Maryland Sniper

[oldsoldier]

I dont think they have the death penalty in MD anyway...he MAY get it through federal law though. That is really tough to do though....hell, some of the spies they caught, who endangered unknown numbers of american lives, as well as made some disappear, they dont even get the death penalty.
As far as proving this guy is mentally competent; he is. He has established communication; these acts are premeditated; he is not on a "rampage", most likely isnt on any mind-altering meds (at least prescribed ones); proving insanity in a court of law is difficult at best. MA has only like a 7% success rate wit this (may be higher...but my guess isnt by much). They have to fit certain criteria; I'll tell you right now, he doesnt. Look at Dahmer; he was found competent. And he ATE people! This guy will get too cocky and get caught. More will, unfortunately die before then; but thewy will get him. Hell, he is demanding money now; this all about EGO. This guy gets off by the media coverage he is getting. Believe it or not, they are doing this right. Flood him with info; make him seem invincible; he will trip up soon. Mark my words.

[FatMan]

Originally posted by oldsoldier
Minimag; the problem with typing recovered rounds is that, especially smaller types, they fragment on impact. It is much easier, as well as far more accurate, to type from brass.
Yes, snipers normally work in pairs. My personal belief; this guy is alone. He may belong to a group, but he works alone. He is a glory hound. He has some rudimentary skills; however, he hasnt taken a shot over 100 yds yet. If you fire at all, that isnt a long shot.
You wont find any brass either; this guy uses a bolt action. Also, as far as UAVs go; they cant see into buildings or under heavy brush. This guy will use that to his advantage. He will take shots from a vehicle, from under bridges or awnings, wherever he is protected. He is smart, but he will be caught. Eventually someone will see him. The sad thing is, this is gonna cause a spinoff of related crimes throughout the country.
I really wouldnt be surprised if he is a cop/fireman/EMT, or something along those lines.

A couple points - they HAVE recovered brass - they DO believe it is a semi-auto probably an AR-15 or a Mini-14 (my money is on the second - but everyone seems to be assuming the first).

His first shot was 100yds and he missed, the rest have been closer to 50yds, except the school which was 75yds, but he was prone and failed to kill. He's not THAT good. He prefers still targets or those moving directly towards him.

Seems to me its either a lone madman, or an organized terrorist in a team - the second seems most likely at the moment given his ability to shoot and drive off very quickly.

If these was a true trained sniper team the situation would be much more hopeless. As it is, it looks bad, they should have a better lead by now and frankly they've got very little.

FatMan

[oldsoldier]

I believe all brass recovered so far was .308....and bullets recovered were .223...I could be wrong though. As far as trained...I definitely dont think he has formal training. He prolly reads about it...web search, etc. Missing a 100 yd shot is,well, not very good. Again, he posesses rudimentary hiding skills (fieldcraft), but no shooting skills.
BTW...was just gonna post that I havent seen you around for a bit. Hope everything is going well with you guys down there!

[shartley]

[Archangel Damien]

http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/South/10/23/sniper.shootings/index.html

[FeelTheRT]

I dont know about the pentagon deal, but here is my thought on the sniper killing people around here.
Recently, cops have been checking each vehicle at certain check points rihgt after a shooting. They block up every major high way in the Washington DC Metropolitain area to find this crazy guy. My opinion is, this guy isn't even going anywhere. I don't even think he drives a white van anymore. I meen this guy watches the news just like us and it seems to me this guy isn't stupid so i'm sure he dosn't even dive the van. It's a possibility that he dosn't even own a van. For all we know, he could drive an average sedan. After each shooting, he dosn't need to drive off. He can just chill out at a near by parking lot and be like your average Joe telling people "hey, have you heard about the latest shooting?? I dont think we can ever catch this guy". Now he's trying to scare everyone from the latest messege from him. I think closing schools wont solve anything because i think it will be a while until we catch this guy. Also, if you live in the DC metropolitain area and if you get pulled over by cops or FBI, please please dont give them a hard time. Just cooperate and do what they say.

[Dayspring]

I'll put it to you all this way-

He's not from a terrorist cell of Al Quaida. Why? Because terrorists want us ALL dead. 13 shot, 10 killed. NOT what they would call a productive day...

He's using hunting rounds for a common calibre weapon. The rounds are designed to break apart once it enters the vitim. It's supposed to be more humane to the animal. MSNBC is quoted as saying "He/She's using the rounds exactly the way they are designed to be used."

I think it's probably two people. One guy in the white van speeding away while the shooter makes good his escape. However, the glory hound/loner profile also fits.

He's cautious- as far as we know they haven't lifted any prints off the shell casings yet. (At least they haven't released that). The Tarot card and the "I am God" references are very telling however. The Death card isn't about physical death- but transformation. (read that somewhere). Meaning the shooter doesn't really know anything about Tarot.

Then there's the whole bank $ thing. Why on earth would he have funds transferred to a domestic bank? It's a surefire way of getting caught! The FBI could trace the $ and the account. Off-Shore accounts or Swiss accounts would be the way to go for annonymity.

My theory- a home-grown wacko who's apaprently not the best shooter in the world that is going to make a mistake and get himself/herself caught. Have some faith in the law services.

