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) - An FBI terrorism analyst was identified Tuesday as the ninth person killed by the Washington-area sniper, shot in the head in an attack investigators say has yielded the most detailed clues yet. For the first time, witnesses were able to give information about license plates on vehicles seen fleeing the scene, including a light-colored Chevrolet Astro van with a burned-out rear taillight.

BBC NEWS | Americas | US sniper probe seeks suspect truck
Published in BBC News -
The image of the white box truck is based on information gleaned from several witnesses who reported seeing a similar vehicle driving erratically at the scene of more than one of the shootings. Earlier the authorities confirmed that a man shot in the Washington area on Friday was the eighth person to die at the hands of a serial sniper. Kenneth Bridges was killed by a single bullet as he was filling his car at a petrol station near Fredericksburg, Virginia, about 40 miles (60 kilometres) south of Washington.

sunspot.net - business
Published in Baltimore Sun -
Details of 12 sniper shootings, including nine fatalities, in Maryland, the District of Columbia and Virginia, according to police. 1. At 5:20 p.m. on Oct. 2, a bullet pierced a window at Michaels craft store at 13850 Georgia Ave. in the Aspen Hill area. No one was hurt. 2. At 6:04 p.m. on Oct. 2, James Martin, 55, is killed in the parking lot of Shoppers Food Warehouse grocery store in Wheaton. Martin, a Civil War buff and an amateur genealogist, was a program analyst for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 3. At 7:41 a.m. on Oct. 3, James L.

sunspot.net - business
Published in Baltimore Sun -
Demme said one witness told police the shooter used an AK-74 rifle to kill 47-year-old FBI analyst Linda Franklin on Monday night at a Home Depot parking garage in Falls Church, Va. Police said the weapon can fire the .223-caliber round recovered from some of the shooting scenes. "The witness firmly believes this is the weapon," Demme said. "But we have to keep in mind that weapons are interchangable, like vehicles.

sunspot.net - business
Published in Baltimore Sun -
Fear and wariness about the Washington-area sniper are slowly creeping into the books of some local businesses and attractions as would-be customers - particularly children - stay inside or stay home. Tour bus companies say business is down because schools and corporate groups are canceling outings near Washington or anywhere else perceived as within the sniper's range. Local attractions such as the Maryland Science Center, normally teeming with field-trippers, are uncharacteristically calm. Security companies, meanwhile, say business is up, as merchants and schools try to restore a sense of safety.

sunspot.net - tv & media
Published in Baltimore Sun -
Late Monday night, reporters found themselves forced to pivot on the fly as a sniper striking anew in the suburbs of Washington knocked the foundation out from under an apparent scoop. The day started with near-saturation coverage of no news - apparently no one had been shot by the sniper over the weekend. The cable news channels carried the now-familiar news conferences that gave reporters little real information. Late Monday afternoon, two Baltimore stations reported that a 38-year-old former Marine had drawn the intense interest of law enforcement officials. It turned out that the man interrogated by police wasn't the sniper.

Boston.com / Latest News / Washington / Pentagon to use high-tech surveillance equipment to help hunt sniper who has terrorized capital
Published in Boston Globe -
Pentagon to use high-tech surveillance equipment to help hunt sniper who has terrorized capital By Associated Press, 10/16/2002 16:21 WASHINGTON (AP) The Pentagon is planning to send up a number of planes with high-tech surveillance equipment to help track a sniper in the Washington area who has eluded law enforcement officials for two weeks while killing nine people and injuring two more. The number of planes, exactly what high-tech capabilities they bring to bear, and when and where they would fly were not being released to withhold such details from the sniper, officials said.

Mercury News | 10/15/2002 | DNA evidence does not match Zodiac suspect
Published in BayArea.com -
DNA evidence does not match Zodiac suspect SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The one suspect investigators had in the Zodiac killings of the late 1960s does not match DNA evidence, a newspaper reported Tuesday. Traces of saliva gathered from the cryptic letters the killer sent to police do not match the DNA of the late Arthur Leigh Allen, Vallejo police inspector Kelly Carroll told the San Francisco Chronicle. Allen was the sole suspect named in the serial killings that terrorized the San Francisco Bay area in the 1960s. ``Arthur Leigh Allen does not match the partial DNA fingerprint developed from bona fide Zodiac letters,'' he said.

Sniper on a killing spree in Washington : HindustanTimes.com
Published in Hindustan Times -
Washington, October 16 The killing of a 47-year-old woman in a parking lot on Monday evening brought to nine the number of people shot dead by a sniper with a high velocity rifle, spreading fear in normally tranquil Washington suburbs. Police have linked the same weapon to the nine deaths and the wounding of two others in a series of attacks that began on October 2. Each person was hit with a single bullet fired in public places, all but two of them in broad daylight. None of the victims appeared to know each other. Following are details of the shootings released by police: WEDNESDAY OCT. 2 5:20 p.m.

Boston.com / Latest News / Washington / The suddenness and shock of sniper attacks make eyewitness accounts unreliable
Published in Boston Globe -
By Ron Kampeas, Associated Press, 10/17/2002 01:31 WASHINGTON (AP) The suddenness of the sniper attacks terrorizing suburban Washington and the shock of seeing people killed are why witnesses have been unable to come up with a solid description of the attacker, experts say. Witness accounts are distorted by fear and by the tendency of bystanders to focus immediately on the victim, allowing the shooter crucial seconds to disappear. ''The normal reaction to fear is not one of becoming a really good, attentive eyewitness,'' said Gary Wells, an Iowa State university psychologist who has studied witness testimony for 25 years.

DallasNews.com | Dallas-Fort Worth | News: DMN Stories
Published in Dallas Morning News -
Sniper suspected in Virginia death Woman shot while loading car; police swarm surrounding roads 10/15/2002 The New York Times ROCKVILLE, Md. – A woman was fatally shot in the head Monday night outside a suburban Virginia store, sparking a frantic highway dragnet for the roving sniper who until Monday had killed eight people in the Washington area in the last two weeks.

DallasNews.com | Dallas-Fort Worth | News: DMN Stories
Published in Dallas Morning News -
A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said another witness gave a description of a dark-skinned man, possibly Hispanic or Middle Eastern, in a white van. Also for the first time, witnesses were able to give information about license plates on vehicles seen fleeing the scene, including a light-colored Chevrolet Astro van with a burned-out rear taillight and a roof rack. Police released two composite images of a van that witnesses say they saw Friday near a Spotsylvania County, Va., gas station where a Philadelphia man was fatally shot.

DallasNews.com | Dallas-Fort Worth | News: DMN Stories
Published in Dallas Morning News -
Registry to trace gun 'fingerprints' debated 10/16/2002 By MICHELLE MITTELSTADT / The Dallas Morning News WASHINGTON – The sniper shootings that have shaken the Washington region also are shattering the relative quiet on the gun policy front. Since Al Gore's loss of the 2000 presidential election was chalked up in part to his support for gun control, national politicians have shown little appetite for the issue.

DallasNews.com | Dallas-Fort Worth | News: DMN Stories
Published in Dallas Morning News -
The average American is caught on camera eight to 10 times a day, law enforcement officials say. If that statistic is right or even close, "it would seem a pretty good chance that the killer would probably be on a camera somewhere," said Dave Lang, a video forensics expert at Veridian Corp. in Arlington, Va., which works with law enforcement agencies. Finding video footage of the sniper would be a big help for investigators, who so far have only been able to piece together the most basic details on the sniper. "The only common denominator thus far is male," Capt. Demme said. "We don't have a refined description to go by.

statesman.com | Life
Published in Austin American Statesman -
Sniper Attacks Prompt Movie's Delay By ANTHONY BREZNICAN AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP)--With a deadly sniper terrorizing the suburbs of the nation's capital, 20th Century Fox has decided to delay the release of a thriller about people being pinned down in a phone booth by a gunman they can't see. ``Phone Booth,'' starring Kiefer Sutherland as the shooter, was to open Nov. 15. But the studio postponed its release after a sniper killed nine people in suburban Washington, D.C., said Flo Grace, a 20th Century Fox spokeswoman. A new opening date has not been set.

statesman.com | Life
Published in Austin American Statesman -
LOS ANGELES (AP)--With a deadly sniper terrorizing the suburbs of the nation's capital, 20th Century Fox has decided to delay the release of a thriller about people being pinned down in a phone booth by a gunman they can't see. ``Phone Booth,'' starring Colin Farrell as the shooter's target, was to open Nov. 15. But the studio decided to delay its release after a sniper killed nine people in suburban Washington, D.C., said Flo Grace, a 20th Century Fox spokeswoman. A new opening date has not been set.

AP Wire | 10/15/2002 | Military joins hunt for sniper
Published in BayArea.com -
FALLS CHURCH, Va. - An FBI terrorism analyst was identified Tuesday as the ninth person killed by the Washington-area sniper, shot in the head in an attack investigators say has yielded the most detailed clues yet. With the terrifying spree nearly two weeks old, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld agreed Tuesday evening to provide military surveillance aircraft in the hunt for the killer, a Pentagon spokesman said. Sources said federal agents on the plane will relay any information they collect to authorities on the ground. The Army also has started searching its records for people with sniper training.

