本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛FALLS CHURCH, Virginia (CNN) -- A woman was shot and killed outside a Home Depot store in this Washington, D.C., suburb Monday night, and police were investigating whether it was related to the string of sniper shootings in the area, authorities said.
State police blocked off Interstate 495 -- the so-called "Beltway" -- in the hunt for the possible sniper. Police helicopters with search lights hovered over the interstate and other nearby roads. Dozens of emergency vehicles were at the scene.
Authorities also closed the George Washington Parkway, the American Legion Bridge, the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and set up road blocks along Route 50. There was a report of police in pursuit of a 1990 Dodge van on Route 50 in the area.
Virginia State Police dispatcher Jim Ball said troopers were looking for the white Chevrolet Astro van that witnesses reported seeing shortly after the sniper shooting on Friday.
He said it was not immediately clear if witnesses saw a similar vehicle again Monday night but that authorities were treating it as if the van was there.
If linked to the other attacks, the shooting in Fairfax County would be the fifth county in the Washington area in which the sniper has struck, killing another eight people and wounding two others. Each victim has been shot with a single .223-caliber bullet.
The latest shooting happened around 9:20 p.m. at the Home Depot at the Seven Corners Center in Falls Church, he said. A Michaels craft store was in the same shopping center.
The sniper began his shooting spree on October 2 at a Michaels, but missed his intended target. The sniper wounded a woman at a Michaels two days later in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
Employees working in the shopping center Monday said customers ran into their stores saying they heard a single shot. The one-bullet attacks have been a hallmark of the sniper case so far.
"One customer did tell us that they heard a loud bang," said Liz Cui, an employee at the Starbucks coffee shop in the shopping center. She said the parking lot was filled with police and police cruisers.
Police sealed off the parking lot and told reporters to move back. "We think we might have evidence in the parking lot," one police officer said at the scene.
Although the weekend was unbloodied by attacks linked to the sniper, there has not been more than two days without a shooting since the sniper attacks began. A $500,000 reward leading to the arrest and conviction of the shooter has not led to a suspect so far.
Meanwhile, the task force investigating the attacks cast doubt Monday that the discovery of a high-powered rifle, a book about snipers and other material at the Baltimore apartment of an ex-Marine was in any way connected to the shooting spree.
Baltimore police also seized a white van owned by the 37-year-old former Marine that is similar to one described near the most recent sniper shooting, a department spokeswoman told CNN.
Initial tests on the gun and ammunition did not produce a match with the ballistics evidence found at the sites of the sniper attacks, law enforcement officials said.
"The task force believes the incident is not related," said Derek Baliles, a spokesman for the Montgomery County, Maryland, Police Department, which is leading the sniper investigation.
Baltimore police went to the man's apartment after he allegedly was shot by his girlfriend in a domestic dispute Sunday evening. The girlfriend is in custody, a law enforcement source told CNN, and authorities said the ex-Marine has agreed to be questioned further.
Investigators had asked the Army and Navy to check their records for any current or recently discharged sniper-trained military personnel who recently have been in metro Washington. Pentagon sources said there are no military-related suspects in the sniper case.
Also Monday, authorities announced they have established a post office box so people can send in information about the case -- a possible indication that police are trying to establish contact with the sniper, who would likely be reluctant to call or e-mail.
The man leading the investigation, Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose, declined to comment on whether that was the case.
But criminologist Casey Jordan said, "I think there's no doubt that this has occurred to them, that they're trying to open a door to a line of communication with the perpetrator."
President Bush, speaking out for the first time on the string of deadly slayings, said Monday the spree is "a form of terrorism."
"I'm just sick -- sick to my stomach -- to think that there is a cold-blooded killer at home taking innocent life," Bush said. "I weep for those who have lost their loved ones. ... Any time anybody is randomly shooting, randomly killing, randomly taking life, it's cold-blooded murder."
Two men were gunned down in Virginia while they were pumping gas at filling stations near major interstates -- one killed Wednesday in Manassas and the other Friday near Fredericksburg, a brazen shooting carried out within sight of a policeman.
Five people were killed in Montgomery County on October 2 and 3. A Washington man was gunned down the night of October 3, and a woman was wounded in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, on October 4.
A possible new piece of ballistic evidence has emerged at the scene of an October 2 shooting at Michaels craft store in Wheaton. Recently, a customer at the store got a magazine and found what appeared to be bullet fragments, and the material has been turned over to investigators.
"Evidence has been recovered from the first shooting at the Michaels store that Wednesday evening," Moose said.
The 13-year-old boy was shot and critically wounded October 7 outside his middle school in Bowie, Maryland, remained in critical but stable condition Monday at the Children's National Medical Center in Washington.
Authorities found a Tarot card and a shell casing near the scene. The "death card" in the fortune-telling deck included a handwritten message: "I am God."
Meanwhile, authorities were preparing a composite sketch of the white Chevrolet Astro minivan reported seen near Friday's shooting at a gas station near Fredericksburg, Virginia, Moose said.
