or everyone that was in the area of the shootings has to be deaf and blind.
It would take someone with alot of sniper training whether it was an American with military or law enforcement training or a foreign terrorist with training that is randomly terrorizing our country without being caught.
Taking a high-powered rifle in the middle of the day and gunning someone down at a gas station or parking lot in a populated town and NO ONE sees or hears where the shot came from???
This sniper has to be very intelligent and somewhat in his right mind to find a place to shoot that would allow him to have a good line of fire through a populated area but enough cover not to be noticed.
A novice possibly could get away with this once or twice, but the only clue this sniper is giving to anyone is he's possibly using a .223 rifle. Looking for this white van is a waste of time as this sniper defintely has the intelligence not to use the same vehicle twice.

 This sniper does not fit the profile of the common random serial killer. This guy is killing people at random who are not related to him and not related to each other in any way.
This sniper is only taking one life at a time, he is not taking a rifle and going "postal".  This killer does not want to be caught or leave any clue why he wants to kill.  A disgruntled employee's motive for gunning down people at his work would be because he was fired, a guy kills a woman after raping her so she can't identify him, gangbangers kill each other at random out of gang pride and terrority. This sniper isn't killing kids and burying them in his basement, this person isn't some insane cult leader, this person just not fit any description of any insane person. This sniper shows no reason for killing except if he was hired and paid well by someone or if he really hated innocent American people.
My theory??  Many of you may already have thought of this. This sniper either has to be a rogue or hired professional by anti-gun politicians to horrify the people of the U.S. with thoughts of firearms in the hands of citizens especially when you think that this is happening in the part of the country where there are many anti-gun politicians and already have some of the worst gun laws.
OR this could be a foreign terrorist which would be also the only reason American people are being gun downed for no reason.
Either way, this sniper's attempt to threaten our freedom could only backfire. We will now only fight for our 2nd amendment rights and arm ourselves even heavier now.
Buy stock in bullet-proof vest companies now. I
see sales rising.

Should I wear a tin-foil hat too now?
[b]ArmaLiter[/b]

Logical Reasoning.

Another possibility is the sniper is using a suppressed .223.

Too many people have stated hearing the report of the gunshot.  No one mentioned that it was unusually quiet.  They talk about hearing a loud bang.

AW ban is about to sunset and we got a sniper on the loose. Ammo of choice just happens to be that of AR15 (the evil gun according to anti).  How much of coincidence can that be?  He could be a sniper from Quantico.  

Most people who live in the middle of large metropolitan areas are not expecting the sound of a gunshot nearby.  One shot reflecting off of the multitude of walls in a city make it pretty hard to locate a guy who only fires one shot.  When you're loading the trunk of your car, or getting gas, or whatever, you aren't exactly 100% scanning your sector.  The most recent witnesses heard the shot, hit the deck, and then thought about getting up to look around.  Have you ever just heard one shot in the middle of town and then tried to find out where it came from?  I've done it, and it's not easy.  100% failure rate with me so far, and I'm not exactly new to guns, shooting, etc.

As the number of people he kills grows, so does whatever evidience that they have.  The higher the body count, the higher the chance that someone will actually see him or he'll get caught on a camera, or whatever.  

My theory is he's a nut with a gun.

I think all the sightings of white vans is because alot of people are looking for them.  I'm not limiting my search pattern to a white van, and I doubt the cops are either unless they have some better evidence.

Ross

"Nut with a gun" pretty much sums it up!

this is not a trolling.calling the clown who can hit center mass a "sniper" is a big ego boost on the killer's end.Those of us that shoot are all "snipers" then also right?.Yes it's obvious the murderer has weapon knowledge but to grant a "sniper" status to a common criminal is unfounded and glorified by the media hypes and anti-anything's.As for the victims they were truly all innocent of a dementia still lurking in that core area the murderer haunts.......A Sniper could take this puss bag unless the murderer figures life in hell with bubba is better than taking a hit by a Precision Shooter

Probably a nut w/ a gun. But he is (they are?) the most commited, relentless nut(s) ever. He sure acts like a fanatic even if he is just a nut.

Yeah, where the hell is Lon these days?