KRT Wire | 10/16/2002 | Despite eyewitnesses, no composite of sniper
Published in BayArea.com -
BY KEN MORITSUGU AND TONY PUGH Knight Ridder Newspapers ROCKVILLE, Md. - (KRT) - Hope turned to disappointment in the Washington sniper investigation Wednesday as police revealed that eyewitness accounts from the latest shooting weren't good enough to provide a solid description of the shooter. At least two people had reported seeing a man gun down Linda Franklin Monday night in the parking lot of a Home Depot in the Washington suburb of Falls Church, Va., authorities said. The 47-year-old FBI employee was the ninth person killed in a two-week spree in the Washington area that also wounded two others.

KRT Wire | 10/15/2002 | Sniper's latest victim identified; police gather more clues
Published in BayArea.com -
FALLS CHURCH, Va. - (KRT) - A cancer survivor and mother of two who worked as an FBI analyst was tallied Tuesday as the ninth person killed in 13 days by a serial sniper as police gained new clues in their quest to end a ghostly killer's reign of suburban terror. Like the sniper's other victims, Linda Franklin, 47, apparently was selected at random and was going about the business of everyday life when she was felled by a single bullet late Monday. She was with her husband, loading packages into her car in a Home Depot parking lot here about 9:15 p.m. EDT, when the sniper shot her once in the head, police said.

Reuters Wire | 10/15/2002 | Police Say 9th Murder by Sniper Gave Clues
Published in BayArea.com -
FAIRFAX, Va. - Police said on Tuesday new evidence gleaned from the ninth murder by a sniper in the Washington area gave them the best chance yet of catching the serial killer whose latest victim was shot dead while loading her car with shopping bags. FBI employee Linda Franklin, 47, was killed in front of her husband by a single shot to the head late on Monday in the parking lot of a Home Depot hardware store in Falls Church, Virginia.

Contra Costa Times | 10/15/2002 | Frenzy follows new Virginia shooting
Published in BayArea.com -
ROCKVILLE, Md. - A woman was fatally shot in the head Monday night outside a suburban Virginia store, unleashing a frantic highway dragnet for the roving suburban sniper who previously killed eight people in the Washington area in the last two weeks. There was no official confirmation that the shooting was the work of the sniper, but police proceeded on the assumption that it was. They broadcast a lookout alarm for someone in flight, brandishing a semi-automatic weapon and driving a white van similar to the one sought in the earlier shootings.

Mercury News | 10/15/2002 | Another killing in D.C. area
Published in BayArea.com -
FALLS CHURCH, Va. - A woman was fatally shot Monday night outside a Home Depot store in an attack that appeared similar to those carried out by a sniper who has been linked by police to eight killings in the Washington, D.C., region since Oct. 2. The shooting Monday occurred about 9:15 p.m at the Seven Corners Shopping Center, which is bounded by major northern Virginia traffic arteries, and it prompted police to set up checkpoints on principal roads for miles around. Traffic was jammed on many highways.

World: Experts Discuss Link Between Bali, Yemen, And Kuwait
Published in Radio Free Europe -
U.S. President George W. Bush and Indonesia's defense minister have both said they think there is a link between the Al-Qaeda terrorist network and the Bali bomb attacks that killed more than 180 people during the weekend. Bush says there appears to be an emerging pattern of concerted terrorist attacks which include the Bali blasts, the attack on a French oil tanker off the coast of Yemen, and recent attacks on U.S. Marines in Kuwait. RFE/RL correspondent Ron Synovitz takes a closer look at suggestions that the world is in the midst of a new wave of global terrorism. Prague, 15 October 2002 (RFE/RL) -- U.S. President George W.

YellowTimes.org Article
Published in YellowTimes.org -
By Paul Harris YellowTimes.org Columnist (Canada) (YellowTimes.org) – Because of the recent spate of seemingly random assassinations in the environs of Washington D.C., we will surely hear and see editorial pieces trying to drum up support for tougher gun legislation in the United States. Well, this is not one of them. What would be the point? Everyone must realize by now that America has a love affair with violence and it is definitely not unrequited. Let me say from the outset that I am a pacifist.

KRT Wire | 10/14/2002 | Sniper takes second week off, leading to speculation of work-week schedule
Published in BayArea.com -
Sniper takes second week off, leading to speculation of work-week schedule BY SHIRA KANTOR Chicago Tribune WASHINGTON - (KRT) - A second quiet weekend passed in the deadly shooting rampage that has gripped the Washington area as speculation mounted that the sniper, who seems to favor certain suburban locations, also favors a work-week killing schedule. Anxiety ran high Monday morning, with many residents fearing the sniper's return after a Saturday and Sunday without incident. But by the end of the day - which, as Columbus Day, marked the end of a three-day weekend - no killings were reported.

KRT Wire | 10/15/2002 | Sniper attacks return focus to national gun policy
Published in BayArea.com -
WASHINGTON - (KRT) - The sniper shootings that have shaken the Washington region also are shattering the relative quiet on the gun policy front. Since Al Gore's loss of the 2000 presidential election was chalked up in part to his support for gun control, national politicians have shown little appetite for the issue. But with suburban Washingtonians fearful that they may wind up in the sniper's crosshairs, proposals to create a national ballistic fingerprint system to help law enforcement trace shell casings or guns found at crime scenes are gaining new attention.

KRT Wire | 10/15/2002 | Profile of elusive killer became slightly clearer with latest killing
Published in BayArea.com -
WASHINGTON - (KRT) - If there is any hint of a pattern to a series of sniper attacks that have terrorized the Washington suburbs, it is that the shooter may be growing more daring, leaving tantalizing clues, and choosing targets that carry heightened risk of capture. On Monday night, the sniper fired into a parking garage at a busy Home Depot in Fairfax County, Va., killing a 47-year-old FBI analyst who was shopping with her husband. It was a brazen act that quickly touched off a massive dragnet. Police unleashed bloodhounds, blocked off intersections, and scoured the area in helicopters and cruisers.

Reuters Wire | 10/15/2002 | Bush Administration Cool to 'Fingerprinting' Guns
Published in BayArea.com -
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration on Tuesday brushed aside calls for "fingerprinting" firearms in response to a string of sniper attacks in the Washington area, saying it may not be a reliable way to identify shooters and could undermine the rights of law abiding gun owners. "New laws don't stop people like this," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said of the sniper, who has killed nine people in two weeks. "What we must do is ... enforce the laws we have so that people who commit crimes, especially crimes with guns, will be fully prosecuted and serve time.

Reuters Wire | 10/15/2002 | House OKs Bill to Improve Gun Background Checks
Published in BayArea.com -
WASHINGTON - Under a shadow cast by the Washington sniper, the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a bill to make background checks for gun purchases more effective at weeding out disqualified buyers. The legislation, which passed on a voice vote, had strong backing from both pro- and anti-gun control factions and was scheduled for a vote and likely passage even before the spate of sniper shootings claimed nine lives in the Washington area. Similar bipartisan legislation is pending in the Senate.

Reuters Wire | 10/15/2002 | Bush Admin. to Study 'Fingerprinting' Guns
Published in BayArea.com -
WASHINGTON - Reacting to a deadly series of sniper killings in the Washington area, the White House on Tuesday asked federal law enforcement officials to determine whether "ballistic fingerprinting" technology would be an effective crime fighting tool. The White House appeared to have a change of heart about the issue after hours earlier expressing doubts about the reliability of such technology and saying it could undermine rights of law abiding gun owners. The system uses markings from bullets and shell casings like fingerprints to link specific handguns with gun crimes.

AP Wire | 10/15/2002 | Sniper Victim Said Courageous
Published in BayArea.com -
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) - Linda Franklin had beaten breast cancer, raised two children and a niece practically by herself and was expecting her first grandchild in just a few months. She was looking forward to moving this week into a bigger home. The 47-year-old FBI intelligence specialist was gunned down Monday night, the ninth victim killed by the Washington-area sniper. She was felled by a single shot to the head as she and her husband, Ted, were loading their red convertible with items for their new home.

AP Wire | 10/15/2002 | Pentagon to Help in Hunting Sniper
Published in BayArea.com -
Pentagon to Help in Hunting Sniper PAULINE JELINEK Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Authorities called in the military Tuesday to help solve the 2-week-old sniper case that has left nine people dead and terrorized the capital area. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld agreed Tuesday evening to the FBI's request to use military surveillance aircraft in the hunt for the killer, said Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman.

AP Wire | 10/15/2002 | Bush Opposes Gun 'Fingerprinting'
Published in BayArea.com -
SANDRA SOBIERAJ Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush does not support the recent days' push for firearms "fingerprinting" that has grown from the Washington-area sniper shootings, a spokesman said Tuesday, saying Bush is unconvinced of the technology's accuracy and is concerned about gun owners' privacy. Besides, added White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, when it comes to new gun controls generally, "how many laws can we really have to stop crime, if people are determined in their heart to violate them no matter how many there are or what they say?