Investigators also are hunting down tips that came in after they released a composite picture of another white vehicle, a box-type truck with damage to the rear bumper. Witnesses reported seeing such a truck at several shooting sites. Moose said he is pleased with the response from the public.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net
State police blocked off Interstate 495 -- the so-called "Beltway" -- in the hunt for the possible sniper. Police helicopters with search lights hovered over the interstate and other nearby roads. Dozens of emergency vehicles were at the scene.
Authorities also closed the George Washington Parkway, the American Legion Bridge, the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and set up road blocks along Route 50. There was a report of police in pursuit of a 1990 Dodge van on Route 50 in the area.
Virginia State Police dispatcher Jim Ball said troopers were looking for the white Chevrolet Astro van that witnesses reported seeing shortly after the sniper shooting on Friday.
He said it was not immediately clear if witnesses saw a similar vehicle again Monday night but that authorities were treating it as if the van was there.
If linked to the other attacks, the shooting in Fairfax County would be the fifth county in the Washington area in which the sniper has struck, killing another eight people and wounding two others. Each victim has been shot with a single .223-caliber bullet.
The latest shooting happened around 9:20 p.m. at the Home Depot at the Seven Corners Center in Falls Church, he said. A Michaels craft store was in the same shopping center.
The sniper began his shooting spree on October 2 at a Michaels, but missed his intended target. The sniper wounded a woman at a Michaels two days later in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
Employees working in the shopping center Monday said customers ran into their stores saying they heard a single shot. The one-bullet attacks have been a hallmark of the sniper case so far.
"One customer did tell us that they heard a loud bang," said Liz Cui, an employee at the Starbucks coffee shop in the shopping center. She said the parking lot was filled with police and police cruisers.
Police sealed off the parking lot and told reporters to move back. "We think we might have evidence in the parking lot," one police officer said at the scene.
Although the weekend was unbloodied by attacks linked to the sniper, there has not been more than two days without a shooting since the sniper attacks began. A $500,000 reward leading to the arrest and conviction of the shooter has not led to a suspect so far.
Meanwhile, the task force investigating the attacks cast doubt Monday that the discovery of a high-powered rifle, a book about snipers and other material at the Baltimore apartment of an ex-Marine was in any way connected to the shooting spree.
Baltimore police also seized a white van owned by the 37-year-old former Marine that is similar to one described near the most recent sniper shooting, a department spokeswoman told CNN.
Initial tests on the gun and ammunition did not produce a match with the ballistics evidence found at the sites of the sniper attacks, law enforcement officials said.
"The task force believes the incident is not related," said Derek Baliles, a spokesman for the Montgomery County, Maryland, Police Department, which is leading the sniper investigation.
Baltimore police went to the man's apartment after he allegedly was shot by his girlfriend in a domestic dispute Sunday evening. The girlfriend is in custody, a law enforcement source told CNN, and authorities said the ex-Marine has agreed to be questioned further.
Investigators had asked the Army and Navy to check their records for any current or recently discharged sniper-trained military personnel who recently have been in metro Washington. Pentagon sources said there are no military-related suspects in the sniper case.
Also Monday, authorities announced they have established a post office box so people can send in information about the case -- a possible indication that police are trying to establish contact with the sniper, who would likely be reluctant to call or e-mail.
The man leading the investigation, Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose, declined to comment on whether that was the case.
But criminologist Casey Jordan said, "I think there's no doubt that this has occurred to them, that they're trying to open a door to a line of communication with the perpetrator."
President Bush, speaking out for the first time on the string of deadly slayings, said Monday the spree is "a form of terrorism."
"I'm just sick -- sick to my stomach -- to think that there is a cold-blooded killer at home taking innocent life," Bush said. "I weep for those who have lost their loved ones. ... Any time anybody is randomly shooting, randomly killing, randomly taking life, it's cold-blooded murder."
Two men were gunned down in Virginia while they were pumping gas at filling stations near major interstates -- one killed Wednesday in Manassas and the other Friday near Fredericksburg, a brazen shooting carried out within sight of a policeman.
Five people were killed in Montgomery County on October 2 and 3. A Washington man was gunned down the night of October 3, and a woman was wounded in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, on October 4.
A possible new piece of ballistic evidence has emerged at the scene of an October 2 shooting at Michaels craft store in Wheaton. Recently, a customer at the store got a magazine and found what appeared to be bullet fragments, and the material has been turned over to investigators.
"Evidence has been recovered from the first shooting at the Michaels store that Wednesday evening," Moose said.
The 13-year-old boy was shot and critically wounded October 7 outside his middle school in Bowie, Maryland, remained in critical but stable condition Monday at the Children's National Medical Center in Washington.
Authorities found a Tarot card and a shell casing near the scene. The "death card" in the fortune-telling deck included a handwritten message: "I am God."
Meanwhile, authorities were preparing a composite sketch of the white Chevrolet Astro minivan reported seen near Friday's shooting at a gas station near Fredericksburg, Virginia, Moose said.
Investigators also are hunting down tips that came in after they released a composite picture of another white vehicle, a box-type truck with damage to the rear bumper. Witnesses reported seeing such a truck at several shooting sites. Moose said he is pleased with the response from the public.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net