Most people are thinking of lone gunman but someone has to drive away. Is this the teamwork of two or more people? Does anyone think this may be the work of a terrorist cell that has more than one "sniper team" doing the shooting? They report seeing a white van driving away, but the cell may have several white "plain jane" vans from which to operate from, thus allowing them the flexabilty of multiple shooters from different locations. The shooter/shooters are certainly causing terror and panic from their actions. I just want to see them stopped a.s.a.p. by whatever means necessary.

If the ammo is not sub-sonic, then you will hear the ballistic crack, but not the explosion of the gun powder.

We studied this during Vietnam, and discovered that people could not discern where the source of the shot was.

My theory is that it is an "anti-gun environmental whacko".  Just look at how many shootings have been near gas stations.  It still could be a terrorist.

Hopefully, Lon has done the honorable thing.  Hirikiri.

I don't see "terror and panic" on the streets here in VA.  When you think about all the ways that you could truly terrorize an open society as the US (whose homland security I still think is a joke), the terrorist cell theory doesn't shine through.  A jetliner into the Pentegon, Anthrax at the post office (both of which had the same local as the shooting) caused a great deal more concern.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying anyone is taking this lightly, but the point I'm making is if they are trying to produce terror, they're doing a pretty shabby job of it.  

People are a bit more observant, and I now choose an inside fuel island and keep walking around the car doing my windows, etc so at least I'm not a stationary target[:D] but I would really characterize the public response (here in VA at least) as about the same as when you hear of a rash of crimes in the area, etc.  I mean it's just a different preception the public seems to have than terrorist attack.  So if they are terrorists(whose purpose is to instill terror), they suck at it.  All of the "terror and panic" seems to be in other states that have nothing to do with the shootings.

Ross

he can't be TOO good, he missed his first shot, and has left a shell casing

Ross
Thanks for a local update. I live in the suburbs of Philadelphia and the news media is always biased and one sided. It didn't help that the lastest victim was from Philly. It's all we're hearing on the news right now.

Thanks bee, I been waiting for the chance!!

[red]Under the heading "Is the DC sniper Lon Horiuchi?" an
anonymous correspondent observes:

He fits the profile.
* Expert sniper
* Has previously killed unarmed civilians
* Hates patriotic Americans
* Owns Hi powered assault weapons and rifles in .223 caliber
* Known to operate out of Washington DC and Maryland area.
[/red]

I dunno, but I think that if the guy is a professional, which he seems to be, he'd be using something like a scoped T/C Contender pistol in .223.
 
1) In an urban environment likely target ranges are greatly reduced and a .223 pistol like that will easily hit a cantaloupe size target within 200 yards.

2) A T/C pistol is relatively small and could be fired from inside the cab of a vehicle which would both buffer the noise that witnesses would hear and allow the guy to make an immediate getaway after the shot.

3) Smaller size would also allow him to hide the weapon in something that police would easily overlook, like the cushion of a seat in the vehicle.

thedave, i do not fall in the category you describe in your sig line, but the U.S neither saved us nor kicked our asses... [;)]

I was thinking the same thing.  How does someone get out of a car/van carrying a rifle and not been seen?

1) He could be setting up at night but he would have to leave a vehicle somewhere near by or walk out.  If he has enough time to hide for several hour I would guess that he doesn't have a job.

2) He could quickly dismount and take a shot and quickly get in the car/van and leave.

3) He could be dressed like someone that would not be noticed, say a police officer

4) He could have a breakdown weapon.

I would probably go with 2.

I didn't know that a rifle that shoots .223 was "high powered". A high powered rifle to me is .308 or higher, maybe not even .308. 30-06, 7mm mag, etc.

Well, since you asked...Lon Horiuchi teaches sniper training right here in Virginia at Quantico!  Scary, eh??? [:O]

The .223 (allegedly) has prioven plenty effective in 6 out of 8 shooting.

It hasnt been confirmed he is using a semi auto. For all we know the "ejected" shell casing was picked up off the firing line at the BRC and left as a diversion. Thae whole "Mated" Grass, shell casing, & Tarot card seems awfully staged to me, considering they have never determined where any of the other 7 shots were fired from.

Is he a "Pro"? If by pro you mean professionally trained police or military sniper, i doubt it.

Professionally trained middle eastern terrorist? Maybe..

