galiel

abe smith - you are not implying that the sniper is some kind of U.S. gov't operative spreading fear and confusion, I (hope and) assume; merely cautioning that the gov't may take advantage of the situation, should the perpetrator prove to have a middle-eastern link?

In any case, jumping to cospiratorial conclusions one way or another is premature; remember how hasty people were to assume that the Oklahoma City bombing was the work of "Ayrab" terrorists? Until there is evidence to the contrary, one should assume this is a lone wacko or wackos with their own wacky agenda.

yahwehyadayada

Whoever is doing it is obviously paying close attention to the media reports of their activity. The day after there had been discussion about whether or not it was safe to send the kids to school, the shooter targeted that 13-yr-old.
This seems to me more like someone who is doing it for his or her own entertainment, not a terrorist following an ideology.
Just my speculation which could be wrong.

Rusting Car Bumper

My guess. Ex-military. White. Male. 30s or 40s.

Nobody knows if its terrorism or not. It could be someone who has a cat that is telling him to kill everyone.

DC

[ October 08, 2002: Message edited by: DigitalChicken ]</p>

Kosh

Still waiting for the Xian Coalition to blame it on first person shooter games like Quake (which has some really good sniping positions).

butswana

Yes, because everyone who has ever played a first-person-shooter can tell you how similar a mouse and keyboard are to a rifle.

Veil of Fire

Plenty of serial killers use guns. Giancarlo Judge (aka Monster of Torino), Dr. Sohrab Aslam Khan (randomly shot 13+ men just for the "thrill" of it), Kiyotaka Kasuta, Bennie L. Lawson, Dwain Lee Little, Russel Anderson, Richard Biegenwald, Jesse Walter Bishop, John Brooks, Frank Anthony Canonico (25+ victims), Frank Abbandando (40+ victims)... For just a small sampling.

I say this is a serial killer. Probably a thrill-killer, probably an avid hunter and/or ex-military. .223 caliber could be a hunting rifle, and from the ranges I've heard quoted on the news, an actual sniper rifle would be unnecessary.

As a brief aside, more than 80% of the world's known serial killers have been white American males, but nobody ever screams about how we should profile white people. :-P

Ought Naught

Are "sniper rifles" different from regular rifles in some particular way? I ask because the .223 is a relatively common caliber used largely for "varmint hunting" (not to mention in certain assault rifles). It is a relatively fast and flat round that is quite accurate at long ranges. I guess it is these attributes that make it desirable for small game because it allows one to shoot from relatively great distances. I don't know enough about the Maryland sniper to comment specifically, but a well-sighted .223 with a scope would probably turn even a marginally capable marksman into a passable sniper even at some fairly long ranges. From my personal experience, .223s have a fairly loud report, so it would be quite a surprise that nobody heard the shots if the shooter wasn't using some sort of silencer.

One of the last sane

If this was Al Qaeda, they wouldn't be modest about it. They'd be yelling "It's one of us! Nyah nyah nyah!"
Also, unless I am much mistaken, the sniper took Sunday off. I guess he had to go to church.

Kosh

He must be Catholic. As long as they go to confession....

One of the last sane

Yeah, that occurred to me too.