Date: Fri, 4 Oct 2002 11:44:19 -0400 (EDT)
From: Edward Gross <egross-AT-freenet.tlh.fl.us>
Subject: Re: A washingtonpost.com article from: dcombs-AT-bloomington.in.us


GOD DAM CARP I work in DC live in the next county over from Monk-gun-ore-e
county. I have been somewhat concerned about random shootings, NOW I am dam
near FULL paranoia now that you have my mind focusing on the un-mentionable
one as the possible (and somewhat probable) gunman.

Ducking in DC,
rEd Ed

On Thu, 3 Oct 2002 dcombs-AT-bloomington.in.us wrote:

> You have been sent this message from dcombs-AT-bloomington.in.us as a courtesy of the Washington Post - http://www.washingtonpost.com
>
>  Anyone seen the unmentioned one lately?
>
> oops.
>
> http://www.white2002.com/
>
> carp
>
>  To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37433-2002Oct3.html
>
>  Police Searching for Montgomery Shooter
>
>  By a Washington Post Staff Writer Police across the Washington region are searching for "a skilled shooter" who killed five people in an apparently random death spree last night and this morning in Montgomery County.
>
>
>  The shootings, most of which occurred this morning, took place in the most ordinary of places  at two shopping centers, two gas stations and on the lawn outside an auto dealership along Rockville Pike. The victims, it became clear this evening, were ordinary people doing ordinary things on a beautiful early fall day in suburban Washington.
>
>
>  The shooting spree has caused an uproar across the county, with children being kept indoors at schools in the county and callers with tips inundating the 911 emergency system.
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>  "We do have someone that so far has been very accurate in what they are attempting to do, and so we probably have a skilled shooter," said Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose this afternoon. Police said they are looking for a small, slightly damaged white truck that may have black lettering on the side. Witnesses to the shootings said they saw the truck leaving some of the crime scenes.
>
>
>  There is no indication any of the five people killed are in any way related or had any conflict with anyone, Moose said today. There was no evidence of any altercations or conversations of any nature before the victims were shot.
>
>
>  "These individuals had not done anything," Chief Moose said during a morning news conference. "We need to figure out some way to stop this. . . . We strongly feel that all of these are connected," Moose said.
>
>
>  Montgomery County police spokesman Derek Baliles said this afternoon, the police suspect the shooter was armed with a rifle.
>
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>  "With a scope, anyone can be a good shot. The bad guys sometimes have the best luck at shooting," he said.
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>
>  About 40 minutes before the first killing last night, a shot was fired through a window of a Michael's craft store in the 3800 block of Aspen Hill Road. No one was hurt, but Montgomery County police said they believe the incident may have been related to what followed.
>
>
>  The first fatal shooting occurred last night at 6 o'clock, when James Martin, 55, of Silver Spring was killed in the parking lot of a Shoppers Food Warehouse at Randolph Road and Georgia Avenue in Wheaton. By this morning, the stores in the area were open for business as usual. A security tape from a camera that monitors the lot had been turned over to police.
>
>
>  Then about 7:40 a.m., James Buchanan was pushing a Lawn Boy lawn mower over a narrow strip of grass in front of the Fitzgerald Auto Mall on Rockville Pike when he was shot. Body shop manager Gary Huss heard a sudden bang. Huss and as many as 100 other employees ran toward Buchanan who staggered for about 200 feet before collapsing. "I just put my hand on his should and said 'Help is on the way,' " said service director Al Briggs. "But he was already gone."
>
>
>  The next victim was Premkumar A. Walekar, a part-time cab driver, who didn't normally start his day early. But with a forecast of bright sunshine and highs in the 80s, he rose early figuring he'd do his work and then enjoy the rest of the day. It was about 8:10 a.m., at a Mobil gas station on Aspen Hill Road at Connecticut Avenue in Aspen Hill, when the killer struck again. Walekar died pumping gas.
>
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>  "Normally, he doesn't go out that early," said his daughter Andrea Walekar, 24, a business student at the University of Maryland. "He wasn't supposed to be there."
>
>
>  Then about 8:30 a.m., Sarah Ramos, 34, was sitting on a bench at the shopping center near the Leisure World retirement community off Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring when the killer next took aim and fired.
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>
>  Ramos was sprawled on the bench, bleeding from the head, when Dolores Wallgren walked by on her way to an appointment at a beauty shop. "She was sitting on the bench, just sitting there," Wallgren said.
>
>
>  The shopping center is popular with residents of the retirement community, who visit the post office, coffee shop and beauty salon on a typical morning. This morning, many of them were gazing at a crime scene, while news helicopters hovered overhead.
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>  Witnesses told police they saw a white van drive off after this shooting.
>
>
>  It was just before 10 a.m. at a Shell gas station in Kensington and  Lori Lewis-Rivera, 25, was vacuuming her minivan. The station, at the corner of Knowles and Connecticut avenues in the heart of Kensington, is visible from all directions. But again the killer struck as if coming from nowhere.
>
>
>  Inside one of the service bays, technician Jimmy Akca heard a boom and went outside to investigate. He saw a woman lying by the driver's side door of the van. He saw no one else around and went to help her because he thought she had suffered a heart attack. When he tried to assist her, he saw the blood.
>
>
>  Throughout the day the manhunt intensified, but as night fell there had been no arrests.
>
>
>  Officers in Montgomery and the District are stopping white trucks and vans and ordering their occupants out for questioning. Police armed with shotguns stood at some intersections in Montgomery. D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey said his officers had made "numerous" vehicle stops similar to those being carried out by Montgomery police.   Maryland state troopers, for example, stopped a van on Interstate 95 in Howard County and questioned the two occupants before releasing them.
>
>
>  Police in Virginia also have been searching for the white van.
>
>
>  "The troopers are on high alert," said Lucy Caldwell, spokeswoman for Virginia State Police. "They are stopping suspicious white box trucks. The phones are ringing off the hook about white box trucks. If there's anything they see suspicious, they have made some stops."
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