AP Wire | 10/15/2002 | House Passes Background Check Bill
Published in BayArea.com -
House Passes Background Check Bill JESSE J. HOLLAND Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - With a sniper roaming the Washington suburbs, the House on Tuesday passed without dissent a bill authorizing $1.1 billion in federal funds to help states computerize criminal records so they can be used in background checks on gun buyers. Lawmakers acknowledged they don't know if the bill might have prevented the sniper shootings over the past two weeks in the Virginia and Maryland suburbs of the nation's capital. "We do know that 10,000 illegal buyers got a gun because of faulty records," said Republican Rep.

AP Wire | 10/15/2002 | Bush doesn't support firearms `fingerprinting'
Published in BayArea.com -
SANDRA SOBIERAJ Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - President Bush does not support the recent days' push for firearms "fingerprinting" that has grown from the Washington-area sniper shootings, a spokesman said Tuesday, saying Bush is unconvinced of the technology's accuracy and is concerned about gun owners' privacy. Besides, added White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, when it comes to new gun controls generally, "how many laws can we really have to stop crime, if people are determined in their heart to violate them no matter how many there are or what they say?

smh.com.au - Killer's face may be known to police
Published in The Sydney Morning Herald -
SMH Home | Text-only index Killer's face may be known to police Date: October 15 2002 By Bob Dart in Washington By asking people to "keep the faith", investigators hunting the sniper who has shot 10 people in 10 days have indicated that they know more than they are revealing. Montgomery County police chief Charles Moose, who said it was "a fine balance" in deciding what to tell the public without tipping off the killer, was coy when asked if investigators had witnesses' descriptions of the sniper or pictures of him from surveillance cameras. The sniper left eight people dead and two wounded between October 2 and October 11.

Pravda.RU The DC Sniper Nest: None Dare Call it Terrorism
Published in Pravda -
Prince William County Schools: . No outdoor after-school activities Monday or Tuesday Spotsylvania County Schools: . Outdoor activities canceled Stafford County Schools: . Outdoor activities canceled Not bad for eleven rounds. Anyone want to take a guess how many of these students are children of federal employees? Now, let your brain spin. Here's a federal government planning for war, importing and exporting no goods on its western flank, and with a market in a steady freefall, and yet to even submit a budget this fiscal year. But none of that will be on their minds when they wake up - only: who's next?

Boston.com / Latest News / Nation
Published in Boston Globe -
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. -- Authorities raised the reward to $500,000 for catching a sniper responsible for 10 attacks in the Washington area, as they confirmed Saturday that an eighth death had been conclusively linked to the killer. Ballistic evidence in the shooting of a 53-year-old businessman, hit once in the back as he stood at a gas station Friday, showed Kenneth Bridges was the latest victim in a two-week shooting spree, Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Maj. Howard Smith said.

Web's the place for office folks
Published in Media Life -
Just over a year ago, the nightly news seemed timely enough to catch up with the day’s events. It is no longer. It now seems that each hour brings new developments on bombings, sniper shootings and a potential war with Iraq. So it's not surprising that an increasing number of Americans are logging on to the web from work to catch the latest developments. What is is surprising is that five news and information sites are now dominant among at-work internet users, in terms of reach, with another 10 sites representing a second tier.

HoustonChronicle.com - Pitts: Reminder of life's random cruelty too close for comfort
Published in Houston Chronicle -
There were other reasons, of course, but when I moved my family to Prince George's County in Maryland a few years back, one of the things I looked forward to was living among the trees. There was something about them that fostered a sense of well-being. I enjoyed the sense of remove that came from wandering country lanes winding lazily through the forest. Seven years later, much of the forest is gone, victim of the nation's crying need for more Blockbusters and Radio Shacks. And suddenly, much of that sense of remove is gone as well, victim of a man -- almost certainly, a man -- with a high-powered rifle.

world.scmp.com - South China Morning Post online brings you the latest headlines and breaking news from around the world
Published in South China Morning Post -
"She was pronounced dead at the scene," a police spokesman said. Witnesses were able to provide the licence plate numbers of vehicles seen leaving the scene, Fairfax County police chief Tom Manger said. He gave few details, but it was clear that witnesses gave investigators more information than after any of the other shootings. Mr Manger declined to confirm reports about a description of a possible suspect, saying only that several people contacted police after the shooting and that investigators were still interviewing them. "We have been receiving quite a bit of information," he said.

Boston.com / Latest News / Nation
Published in Boston Globe -
GAITHERSBURG, Md. -- Linda Gowling pulled up to the gas pump at a Texaco station near Interstate 270 and hopped out. She eyed a nearby stand of trees, then grabbed the nozzle and filled her tank. "It's a bit scary, with the woods around here," she said. Drivers took a hard look around before they filled their tanks Friday after a series of sniper shootings in suburban Washington, D.C. Two victims were shot from afar as they stood at gas pumps. Another was killed while she used a gas station's coin-operated vacuum to clean her minivan.

Boston.com / Latest News / Nation / Washington-area communities increase patrols, fearing they could be sniper's next target
Published in Boston Globe -
By David Dishneau, Associated Press, 10/12/2002 15:35 ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) As the sniper slayings terrorizing the Washington area have spread beyond the suburbs, so has the radius of law enforcement agencies preparing for the next strike. Police chiefs in Maryland and Virginia communities up to 40 miles from the nearest connected shooting have beefed up patrols, approved overtime in advance, canceled leaves and installed extra phone lines.

Mercury News | 10/12/2002 | Authorities release images of white truck believed used by sniper
Published in BayArea.com -
ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) - Investigators hunting a sniper responsible for 10 attacks released their first wanted poster -- composite images of a white box truck -- after authorities confirmed today that an eighth death was linked to the killer. The images are the first of any kind to be released in association with a killer who has been stalking suburban Washington areas and targeting victims apparently at random. More than a week after the shootings began, a massive task force of county, state and federal officers still won't say if they know who they're looking for, or even if the sniper is acting alone.

Mercury News | 10/12/2002 | Feeling nightmare draw near
Published in BayArea.com -
Jim Puzzanghera says anxiety hangs over the nation's capital, again plagued by terrorism. The preschool in northern Virginia that my two young sons attend is located in a spot that until 10 days ago seemed picture-perfect -- nestled in deep woods at the end of a rolling, quarter-mile-long road where we occasionally have spied deer foraging for food. But those woods, beginning now to glow with the colors of autumn, are the exact type of cover a deranged sniper has been using in the Washington, D.C., area.

Boston.com / Latest News / Nation / ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) Investigators hunting a sniper responsible for 10...
Published in Boston Globe -
ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) Investigators hunting a sniper responsible for 10... By Deborah Hastings, Associated Press, 10/13/2002 01:38 ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) Investigators hunting a sniper responsible for 10 attacks released their first wanted poster composite images of a white box truck after authorities confirmed Saturday that an eighth death was linked to the killer. The images are the first of any kind to be released in association with a killer who has been stalking suburban Washington areas and targeting victims apparently at random.

HoustonChronicle.com
Published in Houston Chronicle -
James Martin, 55, of Silver Spring, Md. Killed Oct. 2. A Vietnam veteran and program analyst for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. His father died when he was 8, and he worked his way through college. Martin had an 11-year-old son and was a Boy Scout leader, school volunteer and church trustee. Friends remembered him as a lover of red wine who wore funny ties to church. James L. "Sonny" Buchanan, 39, of Abingdon, Va. Killed Oct. 3. A landscaper, he served on the regional board of the Boys and Girls of Greater Washington and volunteered with a Crime Solvers hot line.

AP Wire | 10/12/2002 | Fox may hold movie due to sniper
Published in BayArea.com -
By ANTHONY BREZNICAN Associated Press LOS ANGELES - The real-life sniper attacks have prompted 20th Century Fox to consider postponing release of the thriller "Phone Booth," about a man who answers a public telephone and finds himself pinned down by a faraway shooter. The film, starring Colin Farrell as the trapped victim and Kiefer Sutherland as the shooter, is set to debut nationwide Nov. 15. The plot of the film bears some similarities to the sniper attacks on the East Coast that have killed seven people and wounded two in the Washington area.

 

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Topic: - on October 16, 2002 at 12:23:57 PM CEST

Army Planes Ready to Track Sniper

The plan calls for military pilots to fly reconnaissance flights accompanied by federal agents, who would relay any collected information to authorities on the ground, a senior defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. A main objective is to improve communication among investigators.

¬> Associated Press

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Topic: - on October 16, 2002 at 12:15:31 PM CEST

Sniper is Middle Eastern
Perhaps terror attacks after all

A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said another witness gave a description of a dark-skinned man, possibly Hispanic or Middle Eastern, in a white van.

¬> abc

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Topic: - on October 16, 2002 at 12:54:46 AM CEST

Sniper Attack Yields Detailed Clues

An FBI analyst who assessed terrorist threats was identified Tuesday as the ninth person killed by the Washington-area sniper, shot in the head in an attack investigators say has yielded the most detailed clues yet in the hunt for the gunman. For the first time, witnesses were able to give information about license plates on vehicles seen fleeing the scene, including a light-colored Chevrolet Astro van with a burned-out rear taillight.