Some home grown physco who spends too much time on SniperCountry.com? Maybe.

As for calling him a "sniper". Well, he is shooting and killing people from a hidden location. So yes, he's a sniper.

Never thought they'd train military snipers to shoot defenseless women and children. Maybe "the sniper" is current or ex-military...[V]

No, he is not training Marines...the FBI Academy is located at Quantico, too...

Nah. Most folks aren't as hypervigilant as many on this board. You and I may follow the philosophy of "watch your zone, plan your egress, and plan to kill everyone you meet", but most folks aren't like that. Besides, a bang in a crowded area with lots of cars means a backfire normally, not gunplay.

All of these shots had to have been at a distance of less than 200M. Why? Because the rounds all fragmented. Read the ammo FAQs about fragmentation. If you can't teach yourself to reliably strike a pie plate at 200M or less, much less a man sized target, after a few sunny afternoons and less than 200 rounds, turn in your weapon. The training aspect I think is more greatly evidenced by the "shoot and scoot" method he is employing as well as the reported possibility that this is a team. The fact that all the bullets fragmented also serves to strongly rule out a Thompson Contender.

A centerfire .22 cannot be called high powered. You a reporter for MSNBC or the New york Times? Folks just aren't attuned to their environment. We are simply to fat, pampered, lazy, and protected as a society. This isn't Sebrenizcia. Also, shots in an urban environment echo. This makes shot location difficult.

I agree.

All serial and mass killers started as novices. Is that shell case a red herring? We really don't have any real publicised information as to the caliber/case of the weapon being used. If he is using the same vehicle every time, and he probably isn't rich enough to have a fleet of vehicles, then he may be ditching the weapon so as not to be caught if his vehicle is searched then returning later for it. He may also have a well built hidey hole in the van.


That is because he is not a serial killer, he is a mass murderer, assuming this isn't a terrorist cell. Serial killers are like Ed Gein, John Wayne Gacy, etc. Mass murderers are more like Charles Whitman and Colin Ferguson.

This guy is interested in the reaction he is getting. His state of mental health may be right now at the best he as ever felt. This is a better rush and a more focusing experience for him than anything he has ever experienced, and now the question arises, will he get purposely sloppy like Ted Kazinski, or just fade away like Zodiac?

I think you are pretty much dead on.

I think the day of the tinfoil hats is close at hand. All these fringe nuts who said FEMA was a shadow .gov waiting to happen and we are headed for a NWO were dead on target. The real tinfoil hats are the ones who think everything is going to be all right. It ain't.

[size=6]SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH![/SIZE=6]
I want to buy a suppresser.

I doubt he’s a professional.

I remember when Son of Sam was terrorizing NYC.  People began to think he was a police officer, since he seemed so good at avoiding capture.  It turned out he was just a postal clerk.

Even a dumber than a fencepost armed robber knows to case a location and plan a quick escape route (like an interstate), before holding a place up.

The guy is a wannabe who has maybe read a book or two and played sniper-type video games.  Maybe he’s done a little hunting, too.  I haven’t seen anything to suggest he’s any better than that.

He’s so successful because what he’s doing is so easy.

Who's Lon Horiuchi?

I'm stationed in the midwest.

I don't believe the shooter is a pro and I do believe there are two people involved.  Wouldn't surprise me if one is female.

This is true. If it's only one guy doing this it's damn near impossible to catch him. It's very easy to disappear in a metro area.

[url]http://www.jubilee-newspaper.com/horiuchi_10-5.htm[/url]

There's something else here.  The eyewitness reports speak of two individuals in van, not a lone gunman.  There has never been a mass murderer who brought a buddy along for moral suport.  Killers are always loners.  This killer is not.  If there are two people involved, it is by defintion a conspiracy.  

The media is doing everything it can to paint this story as the "lone wacko with an AR-15."  What it really is is two people, one shooter with a bolt action gun and one spotter/driver.  This smacks of some kind of terrorist cell and the feds know it.  The tarot card and shell casing are bs--psychos don't drop clues one time and not another and if they leave evidence like shell casings, it stands to reason they would do it each and every time, not just once.  No, this is terror and there is a coverup in the works.

Holy Shit!   Trickshot finally posted something that I almost completely agree with!

