[url]http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=29188[/url]
HOMELAND INSECURITY
2 'Hispanics' sought in D.C.-area
hunt
Be-on-lookout alert describes shooters' race
Posted: October 4, 2002
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Paul Sperry
© 2002 WorldNetDaily.com
By Paul Sperry
ROCKVILLE, Md. -- Police in the Washington suburb
where five people were gunned down in two days are
looking for two "Hispanic" men in the fatal shootings,
according to a police bulletin that federal authorities
shared with WorldNetDaily.
Montgomery County Police in press conferences have
described only the gender, not the race, of the two
suspects -- one a driver and the other the shooter.
The be-on-the-lookout, or BOLO, alert that local police
sent out earlier today to all law enforcement agencies
also described in detail the "white box truck" used by
the snipers.
The six-wheeled vehicle resembles a commercial
delivery truck, police say. The cab is smaller than, and
separate from, the large box-shaped cargo area, which
is completely enclosed. The rear passenger side of the
bumper has been damaged. And there is
block-lettering on the side and rear of the truck.
A Montgomery County Police spokesman confirmed
that the BOLO describes the suspects in the sniper
slayings as "Hispanic."
But he cautioned that they could be another non-white
race.
"We do not count on them being two Hispanic males,"
said Officer Derek Baliles. "Appearances can be
interpreted. We do not want to limit anything at all."
"It's possible," he added, that the suspects could be
Middle Eastern.
He also cautioned that their eyewitness account of the
suspects is not solid.
Baliles says the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms is examining bullet fragments in two other
shootings to see if they are connected to the other
five, which occurred Wednesday and Thursday.
A 72-year-old man Thursday night was shot to death
on a Washington street corner. And a Virginia woman
this afternoon was shot in the back at a crafts store.
Her condition was not immediately known.
ATF ballistics experts have determined that a
high-velocity rifle firing a .223-caliber bullet was used
in at least three of the shootings. The bullet is used in
hunting rifles and M-16s and makes a large wound as
it enters the body.
The police spokesman says FBI profilers will put
together a "word picture" Saturday morning to try to
make sense of the unusual crime and come up with a
possible motive.
Authorities are not ruling out terrorism.
Baliles says the Secret Service has assigned at least one
agent to the case. The Office of Homeland Security
and CIA are not involved, he says.
The shooters took very select shots of random
strangers, and appear to be trained in marksmanship.
All six victims who died were killed with a single shot,
some apparently shot in the head, although Baliles
would not confirm that.