¬> <a href="news.yahoo.com"target="_blank">Associated Press

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Topic: - on October 15, 2002 at 8:28:01 PM CEST

The Associated Press

A senior law enforcement source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there were no indications the sniper targeted Linda Franklin because of her job. Sources said she worked for the FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Center which assesses threats against major structures and cyber networks.

¬> <a href="dailynews.yahoo.com"target="_blank"> Associated Press

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Topic: - on October 15, 2002 at 6:07:45 PM CEST

Washington sniper Overview

The Sacramento Bee -- sacbee.com -- Sniper may revel in media spotlight, experts say
Published in Sacramento Bee
By EUN-KYUNG KIM, Associated PressPublished 6:53 a.m. PDT Tuesday, October 15, 2002 WASHINGTON (AP) - The only predictable thing about the elusive sniper - or snipers - terrorizing the Washington area is the unpredictability of the crimes. The 11 apparently random victims were male and female; old and young; black, white, Hispanic and Asian. The shootings have occurred in the morning and at night. Four were at gas stations, but the crime scenes also have included a sidewalk bench outside a post office and strip mall parking lots.

The Sacramento Bee -- sacbee.com -- Latest sniper shooting yields better clues
Published in Sacramento Bee
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) - An FBI terrorism analyst was identified Tuesday as the ninth person killed by the Washington-area sniper, shot in the head in an attack investigators say has yielded the most detailed clues yet. For the first time, witnesses were able to give information about license plates on vehicles seen fleeing the scene, including a light-colored Chevrolet Astro van with a burned-out rear taillight. A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said another witness gave a description of a dark-skinned man, possibly Hispanic or Middle Eastern, in a white van.

The Sacramento Bee -- sacbee.com -- Pentagon to help in hunt for D.C.-area sniper
Published in Sacramento Bee
Pentagon to help in hunt for D.C.-area sniper By PAULINE JELINEK, Associated PressPublished 3:40 p.m. PDT Tuesday, October 15, 2002 WASHINGTON (AP) - Authorities called in the military on Tuesday to help solve the 2-week-old sniper case that has left nine people dead and terrorized the capital area. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld agreed Tuesday evening to the FBI's request to use military surveillance aircraft in the hunt for the killer, said Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman.

The Sacramento Bee -- sacbee.com -- Friends, co-workers call sniper victim 'courageous'
Published in Sacramento Bee
Friends, co-workers call sniper victim 'courageous' By MATTHEW BARAKAT, Associated Press Published 6:09 p.m. PDT Tuesday, October 15, 2002 ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) - Linda Franklin had beaten breast cancer, raised two children and a niece practically by herself and was expecting her first grandchild in just a few months. She was looking forward to moving this week into a bigger home. The 47-year-old FBI intelligence specialist was gunned down Monday night, the ninth victim killed by the Washington-area sniper.

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Snipers sow fear and panic
Published in BBC News
In November 1990, a 21-year-old hunter, Jamie Paxton, was found dead in a forest in southern Ohio. He had been shot three times. There were no witnesses. His mother, Jean, began a letter-writing campaign, using the local press to try to contact her son's killer. Eventually, she received a reply. Gun lover "I am the murderer of Jamie Paxton. Jamie Paxton was a complete stranger to me," the letter said. He had shot Jamie, the killer wrote, because of an irresistible compulsion that had taken over his life.

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Panic grips Washington
Published in BBC News
Police sealed off the area after the shooting, hoping to catch the shooter. But he - or she - slipped through the dragnet once again. Meanwhile, residents try to carry on with life as normal but are finding it increasingly difficult as people continue to die as they go about their daily routine. White van The sniper had already killed seven, and police responded to the latest shooting with increased urgency. Click here to see the sniper's trail On Saturday, they concluded that "ballistics evidence has conclusively linked the shooting to the other shootings", bringing the total to eight.

OpinionJournal - Scene & Heard
Published in Opinion Journal
Slipping Appeal What is it about Colin Powell that drives Harry Belafonte bananas? BY COLLIN LEVEY Thursday, October 17, 2002 12:01 a.m. EDT Here's to Harry Belafonte for coming through when we all really needed him. The impending battle with Iraq is stressful, there's a sniper stalking the Washington area, summer is over. For moments like these we pay our top entertainers so gloriously--they go well with beer, make us laugh and distract us from the world. Just like a trouper, Mr.

ABCNEWS.com : Cameras Abound, But Can They Catch the Sniper?
Published in ABC News.com
A Mathematical Method to Locate Killers In the Washington, D.C., area since September 11th, that's especially true. Security cameras abound that are capable in a time of crisis of providing sophisticated, cutting-edge video surveillance. They can gather details as small as license plates and can isolate individual faces in a crowd. "If we see anything in particular we have an interest in or suspicious we can take control of that camera and then zoom in," said Stephen Gaffigan of the Washington, D.C., Police Department. Big Brother is certainly watching — so could the serial sniper's identity already be locked on a videotape?

ABCNEWS.com : Is Sniper a New Breed of Serial Killer?
Published in ABC News.com
New Fatal Shooting in Va.; Van Sought Tarot Misunderstanding in Shooting Case? Experts: Sniper May Be Challenging Cops Timeline of 11 D.C.-Area Sniper Attacks Scared Parents Collect Kids After Shooting A Mathematical Method to Locate Killers "This guy is unique," said James Alan Fox, a professor of criminal justice at Northeastern University in Boston. Fox said he's never seen a killer quite like this one in his studies. "Most serial killers care about the particular people they slay." This killer doesn't care about the 11 people who have been shot, Fox said. "They're just targets.

ABCNEWS.com : No Common Thread in Sniper Descriptions
Published in ABC News.com
Sniper Search Intensifies Police Response Sniper Strikes Again Inside the Hunt COMMUNITY D.C.-Area Shootings: What's the Motive? RELATED STORIES Timeline of 11 D.C.-Area Sniper Attacks How to Be a Better Eyewitness "There are a couple of people who believe they saw a man shoot, but unfortunately because of darkness, distance and perhaps excitement and adrenaline at the time, we have been unable to come up with a composite that we can disseminate," Montgomery County, Md., police spokeswoman Capt. Nancy Demme said today. "The only common denominator so far is male," Demme said.

Salon.com News | Spy planes to help find sniper
Published in Salon.com
Army planes with high-tech surveillance equipment were preparing Wednesday to take to the skies around the nation's capital to help track a sniper who has eluded law enforcement officials for two weeks. The planes were being flown to the region and were expected to join the hunt within days, a defense official said Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity. Authorities called in the military Tuesday to help solve the baffling case that has left nine people dead and terrorized the capital area, leaving people afraid to go out of their homes. Defense Secretary Donald H.

Salon.com News | New clues found in sniper hunt
Published in Salon.com
The Washington-area sniper's latest slaying has yielded the most detailed clues yet in the search for the elusive killer: information about license plates and the description of a man in a white van seen fleeing the attack. In another development, the Pentagon has agreed to provide aerial surveillance in the hunt for a sniper who has terrorized the Washington, D.C., suburbs for the past two weeks, killing nine and injuring two. The new clues surfaced in the Monday night slaying of FBI employee Linda Franklin after she and her husband loaded their purchases from a Home Depot into their car.

CNN.com - Filmmaker Michael Moore takes on America's gun culture - Oct. 16, 2002
Published in CNN
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The search for the D.C.-area sniper has thrust the issue of gun control into the political spotlight. Filmmaker Michael Moore takes an uncompromising look at America's gun culture in "Bowling for Columbine." In it, Moore goes after the NRA, Charlton Heston and the Kmart that sold the bullets to the killers responsible for the Columbine High School massacre. He stepped into the "Crossfire" with hosts Paul Begala and Tucker Carlson to talk about Columbine, his new movie and the sniper attacks. BEGALA: ... I love your economic populism.

TIME.com: TIME COVER: THE SCIENCE OF CATCHING A KILLER
Published in Time
Sunday, Oct. 06, 2002 TIME COVER: Inside the Sniper Manhunt (p. 30) The FBI has asked the Pentagon to search its records for recently discharged GIs who had gone through sniper school, federal law enforcement sources tell TIME. The schools teach snipers to work in tandem - one as the spotter, the other as the shooter. Nearly 1,000 people are working on the case, including Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms units, U.S. Marshals and local police. The FBI.

TIME Magazine: How Science Solves Crimes
Published in Time
By Amanda Ripley | Washington Posted Sunday, Oct. 13, 2002; 10:31 a.m. EST Pay attention, profilers have long warned, to a serial killer's first strike. The first of the bullets that strafed the suburbs of America's capital last week sliced through the air over a drab strip-mall parking lot in Aspen Hill, Md., and cracked a nickel-size hole in the front window of a Michaels craft store. It then arched through a leafy display of silk autumnal bouquets, zipped behind the head of a female cashier and pierced a hole through the lamp over the register of lane No. 5.

