# 2 more shootings in MD. Let's make a profile. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 7, 2002, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-more-shootings-in-md-lets-make-a-profile/131194 "2002-10-07T14:13:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-more-shootings-in-md-lets-make-a-profile/131194/101 "2002-10-11T14:45:02Z")
[Shooting near Fredericksburg, Virginia](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/metro/daily/articles/shoot.htm) ---
**Author:** ![LolaCocaCola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@LolaCocaCola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LolaCocaCola)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-more-shootings-in-md-lets-make-a-profile/131194/102 "2002-10-11T14:45:20Z")
Ugh. Unbelievable. They should install fish-eye (?) cameras in all service stations in that area – I am surprised in this day of surveillance cameras they haven’t been able to catch the bastard on tape yet. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Wrong\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b782af/32.png) [@The\_Wrong\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Wrong_Girl)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-more-shootings-in-md-lets-make-a-profile/131194/103 "2002-10-11T14:45:30Z")
And shit, sorry to leave stuff out. There’s a big picture of cop cars surrounding a **white van** on I-95, and cnn is saying police are involved in an “emergency situation.” ---
**Author:** ![trishdish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d2c977/32.png) [@trishdish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trishdish)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-more-shootings-in-md-lets-make-a-profile/131194/104 "2002-10-11T14:47:50Z")
Wrong Girl - That “Mister” is making some people speculate that the shooter’s first language is not English. Hey, for what it’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-more-shootings-in-md-lets-make-a-profile/131194/105 "2002-10-11T14:48:01Z")
Listen to [WTOP News](http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?sid=1735&nid=162) with RealPlayer for current goings-on. ---
**Author:** ![LolaCocaCola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@LolaCocaCola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LolaCocaCola)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-more-shootings-in-md-lets-make-a-profile/131194/106 "2002-10-11T14:49:34Z")
Excellent. They’re stopping all vehicles on 1-95. They should search every damn vehicle. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-more-shootings-in-md-lets-make-a-profile/131194/107 "2002-10-11T14:51:03Z")
Or don’t. Their servers seem to be overwhelmed right now. ---
**Author:** ![LolaCocaCola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@LolaCocaCola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LolaCocaCola)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-more-shootings-in-md-lets-make-a-profile/131194/108 "2002-10-11T14:51:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by trishdish \* > \*\*Wrong Girl - That “Mister” is making some people speculate that the shooter’s first language is not English. > \*\* I heard that the use of “Mister” indicated that they were young. Possibly teens. ---
**Author:** ![trishdish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d2c977/32.png) [@trishdish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trishdish)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-more-shootings-in-md-lets-make-a-profile/131194/109 "2002-10-11T14:52:19Z")
Lola, there has been a shooting at a gas station in Spotsylvania County off of I-95 in Northern Virginia - in Massaponax. This happened at about 9:30/10:00am this morning. There have been reports of a white Ford Astro van leaving the scene headed north on I-95. They are stopping all traffic, at all exits, on I-95 - northbound and southbound traffic is being stopped. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-more-shootings-in-md-lets-make-a-profile/131194/110 "2002-10-11T14:52:22Z")
Try this - it should launch your RealPlayer and start playing the live broadcast. [http://acw.activate.net/bicdc/wtopnews/wtopnews.ram](http://acw.activate.net/bicdc/wtopnews/wtopnews.ram) ---
**Author:** ![LolaCocaCola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@LolaCocaCola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LolaCocaCola)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-more-shootings-in-md-lets-make-a-profile/131194/111 "2002-10-11T14:53:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by trishdish \* > \*\*There have been reports of a white Ford Astro van leaving the scene headed north on I-95. They are stopping all traffic, at all exits, on I-95 - northbound and southbound traffic is being stopped. \*\* YES! There is speculation that the cretin wants to be caught. Hopefully today will be the day. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![trishdish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d2c977/32.png) [@trishdish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trishdish)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-more-shootings-in-md-lets-make-a-profile/131194/112 "2002-10-11T14:58:50Z")
I’ll keep you posted. There is _a lot_ of information coming through right now. I’ve got the television on at my desk. ---
**Author:** ![dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorkusmalorkusmafia/32/7266_2.png) [@dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorkusmalorkusmafia)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-more-shootings-in-md-lets-make-a-profile/131194/113 "2002-10-11T15:02:20Z")
I doubt he will be taken alive. I think he will shoot it out with the police (possibly killing one of them) or shoot himself. This assumes he doesn’t get away. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-more-shootings-in-md-lets-make-a-profile/131194/114 "2002-10-11T17:20:46Z")