[land hurricane]

My theory- a home-grown wacko who's apaprently not the best shooter in the world that is going to make a mistake and get himself/herself caught. Have some faith in the law services.

yeah i agree with dayspring here. This guy isnt trained and probaly isnt that smart either. hes just trying to make a name for himself, and is doing a very good job of it. IMO

oh yeah so what kind of gun do the police think hes using? a deer rifle or what?

[bornl33t]

just a few things, how many terrorist do you know that don't want their work known? Terrorists are generally extremeists trying to prove something ture that isn't to begin with. Once in a blue moon do they blow stuff up for money and then it's IMEDIATE. Not a week after they take someone hostage etc. Which brings me to the second idea I wanna bring up. I don't know how smart this guy is, heck it could be a 18 yr old that losta g/f and happened to have a rifle laying around, but I doubt he was using the bank account with intent to pick the money up. 100/1 chance that he's trying to throw ppl off on a wild goose chase.

And lastly, does anyone here read the bible? Even if not I'm sure you've heard of the mark of the beast? I bet this will go hand in hand with this so called mark of the beast. The bible says you won't be able to buy food without it!! Kinda sounds like identification to me? maybe a chip under the skin? a serial number on a tatoo? Who knows? But this event I'm sure is really getting ppl to think about how to keep an eye on americas 100 million residence? I think the 9-11 incident and this and the next few large scale "acts of terror" are going to incourage something phrophesied in the bible. And then there are ppl who think the bible is a book of fairy tales.

And I promise you, this is just the beginning. They will catch this sniper, but next year someone else or some other organization will be holding a city or state captive by what could happen.

[oldsoldier]

Offshore accounts CAN be traced. An internationLlaw was passed a few years ago requiring foreign banks to report unusually large amounts of money deposited. The only real kudo to depositing money in foreign banks is higher interest and you dont pay taxes.

[JohnTzu]

First off , let me start by saying that this is a very interesting thread.

Secondly, I'd rather not speculate about this nut job at this time. The Idea that someone's out there, just killing innocents at random freaks me out enough.

Thirdly, I pray to god , for the sake of all of us, that he's not a paintball player. It's all they'd need to shut us down. Just an oppinion....

[lopxtc]

I'll have to disagree with you on this one ... a .223 (Nato 5.56mm) is not a hunting rifle round ...

Now I can be wrong, but being from Missouri (high deer hunting population) ... the majority of the hunting rifles around here a .30-30, .30-06, 7mm (varmit hunters*L*), you get the picture ...

The 5.56mm round is the standard round of the US Military (M-16, SAW, etc) ... and while yes it does "tumble" ... all rounds tumble ... this supposed benefit is really a side-effect of a light round going very fast ... the 5.56mm can be deflected by almost anything including think leaves ... if you dont believe me just visit your local base and watch a night fire and look at all the lovely little red lights bouncing all over the place *LOL* ...

This is why its not an effective hunting round ... most rounds are heavier and will either stop when they hit a bone, or break it and be slowed down. The .223(5.56mm) will not, it will deflect off the bone and travel through the body till it sufficently slows down enough not to bounce. This would run the risk of destroying useable meat, and may also run the chance of ruining the pelt ... two things hunters are after ...

On the other hand, it is a very accurate round (550 meters point target, 800 meters area target) and one that almost anyone can target shoot easily with the addition of a low-power scope.

Being light, fast, accurate allows for a trained shooter to shoot effectively from a further distance (remember most of his targets were standing still) with accuracy ... and the "tumble" side-effect allows for a normally non-fatal wound to be a little more troublesome.

Personally not the round I would have choosen, given the relatively few rifles that fire it ... making the chance of tracking the sale a little easier ...

Just my .02

Aaron

Originally posted by Dayspring
He's using hunting rounds for a common calibre weapon. The rounds are designed to break apart once it enters the vitim. It's supposed to be more humane to the animal. MSNBC is quoted as saying "He/She's using the rounds exactly the way they are designed to be used."

[oldsoldier]

the 5.56 is a popular round; it is easy to reload. True, not a good hunting round. The reason the military went to 5.56 was weight (lighter rounds=more ammo carried), and the velocity. ALL rounds deform on impact; a fragmentary round (sometimes mistakenly referred to as a Dum Dum) goes against the Geneva Convention; the fact that a 5.56 fragments (or, more accurately deforms), is due to the lightness of the bullet itself. Nothing else. Anyway, 5.56 is a decent shooting round, with good flat short range trajectory, but not enough mass to shoot long distance effectively (over 500 yards). He probably chose .223 for convenience, nothing more. Hell, he may have had the rifle for years...anyway, just wanted to get some facts out.

[lopxtc]

Actually I found the round to be quite accurate at 500 meters, even out to 600 ...

As a triple award expert rifle shooter with the Marines, we are required to engage targets at 500 meters with iron sights as part of our basic rifle marksmenship course

Aaron

Originally posted by oldsoldier
but not enough mass to shoot long distance effectively (over 500 yards).

[theraidenproject]

New development in case? Hopefully.(nytimes.com)