TIME Magazine: How Science Solves Crimes
Published in Time
At the scene of the boy's shooting, police stumbled upon a trove of clues. A matted area in the brush opposite the school suggested the sniper had lain in wait for his victim. Police also found a tarot "death" card with the message, "Mister Policeman, I am God." The card, which may turn out to be a prank by someone familiar with the Vietnam War habit of leaving this calling card on the bodies of Viet Cong, was sent to the feds to be analyzed for fingerprints and DNA. The card, it would later be disclosed, also contained a request not to tell the media about its existence.

sunspot.net - maryland news
Published in Baltimore Sun
For the first time since the Washington-area sniper slayings began, more than one witness saw a man fire and flee in a white van, but investigators said today that none of the witnesses got a good enough look to yield a sketch. "There are a couple of people who believe they saw a man shoot -- unfortunately distance and darkness and perhaps adrenaline have made them unable to give a clear composite that we can disseminate," Montgomery County Police Capt. Nancy Demme said.

Witness sure he saw Soviet-style rifle
Published in Baltimore Sun
As investigators sort through conflicting witness statements about vans, trucks, facial characteristics and possible accom plices associated with the area's serial sniper, most have turned out to be too vague to publicize. But Monday's attack netted a seemingly solid lead -- a witness says he's sure that the gunman used an AK-74 assault rifle to kill 47-year-old Linda Franklin outside the Home Depot store in Falls Church, Va. That observation, if true, raises more puzzling questions about the serial sniper and his methods.

sunspot.net - maryland news
Published in Baltimore Sun
Severna Park goalkeeper Scott McGuire was supposed to walk his parents onto the soccer field to celebrate Senior Night yesterday and then take on rival South River. Instead, he helped friends with a yearbook assignment, studied for a marine biology test and then got an early jump on some college essays. McGuire said he learned about 1:30 p.m. yesterday that all after-school activities in Anne Arundel County had been postponed because of the sniper shootings that have killed nine, injured two and altered daily life throughout the Baltimore and Washington areas for two weeks.

sunspot.net - maryland news
Published in Baltimore Sun
WASHINGTON - The sniper shootings have cast the politics of gun violence onto the national scene, sending Congress scrambling to address a fiercely partisan issue that has become a focus of the election season. The House unanimously passed a widely popular gun safety measure yesterday that aims to close loopholes in the federal system that screens prospective gun buyers.

sunspot.net - maryland news
Published in Baltimore Sun
One was a Rockville man who disappeared two days before the sniper attacks began. He had recently purchased a .223-caliber rifle, and he drove a white van with a ladder on top. A recovering drug addict, he had recently accumulated large debts. Another was a former Marine from Baltimore with a white Chevrolet Astro van whose enthusiasm for firearms was shared by his girlfriend. Investigating the couple after a domestic shooting, police found several guns and other tantalizing clues: a manual for snipers and a misspelled note declaring "Gihad in America.

sunspot.net - maryland news
Published in Baltimore Sun
The latest victim of the Washington area's elusive gunman was awaiting the birth of her first grandchild and preparing to move into a new home when she was fatally shot Monday night outside a Home Depot store in Falls Church, Va. Linda Franklin, 47, an FBI intelligence analyst, was a "loving wife and mother who watched out for everyone in her family," said a family spokesman, Bill Murray. "The Franklin family is devastated by this tragic event and shocked by this senseless loss of life.

Evidence builds in hunt for sniper
Published in Baltimore Sun
The Washington-area sniper's most recent strike appears to have left police with the most promising clues yet, including descriptions from witnesses of a Soviet-style assault weapon, the shooter and the getaway van, but officials said Wednesday that they still could not put a face on the killer. Without enough detail to create a composite sketch to show the public, the long standoff continued between the serial sniper terrorizing the suburbs around the nation's capital and hundreds of federal agents, state police and local detectives working to solve a case attracting worldwide attention.

The Sacramento Bee -- sacbee.com -- ANALYSIS: Lack of pattern frustrates sniper search
Published in Sacramento Bee
By P. MITCHELL PROTHERO, United Press InternationalPublished 6:31 a.m. PDT Tuesday, October 15, 2002 WASHINGTON (UPI) - Twelve shots, nine dead and two badly wounded in the 12 days, three hours and fifty-five minutes between the first shot - which harmlessly shattered a craft store window - and the death of a 47-year-old intelligence analyst in a parking lot on Monday. With law enforcement officers from five local police departments, 400 FBI agents, Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms specialists and even the Secret Service actively investigating, there is a more intensive focus on this case than any other Washington manhunt in recent memory.

The Sacramento Bee -- sacbee.com -- Sniper may revel in media spotlight, experts say
Published in Sacramento Bee
By EUN-KYUNG KIM, Associated PressPublished 6:31 a.m. PDT Tuesday, October 15, 2002 WASHINGTON (AP) - The only predictable thing about the elusive sniper - or snipers - terrorizing the Washington area is the unpredictability of the crimes. The 11 apparently random victims were male and female; old and young; black, white, Hispanic and Asian. The shootings have occurred in the morning and at night. Four were at gas stations, but the crime scenes also have included a sidewalk bench outside a post office and strip mall parking lots.

The Sacramento Bee -- sacbee.com -- Profiles of D.C.-area sniper victims
Published in Sacramento Bee
Profiles of D.C.-area sniper victims The Associated PressPublished 6:31 a.m. PDT Tuesday, October 15, 2002 (AP) - The nine people killed in the Washington-area sniper shootings: - James Martin, 55, of Silver Spring, Md. Killed Oct. 2. A Vietnam veteran and program analyst for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. His father died when he was 8, and he worked his way through college. Martin had an 11-year-old son and was a Boy Scout leader, school volunteer and church trustee. - James L. "Sonny" Buchanan, 39, of Abingdon, Va. Killed Oct. 3.

The Sacramento Bee -- sacbee.com -- Bush administration considers terrorism as possible sniper motivation
Published in Sacramento Bee
Bush administration considers terrorism as possible sniper motivation By EUN-KYUNG KIM, Associated Press Published 6:31 a.m. PDT Tuesday, October 15, 2002 WASHINGTON (AP) - Absent hard evidence about motivation, the Bush administration is considering the possibility that foreign or domestic terrorists are behind the sniper slayings of nine people in and around the nation's capital. Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge said Tuesday that investigators are hesitant to rule out any possibility. "Under these horrific circumstances, you don't want to draw any premature conclusions," he said.

The Sacramento Bee -- sacbee.com -- Friends, co-workers call sniper victim 'courageous'
Published in Sacramento Bee
Friends, co-workers call sniper victim 'courageous' By MATTHEW BARAKAT, Associated Press Published 6:31 a.m. PDT Tuesday, October 15, 2002 ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) - Linda Franklin had beaten breast cancer, raised two children and a niece practically by herself and was expecting her first grandchild in just a few months. She was looking forward to moving this week into a bigger home. The 47-year-old FBI intelligence specialist was gunned down Monday night, the ninth victim killed by the Washington-area sniper.

The Sacramento Bee -- sacbee.com -- Pentagon to help in hunt for D.C.-area sniper
Published in Sacramento Bee
Pentagon to help in hunt for D.C.-area sniper By PAULINE JELINEK, Associated PressPublished 6:31 a.m. PDT Tuesday, October 15, 2002 WASHINGTON (AP) - Authorities called in the military on Tuesday to help solve the 2-week-old sniper case that has left nine people dead and terrorized the capital area. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld agreed Tuesday evening to the FBI's request to use military surveillance aircraft in the hunt for the killer, said Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman.

The Sacramento Bee -- sacbee.com -- Latest sniper shooting yields better clues
Published in Sacramento Bee
By ALLEN G. BREED, Associated Press - (Published October 15, 2002) FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) - An FBI terrorism analyst was identified Tuesday as the ninth person killed by the Washington-area sniper, shot in the head in an attack investigators say has yielded the most detailed clues yet. For the first time, witnesses were able to give information about license plates on vehicles seen fleeing the scene, including a light-colored Chevrolet Astro van with a burned-out rear taillight.