The guy probably isn’t using either I-95 or Route 1. He’s hit Manassas and Spotsylvania already before today. Both are interesting choices because they both offer at least two widely separated routes home. I’ll bet he’s taking I-66 to Rte 28 or 29, then either 17 and 15 South, or the Orange Turnpike. By snapping one off in Fredericksburg, he’s got two initial routes home which would avoid I-95 North. One is straight out the Orange Turnpike. The other is south to Spotsylvania and back up the Brock Road to the Orange Turnpike. Either way, the bastard has to pass right past the historical relic/gun shop at Wilderness Corner. Someone ought to put a 5-0 there right away, and talk to those guys as well. See if anyone’s been visiting the battlefields lately on his Thursdays and Fridays off. All three towns offer escape routes _west_, rather than north, which allow him to hit Rte 15 or I-81 North to I-70 and bypass the Beltway almost entirely. North-central Virginia is a spiderweb of diagonal connecting roads, so he can stay well away from routes likely to be observed if he has an ADC map. I think this guy could be a Civil War buff. Fredricksburg, Spotsylvania, and Manassas are all Civil War battlefields. Maybe a battlefield reenactor? Familiarity with the old Virginia road network would come as part and parcel of even a passing study of the Virginia Civil War campaigns, so the guy wouldn’t have to live there to know how to avoid the major highways. What he’s left out is Chancellorsville, first because nobody lives there and second because he has to pass through it to escape. If the guy changes his game plan again, look for him to target Winchester and Front Royal, also old battlefields which offer at least two routes home in addition to a main road which he won’t use. I feel pretty certain about this. Anyone think I ought to tell someone? ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-more-shootings-in-md-lets-make-a-profile/131194/115 "2002-10-11T17:25:18Z")
I do. I think your reasoning seems pretty sound, and it’s certainly thought out. They’d appreciate your input, even if they’ve already thought of it. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-more-shootings-in-md-lets-make-a-profile/131194/116 "2002-10-11T17:35:18Z")
Thanks **dantheman**. Does anyone know an e-mail address I can send this to? ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-more-shootings-in-md-lets-make-a-profile/131194/117 "2002-10-11T17:51:01Z")
Sofa, try [this site for the Virginia State Police](http://www.vsp.state.va.us/email.htm). It gives a lot of different addresses. I’m so against altering my lifestyle because some kook with a big gun is going around killing people seemingly randomly. I know a lot of people who are pulling their kids out of school, not staying outside for very long, not going to malls, and so on. But me? Heck, I just might go out today after work and fill my car with gasoline **just to spite the bastard**! Sure, go ahead, try to shoot me. I don’t care. You shoot me, maybe that’ll mean you won’t shoot some little kid, or some old lady, or hell, anyone with a family. So go ahead, shoot me. I am NOT going to bow down before you. I am NOT going to change my life around for you. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-more-shootings-in-md-lets-make-a-profile/131194/118 "2002-10-11T18:34:48Z")
Thanks again, **dan**. I shot off a message to the Criminal Activity person on that page. It just occured to me that the guy might be heading toward other historic Civil War towns like Front Royal, Winchester, Leesburg, or Harper’s Ferry–right now. He’s still got some time on his hands. Either way, I think he’s trying to sneak back inside the Beltway via I-70/270, and he might not be home yet. I hope someone reads my message. ---
**Author:** ![Jorel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f19dbf/32.png) [@Jorel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jorel)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-more-shootings-in-md-lets-make-a-profile/131194/119 "2002-10-11T18:54:13Z")
Wrong Girl, I thought that “Mister” was some sort of sign of respect… ---
**Author:** ![mindlist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mindlist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mindlist)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2002, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-more-shootings-in-md-lets-make-a-profile/131194/120 "2002-10-12T07:57:07Z")
I think it’s only a matter of time now, he feels like God doing this and he’s just going to keep on doing it…that is, unless somebody can stop him of course. His patterns are starting to show more now - he does his crimes around interstates to mislead. Likely has a partner or two to aid with planning, lookout, and assist the get away. Actually when I think about it, it seems more likely to be a tight-knit team of people we’re dealing with here. Also, I think the purpetrator(s) are playing into the media’s assessment of the ordeal, effectively making the whole thing even more surreal. Should be interesting when we find out who’s all behind this. The intelligence in planning and working under pressure makes me think ex-military too. On a hunch, I’m thinking of a single white male now…over 25, independent and recently unemployed. Probably feels a great lack of respect in his normal life too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-more-shootings-in-md-lets-make-a-profile/131194.md?page=5)