I was thinking the same as Soylent_Green that the shots had to be within 200 yards because of the fragmentation, and I also figured this ruled out a T/C Contender because the short barrel wouldn't generate enough muzzle velocity to have fragmentation even at 100 yards.  

But, this is only if the guy is using M193, which is a BIG if.  The cops haven't said what he's using, but I'd be suprised if it's plain old FMJ.  I'd lean more towards a hunting round, like the Winchester Power Points.

Not possible.  If it were happening, the police would be finding the abandoned vehicles near the scene of the crimes and they are not.  No, wherever the white trucks are, they are being left far from the crime scene, perhaps returned to whoever really owns them before it has been noticed that they are missing at all.

It is quite easy to move around in public with a rifle, either take it apart if it is an AR, or have a bolt-action with a 16" barrel and a removable stock, or a Thomson Contender pistol in .223 with no stock at all.  Lots of possible methods of concealment.

BTW, there is a good summary of the skills displayed by the shooter by Stephen Hunter at [url]http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14581-2002Oct11.html[url]. Short story: not many. He's most likely shooting at a range at which bullet drop, range estimation, and wind are not a factor.

Agreed, serial killers are generally loners.

However, while they arguably aren’t serial killers, what about Charles Starkweather and Caril Fugat, the Mansion family, and, of course, the two losers at Columbine HS?

This could be a guy and his girl, or a couple of guys (possibly homosexuals?), with one very dominant and one very subservient person.  

And the witnesses could be wrong, too (though I’m starting to think they aren’t).

Still, this is like trying to read tea leaves!

I think that many are essential deaf and blind going through their daily routine.  The vast, vast majority of people are not aware of what may pose a danger within 7 yards, much less a threat from 75-100 yards away.



Some perhaps but not much.  Anyone with some hunting experience or even good range skills could make these shots.  I think no one see's him because he stays in his vehicle.  He only changed his MO for the shot at the kid which I think was a direct response to the media/police statements.




Most have been at gas stations or parking lots.  People travel in very predictable patterns at these places.  Place youself in line with a set of gas pumps and you can have your rifle pre-sighted to the center of a 3 foot wide lane.  Your target would pretty much fill that lane, so it would be an VERY easy shot out to 100 yards or so even for a rooky.



I'm begining to wonder if the white van/truck is a red herring.  I just looked out the window of my office, and within 30 seconds, I saw 5 white vans pass within 150 yards.  At this point, I feel the entire region has been condtioned like Pavlov's dogs.  (Hear gunshot, look for white van or truck)  This could be working against the long suppressed instinct to focus on the true source of danger, the sound.

Finally, I'll reiterate my theory that the guy is married and has an overbearing wife.  He can't go shooting on the weekend 'cause his wife won't let him.

Lastly, I promise to try to make this my last posting on this scumbag.  

I don't care what his profile is, what "cause" he may think he's championing or that his Momma' didn't raise him right.

I just want some one to catch him, get the 1/2 mil reward, plus whatever they can sell his nuts (Assuming he has any) for on e-bay.

I won't call this POS a "Sniper" or a "Professional"...yellow bellied bushwhacker would fit nicely though...

Call the reward hotline now buddy!  YOu have got more evidence Horiuchi did it then they have all together.  Case closed in my book  

a professional? i seriously doubt that. more like a deranged punk with murder and revenge on his mind.  probably using a bolt action rifle.  he is playing a game, and just like any game, this one has both a time limit and a loser.  his days are numbered.

id like to play a game with him. ill call it, "lets hunt each other down."

Ross,

Are you serious? I've been getting calls from friends and family from all over the country. People everywhere in this are terrified. Some in my office are even considering not leaving their houses. This has a lot of sheeple on edge.

At the local gun store, guns are flying off the shelves as double and tripple the normal sales rates. I popped in to my local store on Saturday and there were more people in there than I had EVER seen before.

This guy is murdering random citizens at public places. The media is playing its role in whipping the coverage to frenzy pace and the sheeple are eating it up.

I'd say this nut or terrorist is scaring the hell out of everyone. Even people that live 1500 miles away.

MrP, Ross lives down in the Norfolk area so I don't believe he really can't judge the mood of the people up in NoVa.