BBC NEWS | Americas | US sniper probe seeks suspect truck
Published in BBC News
The image of the white box truck is based on information gleaned from several witnesses who reported seeing a similar vehicle driving erratically at the scene of more than one of the shootings. Earlier the authorities confirmed that a man shot in the Washington area on Friday was the eighth person to die at the hands of a serial sniper. Kenneth Bridges was killed by a single bullet as he was filling his car at a petrol station near Fredericksburg, Virginia, about 40 miles (60 kilometres) south of Washington.

sunspot.net - business
Published in Baltimore Sun
Details of 12 sniper shootings, including nine fatalities, in Maryland, the District of Columbia and Virginia, according to police. 1. At 5:20 p.m. on Oct. 2, a bullet pierced a window at Michaels craft store at 13850 Georgia Ave. in the Aspen Hill area. No one was hurt. 2. At 6:04 p.m. on Oct. 2, James Martin, 55, is killed in the parking lot of Shoppers Food Warehouse grocery store in Wheaton. Martin, a Civil War buff and an amateur genealogist, was a program analyst for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 3. At 7:41 a.m. on Oct. 3, James L.

sunspot.net - business
Published in Baltimore Sun
Demme said one witness told police the shooter used an AK-74 rifle to kill 47-year-old FBI analyst Linda Franklin on Monday night at a Home Depot parking garage in Falls Church, Va. Police said the weapon can fire the .223-caliber round recovered from some of the shooting scenes. "The witness firmly believes this is the weapon," Demme said. "But we have to keep in mind that weapons are interchangable, like vehicles.

sunspot.net - business
Published in Baltimore Sun
Fear and wariness about the Washington-area sniper are slowly creeping into the books of some local businesses and attractions as would-be customers - particularly children - stay inside or stay home. Tour bus companies say business is down because schools and corporate groups are canceling outings near Washington or anywhere else perceived as within the sniper's range. Local attractions such as the Maryland Science Center, normally teeming with field-trippers, are uncharacteristically calm. Security companies, meanwhile, say business is up, as merchants and schools try to restore a sense of safety.

sunspot.net - tv & media
Published in Baltimore Sun
Late Monday night, reporters found themselves forced to pivot on the fly as a sniper striking anew in the suburbs of Washington knocked the foundation out from under an apparent scoop. The day started with near-saturation coverage of no news - apparently no one had been shot by the sniper over the weekend. The cable news channels carried the now-familiar news conferences that gave reporters little real information. Late Monday afternoon, two Baltimore stations reported that a 38-year-old former Marine had drawn the intense interest of law enforcement officials. It turned out that the man interrogated by police wasn't the sniper.

Boston.com / Latest News / Washington / Pentagon to use high-tech surveillance equipment to help hunt sniper who has terrorized capital
Published in Boston Globe
Pentagon to use high-tech surveillance equipment to help hunt sniper who has terrorized capital By Associated Press, 10/16/2002 16:21 WASHINGTON (AP) The Pentagon is planning to send up a number of planes with high-tech surveillance equipment to help track a sniper in the Washington area who has eluded law enforcement officials for two weeks while killing nine people and injuring two more. The number of planes, exactly what high-tech capabilities they bring to bear, and when and where they would fly were not being released to withhold such details from the sniper, officials said.

Mercury News | 10/15/2002 | DNA evidence does not match Zodiac suspect
Published in BayArea.com
DNA evidence does not match Zodiac suspect SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The one suspect investigators had in the Zodiac killings of the late 1960s does not match DNA evidence, a newspaper reported Tuesday. Traces of saliva gathered from the cryptic letters the killer sent to police do not match the DNA of the late Arthur Leigh Allen, Vallejo police inspector Kelly Carroll told the San Francisco Chronicle. Allen was the sole suspect named in the serial killings that terrorized the San Francisco Bay area in the 1960s. ``Arthur Leigh Allen does not match the partial DNA fingerprint developed from bona fide Zodiac letters,'' he said.

Sniper on a killing spree in Washington : HindustanTimes.com
Published in Hindustan Times
Washington, October 16 The killing of a 47-year-old woman in a parking lot on Monday evening brought to nine the number of people shot dead by a sniper with a high velocity rifle, spreading fear in normally tranquil Washington suburbs. Police have linked the same weapon to the nine deaths and the wounding of two others in a series of attacks that began on October 2. Each person was hit with a single bullet fired in public places, all but two of them in broad daylight. None of the victims appeared to know each other. Following are details of the shootings released by police: WEDNESDAY OCT. 2 5:20 p.m.

Boston.com / Latest News / Washington / The suddenness and shock of sniper attacks make eyewitness accounts unreliable
Published in Boston Globe
By Ron Kampeas, Associated Press, 10/17/2002 01:31 WASHINGTON (AP) The suddenness of the sniper attacks terrorizing suburban Washington and the shock of seeing people killed are why witnesses have been unable to come up with a solid description of the attacker, experts say. Witness accounts are distorted by fear and by the tendency of bystanders to focus immediately on the victim, allowing the shooter crucial seconds to disappear. ''The normal reaction to fear is not one of becoming a really good, attentive eyewitness,'' said Gary Wells, an Iowa State university psychologist who has studied witness testimony for 25 years.

DallasNews.com | Dallas-Fort Worth | News: DMN Stories
Published in Dallas Morning News
Sniper suspected in Virginia death Woman shot while loading car; police swarm surrounding roads 10/15/2002 The New York Times ROCKVILLE, Md. – A woman was fatally shot in the head Monday night outside a suburban Virginia store, sparking a frantic highway dragnet for the roving sniper who until Monday had killed eight people in the Washington area in the last two weeks.

DallasNews.com | Dallas-Fort Worth | News: DMN Stories
Published in Dallas Morning News
A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said another witness gave a description of a dark-skinned man, possibly Hispanic or Middle Eastern, in a white van. Also for the first time, witnesses were able to give information about license plates on vehicles seen fleeing the scene, including a light-colored Chevrolet Astro van with a burned-out rear taillight and a roof rack. Police released two composite images of a van that witnesses say they saw Friday near a Spotsylvania County, Va., gas station where a Philadelphia man was fatally shot.

DallasNews.com | Dallas-Fort Worth | News: DMN Stories
Published in Dallas Morning News
Registry to trace gun 'fingerprints' debated 10/16/2002 By MICHELLE MITTELSTADT / The Dallas Morning News WASHINGTON – The sniper shootings that have shaken the Washington region also are shattering the relative quiet on the gun policy front. Since Al Gore's loss of the 2000 presidential election was chalked up in part to his support for gun control, national politicians have shown little appetite for the issue.

DallasNews.com | Dallas-Fort Worth | News: DMN Stories
Published in Dallas Morning News
The average American is caught on camera eight to 10 times a day, law enforcement officials say. If that statistic is right or even close, "it would seem a pretty good chance that the killer would probably be on a camera somewhere," said Dave Lang, a video forensics expert at Veridian Corp. in Arlington, Va., which works with law enforcement agencies. Finding video footage of the sniper would be a big help for investigators, who so far have only been able to piece together the most basic details on the sniper. "The only common denominator thus far is male," Capt. Demme said. "We don't have a refined description to go by.

statesman.com | Life
Published in Austin American Statesman
Sniper Attacks Prompt Movie's Delay By ANTHONY BREZNICAN AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP)--With a deadly sniper terrorizing the suburbs of the nation's capital, 20th Century Fox has decided to delay the release of a thriller about people being pinned down in a phone booth by a gunman they can't see. ``Phone Booth,'' starring Kiefer Sutherland as the shooter, was to open Nov. 15. But the studio postponed its release after a sniper killed nine people in suburban Washington, D.C., said Flo Grace, a 20th Century Fox spokeswoman. A new opening date has not been set.

statesman.com | Life
Published in Austin American Statesman
LOS ANGELES (AP)--With a deadly sniper terrorizing the suburbs of the nation's capital, 20th Century Fox has decided to delay the release of a thriller about people being pinned down in a phone booth by a gunman they can't see. ``Phone Booth,'' starring Colin Farrell as the shooter's target, was to open Nov. 15. But the studio decided to delay its release after a sniper killed nine people in suburban Washington, D.C., said Flo Grace, a 20th Century Fox spokeswoman. A new opening date has not been set.

AP Wire | 10/15/2002 | Military joins hunt for sniper
Published in BayArea.com
FALLS CHURCH, Va. - An FBI terrorism analyst was identified Tuesday as the ninth person killed by the Washington-area sniper, shot in the head in an attack investigators say has yielded the most detailed clues yet. With the terrifying spree nearly two weeks old, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld agreed Tuesday evening to provide military surveillance aircraft in the hunt for the killer, a Pentagon spokesman said. Sources said federal agents on the plane will relay any information they collect to authorities on the ground. The Army also has started searching its records for people with sniper training.

KRT Wire | 10/16/2002 | Despite eyewitnesses, no composite of sniper
Published in BayArea.com
BY KEN MORITSUGU AND TONY PUGH Knight Ridder Newspapers ROCKVILLE, Md. - (KRT) - Hope turned to disappointment in the Washington sniper investigation Wednesday as police revealed that eyewitness accounts from the latest shooting weren't good enough to provide a solid description of the shooter. At least two people had reported seeing a man gun down Linda Franklin Monday night in the parking lot of a Home Depot in the Washington suburb of Falls Church, Va., authorities said. The 47-year-old FBI employee was the ninth person killed in a two-week spree in the Washington area that also wounded two others.

KRT Wire | 10/15/2002 | Sniper's latest victim identified; police gather more clues
Published in BayArea.com
FALLS CHURCH, Va. - (KRT) - A cancer survivor and mother of two who worked as an FBI analyst was tallied Tuesday as the ninth person killed in 13 days by a serial sniper as police gained new clues in their quest to end a ghostly killer's reign of suburban terror. Like the sniper's other victims, Linda Franklin, 47, apparently was selected at random and was going about the business of everyday life when she was felled by a single bullet late Monday. She was with her husband, loading packages into her car in a Home Depot parking lot here about 9:15 p.m. EDT, when the sniper shot her once in the head, police said.

