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To: stockman_scott who wrote (17542)	10/15/2002 4:08:49 AM
From: Clappy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 104191

Oh yeah? Well here's some news for you too. <g> Looks like that cowardly, spineless rat bastard sniper has struck again. I hope they nail this fugger fast. story.news.yahoo.com Police Probe Virginia Killing for Sniper Link Tue Oct 15, 1:09 AM ET By Richard Cowan FALLS CHURCH, Va. (Reuters) - A woman was shot and killed Monday night as she and her husband were loading packages at a shopping mall near Washington and police were investigating whether the killing was linked to a sniper who has killed eight people and badly wounded two others. Reuters Photo Reuters Slideshow: 'Beltway Sniper' Shootings Chief Says Reviewing Tips (AP Video) Residents, Police Anxious Over Shootings (AP Video) Police saturated the area in search of the shooter after the woman was shot in the head outside a Home Depot store in Falls Church, Virginia, about 7 miles west of Washington. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Some employees working in the shopping center reported hearing a single shot. One-bullet attacks have been a hallmark of the sniper. "I know the question in everyone's mind is: 'Is this shooting related to the others that we've had in the area?"' Fairfax County Police Chief Tom Manger told a news conference. "It's too early to tell at this point. However, we are working it and investigating it with that potential in mind." Major roads were shut down as dozens of federal, state and local authorities converged on the scene, rapidly establishing a dragnet in hopes of capturing the elusive gunman who has been traumatizing the Washington area for nearly two weeks. Ellen Qualls, a spokeswoman for Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, said the victim "and her husband were loading items into the trunk of the car when the shooting occurred and he may have eyewitness information that is helpful to the investigation." Warner said in a statement, "We are hopeful that the information gained from this shooting yields clues that will bring this crime spree to an end." Police said they were looking for a vehicle seen leaving the crime scene with a silver ladder rack on the top. "We have some lookout information ... This vehicle may be involved ... a cream-colored Astro van with the right rear tail light out," Manger said. The sniper, who uses a high-velocity rifle to pick off random victims from long range, has eluded authorities despite a massive law enforcement effort, including the FBI (news - web sites). TAROT CLUE Physical evidence has been scant, with one taunting clue apparently left by the methodical shooter near where a 13-year-old victim was shot: A Tarot "Death" card with the words "Dear Mister Policeman, I am God" scrawled on the back. The last fatality linked to the sniper who has terrorized Washington, D.C., and its normally tranquil and affluent suburbs in neighboring Maryland and Virginia was on Friday, at a gasoline station in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. The victims have been linked by ballistics experts. The first five sniper killings took place in a 15-hour period over Oct. 2 and Oct. 3, in Maryland's Montgomery County. Another victim was killed in Washington and two others in the southern suburbs of Virginia. The sniper injured two people: the 13-year-old schoolboy in Bowie, Maryland, northeast of Washington, and a woman in Fredericksburg, Virginia, to the south. Most shootings were near busy highways, while victims were performing ordinary activities: mowing a lawn, pumping gasoline, entering a school, cleaning a car. The shootings cast a pall that reached to the White House. "The sniper attacks, first of all, I'm just sick -- sick to my stomach -- to think that there is a cold-blooded killer at home taking innocent life," President Bush (news - web sites) told reporters. "I weep for those who have lost their loved ones." Montgomery County Executive Douglas Duncan said county citizens have only one goal in this case: "Their message is catch him. Catch him as fast as you can, catch him, catch him ... We will not be at peace in this community until we catch whoever's doing this." Duncan said a reward for information leading to the sniper's capture had reached $500,000.