Reuters Wire | 10/15/2002 | Police Say 9th Murder by Sniper Gave Clues
Published in BayArea.com
FAIRFAX, Va. - Police said on Tuesday new evidence gleaned from the ninth murder by a sniper in the Washington area gave them the best chance yet of catching the serial killer whose latest victim was shot dead while loading her car with shopping bags. FBI employee Linda Franklin, 47, was killed in front of her husband by a single shot to the head late on Monday in the parking lot of a Home Depot hardware store in Falls Church, Virginia.

Contra Costa Times | 10/15/2002 | Frenzy follows new Virginia shooting
Published in BayArea.com
ROCKVILLE, Md. - A woman was fatally shot in the head Monday night outside a suburban Virginia store, unleashing a frantic highway dragnet for the roving suburban sniper who previously killed eight people in the Washington area in the last two weeks. There was no official confirmation that the shooting was the work of the sniper, but police proceeded on the assumption that it was. They broadcast a lookout alarm for someone in flight, brandishing a semi-automatic weapon and driving a white van similar to the one sought in the earlier shootings.

Mercury News | 10/15/2002 | Another killing in D.C. area
Published in BayArea.com
FALLS CHURCH, Va. - A woman was fatally shot Monday night outside a Home Depot store in an attack that appeared similar to those carried out by a sniper who has been linked by police to eight killings in the Washington, D.C., region since Oct. 2. The shooting Monday occurred about 9:15 p.m at the Seven Corners Shopping Center, which is bounded by major northern Virginia traffic arteries, and it prompted police to set up checkpoints on principal roads for miles around. Traffic was jammed on many highways.

World: Experts Discuss Link Between Bali, Yemen, And Kuwait
Published in Radio Free Europe
U.S. President George W. Bush and Indonesia's defense minister have both said they think there is a link between the Al-Qaeda terrorist network and the Bali bomb attacks that killed more than 180 people during the weekend. Bush says there appears to be an emerging pattern of concerted terrorist attacks which include the Bali blasts, the attack on a French oil tanker off the coast of Yemen, and recent attacks on U.S. Marines in Kuwait. RFE/RL correspondent Ron Synovitz takes a closer look at suggestions that the world is in the midst of a new wave of global terrorism. Prague, 15 October 2002 (RFE/RL) -- U.S. President George W.

YellowTimes.org Article
Published in YellowTimes.org
By Paul Harris YellowTimes.org Columnist (Canada) (YellowTimes.org) – Because of the recent spate of seemingly random assassinations in the environs of Washington D.C., we will surely hear and see editorial pieces trying to drum up support for tougher gun legislation in the United States. Well, this is not one of them. What would be the point? Everyone must realize by now that America has a love affair with violence and it is definitely not unrequited. Let me say from the outset that I am a pacifist.

KRT Wire | 10/14/2002 | Sniper takes second week off, leading to speculation of work-week schedule
Published in BayArea.com
Sniper takes second week off, leading to speculation of work-week schedule BY SHIRA KANTOR Chicago Tribune WASHINGTON - (KRT) - A second quiet weekend passed in the deadly shooting rampage that has gripped the Washington area as speculation mounted that the sniper, who seems to favor certain suburban locations, also favors a work-week killing schedule. Anxiety ran high Monday morning, with many residents fearing the sniper's return after a Saturday and Sunday without incident. But by the end of the day - which, as Columbus Day, marked the end of a three-day weekend - no killings were reported.

KRT Wire | 10/15/2002 | Sniper attacks return focus to national gun policy
Published in BayArea.com
WASHINGTON - (KRT) - The sniper shootings that have shaken the Washington region also are shattering the relative quiet on the gun policy front. Since Al Gore's loss of the 2000 presidential election was chalked up in part to his support for gun control, national politicians have shown little appetite for the issue. But with suburban Washingtonians fearful that they may wind up in the sniper's crosshairs, proposals to create a national ballistic fingerprint system to help law enforcement trace shell casings or guns found at crime scenes are gaining new attention.

KRT Wire | 10/15/2002 | Profile of elusive killer became slightly clearer with latest killing
Published in BayArea.com
WASHINGTON - (KRT) - If there is any hint of a pattern to a series of sniper attacks that have terrorized the Washington suburbs, it is that the shooter may be growing more daring, leaving tantalizing clues, and choosing targets that carry heightened risk of capture. On Monday night, the sniper fired into a parking garage at a busy Home Depot in Fairfax County, Va., killing a 47-year-old FBI analyst who was shopping with her husband. It was a brazen act that quickly touched off a massive dragnet. Police unleashed bloodhounds, blocked off intersections, and scoured the area in helicopters and cruisers.

Reuters Wire | 10/15/2002 | Bush Administration Cool to 'Fingerprinting' Guns
Published in BayArea.com
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration on Tuesday brushed aside calls for "fingerprinting" firearms in response to a string of sniper attacks in the Washington area, saying it may not be a reliable way to identify shooters and could undermine the rights of law abiding gun owners. "New laws don't stop people like this," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said of the sniper, who has killed nine people in two weeks. "What we must do is ... enforce the laws we have so that people who commit crimes, especially crimes with guns, will be fully prosecuted and serve time.

Reuters Wire | 10/15/2002 | House OKs Bill to Improve Gun Background Checks
Published in BayArea.com
WASHINGTON - Under a shadow cast by the Washington sniper, the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a bill to make background checks for gun purchases more effective at weeding out disqualified buyers. The legislation, which passed on a voice vote, had strong backing from both pro- and anti-gun control factions and was scheduled for a vote and likely passage even before the spate of sniper shootings claimed nine lives in the Washington area. Similar bipartisan legislation is pending in the Senate.

Reuters Wire | 10/15/2002 | Bush Admin. to Study 'Fingerprinting' Guns
Published in BayArea.com
WASHINGTON - Reacting to a deadly series of sniper killings in the Washington area, the White House on Tuesday asked federal law enforcement officials to determine whether "ballistic fingerprinting" technology would be an effective crime fighting tool. The White House appeared to have a change of heart about the issue after hours earlier expressing doubts about the reliability of such technology and saying it could undermine rights of law abiding gun owners. The system uses markings from bullets and shell casings like fingerprints to link specific handguns with gun crimes.

AP Wire | 10/15/2002 | Sniper Victim Said Courageous
Published in BayArea.com
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) - Linda Franklin had beaten breast cancer, raised two children and a niece practically by herself and was expecting her first grandchild in just a few months. She was looking forward to moving this week into a bigger home. The 47-year-old FBI intelligence specialist was gunned down Monday night, the ninth victim killed by the Washington-area sniper. She was felled by a single shot to the head as she and her husband, Ted, were loading their red convertible with items for their new home.

AP Wire | 10/15/2002 | Pentagon to Help in Hunting Sniper
Published in BayArea.com
Pentagon to Help in Hunting Sniper PAULINE JELINEK Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Authorities called in the military Tuesday to help solve the 2-week-old sniper case that has left nine people dead and terrorized the capital area. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld agreed Tuesday evening to the FBI's request to use military surveillance aircraft in the hunt for the killer, said Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman.

AP Wire | 10/15/2002 | Bush Opposes Gun 'Fingerprinting'
Published in BayArea.com
SANDRA SOBIERAJ Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush does not support the recent days' push for firearms "fingerprinting" that has grown from the Washington-area sniper shootings, a spokesman said Tuesday, saying Bush is unconvinced of the technology's accuracy and is concerned about gun owners' privacy. Besides, added White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, when it comes to new gun controls generally, "how many laws can we really have to stop crime, if people are determined in their heart to violate them no matter how many there are or what they say?

AP Wire | 10/15/2002 | House Passes Background Check Bill
Published in BayArea.com
House Passes Background Check Bill JESSE J. HOLLAND Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - With a sniper roaming the Washington suburbs, the House on Tuesday passed without dissent a bill authorizing $1.1 billion in federal funds to help states computerize criminal records so they can be used in background checks on gun buyers. Lawmakers acknowledged they don't know if the bill might have prevented the sniper shootings over the past two weeks in the Virginia and Maryland suburbs of the nation's capital. "We do know that 10,000 illegal buyers got a gun because of faulty records," said Republican Rep.

AP Wire | 10/15/2002 | Bush doesn't support firearms `fingerprinting'
Published in BayArea.com
SANDRA SOBIERAJ Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - President Bush does not support the recent days' push for firearms "fingerprinting" that has grown from the Washington-area sniper shootings, a spokesman said Tuesday, saying Bush is unconvinced of the technology's accuracy and is concerned about gun owners' privacy. Besides, added White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, when it comes to new gun controls generally, "how many laws can we really have to stop crime, if people are determined in their heart to violate them no matter how many there are or what they say?

smh.com.au - Killer's face may be known to police
Published in The Sydney Morning Herald
SMH Home | Text-only index Killer's face may be known to police Date: October 15 2002 By Bob Dart in Washington By asking people to "keep the faith", investigators hunting the sniper who has shot 10 people in 10 days have indicated that they know more than they are revealing. Montgomery County police chief Charles Moose, who said it was "a fine balance" in deciding what to tell the public without tipping off the killer, was coy when asked if investigators had witnesses' descriptions of the sniper or pictures of him from surveillance cameras. The sniper left eight people dead and two wounded between October 2 and October 11.

Pravda.RU The DC Sniper Nest: None Dare Call it Terrorism
Published in Pravda
Prince William County Schools: . No outdoor after-school activities Monday or Tuesday Spotsylvania County Schools: . Outdoor activities canceled Stafford County Schools: . Outdoor activities canceled Not bad for eleven rounds. Anyone want to take a guess how many of these students are children of federal employees? Now, let your brain spin. Here's a federal government planning for war, importing and exporting no goods on its western flank, and with a market in a steady freefall, and yet to even submit a budget this fiscal year. But none of that will be on their minds when they wake up - only: who's next?

Boston.com / Latest News / Nation
Published in Boston Globe
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. -- Authorities raised the reward to $500,000 for catching a sniper responsible for 10 attacks in the Washington area, as they confirmed Saturday that an eighth death had been conclusively linked to the killer. Ballistic evidence in the shooting of a 53-year-old businessman, hit once in the back as he stood at a gas station Friday, showed Kenneth Bridges was the latest victim in a two-week shooting spree, Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Maj. Howard Smith said.

Web's the place for office folks
Published in Media Life
Just over a year ago, the nightly news seemed timely enough to catch up with the day’s events. It is no longer. It now seems that each hour brings new developments on bombings, sniper shootings and a potential war with Iraq. So it's not surprising that an increasing number of Americans are logging on to the web from work to catch the latest developments. What is is surprising is that five news and information sites are now dominant among at-work internet users, in terms of reach, with another 10 sites representing a second tier.

HoustonChronicle.com - Pitts: Reminder of life's random cruelty too close for comfort
Published in Houston Chronicle
There were other reasons, of course, but when I moved my family to Prince George's County in Maryland a few years back, one of the things I looked forward to was living among the trees. There was something about them that fostered a sense of well-being. I enjoyed the sense of remove that came from wandering country lanes winding lazily through the forest. Seven years later, much of the forest is gone, victim of the nation's crying need for more Blockbusters and Radio Shacks. And suddenly, much of that sense of remove is gone as well, victim of a man -- almost certainly, a man -- with a high-powered rifle.

world.scmp.com - South China Morning Post online brings you the latest headlines and breaking news from around the world
Published in South China Morning Post
"She was pronounced dead at the scene," a police spokesman said. Witnesses were able to provide the licence plate numbers of vehicles seen leaving the scene, Fairfax County police chief Tom Manger said. He gave few details, but it was clear that witnesses gave investigators more information than after any of the other shootings. Mr Manger declined to confirm reports about a description of a possible suspect, saying only that several people contacted police after the shooting and that investigators were still interviewing them. "We have been receiving quite a bit of information," he said.

Boston.com / Latest News / Nation
Published in Boston Globe
GAITHERSBURG, Md. -- Linda Gowling pulled up to the gas pump at a Texaco station near Interstate 270 and hopped out. She eyed a nearby stand of trees, then grabbed the nozzle and filled her tank. "It's a bit scary, with the woods around here," she said. Drivers took a hard look around before they filled their tanks Friday after a series of sniper shootings in suburban Washington, D.C. Two victims were shot from afar as they stood at gas pumps. Another was killed while she used a gas station's coin-operated vacuum to clean her minivan.

Boston.com / Latest News / Nation / Washington-area communities increase patrols, fearing they could be sniper's next target
Published in Boston Globe
By David Dishneau, Associated Press, 10/12/2002 15:35 ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) As the sniper slayings terrorizing the Washington area have spread beyond the suburbs, so has the radius of law enforcement agencies preparing for the next strike. Police chiefs in Maryland and Virginia communities up to 40 miles from the nearest connected shooting have beefed up patrols, approved overtime in advance, canceled leaves and installed extra phone lines.

Mercury News | 10/12/2002 | Authorities release images of white truck believed used by sniper
Published in BayArea.com
ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) - Investigators hunting a sniper responsible for 10 attacks released their first wanted poster -- composite images of a white box truck -- after authorities confirmed today that an eighth death was linked to the killer. The images are the first of any kind to be released in association with a killer who has been stalking suburban Washington areas and targeting victims apparently at random. More than a week after the shootings began, a massive task force of county, state and federal officers still won't say if they know who they're looking for, or even if the sniper is acting alone.

Mercury News | 10/12/2002 | Feeling nightmare draw near
Published in BayArea.com
Jim Puzzanghera says anxiety hangs over the nation's capital, again plagued by terrorism. The preschool in northern Virginia that my two young sons attend is located in a spot that until 10 days ago seemed picture-perfect -- nestled in deep woods at the end of a rolling, quarter-mile-long road where we occasionally have spied deer foraging for food. But those woods, beginning now to glow with the colors of autumn, are the exact type of cover a deranged sniper has been using in the Washington, D.C., area.

Boston.com / Latest News / Nation / ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) Investigators hunting a sniper responsible for 10...
Published in Boston Globe
ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) Investigators hunting a sniper responsible for 10... By Deborah Hastings, Associated Press, 10/13/2002 01:38 ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) Investigators hunting a sniper responsible for 10 attacks released their first wanted poster composite images of a white box truck after authorities confirmed Saturday that an eighth death was linked to the killer. The images are the first of any kind to be released in association with a killer who has been stalking suburban Washington areas and targeting victims apparently at random.

HoustonChronicle.com
Published in Houston Chronicle
James Martin, 55, of Silver Spring, Md. Killed Oct. 2. A Vietnam veteran and program analyst for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. His father died when he was 8, and he worked his way through college. Martin had an 11-year-old son and was a Boy Scout leader, school volunteer and church trustee. Friends remembered him as a lover of red wine who wore funny ties to church. James L. "Sonny" Buchanan, 39, of Abingdon, Va. Killed Oct. 3. A landscaper, he served on the regional board of the Boys and Girls of Greater Washington and volunteered with a Crime Solvers hot line.

AP Wire | 10/12/2002 | Fox may hold movie due to sniper
Published in BayArea.com
By ANTHONY BREZNICAN Associated Press LOS ANGELES - The real-life sniper attacks have prompted 20th Century Fox to consider postponing release of the thriller "Phone Booth," about a man who answers a public telephone and finds himself pinned down by a faraway shooter. The film, starring Colin Farrell as the trapped victim and Kiefer Sutherland as the shooter, is set to debut nationwide Nov. 15. The plot of the film bears some similarities to the sniper attacks on the East Coast that have killed seven people and wounded two in the Washington area.

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Topic: - on October 15, 2002 at 3:55:07 PM CEST

Van Sought in D.C. Sniper Case

A dragnet covered suburban Washington on Tuesday as authorities searched for a cream-colored van spotted moments after a woman was killed in a mall parking lot by a single bullet to the head. The shooting led to fears that the sniper terrorizing the area had killed a ninth person.

¬> <a href="abcnews.go.com"target="_blank">abc

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Topic: - on October 15, 2002 at 2:59:20 PM CEST

The Sniper:
A political criminal?

The man who is killing people in the Washington, D.C. area with his high-powered rifle is in the pathological family of the Unibomber and Timothy McVeigh. You must think of the United States as an organic body, a body politic, which is producing new forms of social pathologies. He is not killing his victims for fun, I don’t think, but because he believes he is being asked to do so by a force that is part of the organic body.

¬> supplysideinvestor

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Topic: - on October 15, 2002 at 2:25:20 PM CEST

Real snipers resent D.C. shooter

They look through a cylinder of glass and metal at a distant target, knowing they are about to snuff out a life. They don't brag about their kills over beer, nor do they overly brood about them. They take life only to save other lives. To them, the word "sniper" is a badge of honor and a hallmark of skill. And to them, whoever has been terrorizing the Washington area for the last two weeks is not worthy of the name.

¬> CNN

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Topic: SNIPER - on October 15, 2002 at 2:00:19 PM CEST

Police try to determine if shooting death of woman in Virginia is linked to Washington sniper

A dragnet covered suburban Washington on Tuesday as authorities searched for a cream-colored van spotted moments after a woman was killed in a mall parking lot by a single bullet to the head. The shooting led to fears that the sniper terrorizing the area had killed a ninth person.

¬> boston.com

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Topic: - on October 15, 2002 at 11:43:23 AM CEST

Got him?
Another Victim?

A woman was shot and killed tonight in Fairfax County, Va., and police are investigating the attack as though it might be the work of a sniper who has terrorized the Washington, D.C. area.

¬> <a href="abcnews.go.com"target="_blank">ABC ¬> CNN ¬> WBAL

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Topic: - on October 15, 2002 at 1:19:08 AM CEST

White Box Truck Seized by D.C. Police

D.C. police investigating the Washington-area sniper attacks on Monday found an abandoned white box truck that looked like it had fresh paint and tags that had been tampered with, Fox News has learned.

¬> <a href="www.foxnews.com"target="_blank">FoxNews

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