# They caught the sniper! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 24, 2002, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-caught-the-sniper/133676 "2002-10-24T13:22:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-caught-the-sniper/133676/1 "2002-10-24T13:22:40Z")
> **[MSNBC News - Breaking News and News Today | Latest News](https://www.msnbc.com/)** > > MSNBC breaking news and the latest news for today. Get daily news from local news reporters and world news updates with live audio & video from our team. > [@](#): > > In a raid on a Maryland rest stop, police on Thursday arrested two men described as “people of interest” in the investigation into the Washington, D.C.-sniper attacks. Law enforcement sources told NBC News’ David Bloom that the two — John Allen Muhammad, 42, and Lee Malvo, 17 — could be charged with first-degree murder later Thursday. Added one source: “The general feeling is we got our guys.” ---
**Author:** ![Hamadryad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-caught-the-sniper/133676/2 "2002-10-24T13:25:35Z")
Count me in as actively avoiding the news until we have more than “we think.” I live in Richmond and we went through this crap already on Monday. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-caught-the-sniper/133676/3 "2002-10-24T13:29:39Z")
I grew up in that area, like a few miles from the place. I hope it’s them, but how dumb can you be to sleep at a rest stop? There’s all sorts of places to sleep up there in the car if you wanted to. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-caught-the-sniper/133676/4 "2002-10-24T13:34:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hamadryad \* > \*\*Count me in as actively avoiding the news until we have more than “we think.” I live in Richmond and we went through this crap already on Monday. \*\* Possibly, but the evidence pointing to them is really starting to pile up over the last few hours. Their fingerprints on the ransom demand notes, now determined that spent bullets found at his residence Tacoma match those in the shooting etc. etc. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-caught-the-sniper/133676/5 "2002-10-24T13:37:53Z")
All of the news reports I’ve heard have said that these two are just wanted for questioning _in relation to_ the sniper incidents. To suddenly titles your thread “They Caught the sniper!” is a little presumptuous, doncha think? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-caught-the-sniper/133676/6 "2002-10-24T13:38:40Z")
Richard Jewel? Remember? Don’t crow until: A) The shootings stop and B) there’s a conviction. The FBI are no geniuses. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-caught-the-sniper/133676/7 "2002-10-24T13:38:49Z")
I’d like to believe they’re caught, but I will wait until they announce that they are certain. I have my fingers and toes crossed. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-caught-the-sniper/133676/8 "2002-10-24T13:47:32Z")
The news reports that I’ve been seeing (I have the news on now) are indicating that these are probably the snipers, at least according to how they’re reporting it. Supposedly they have a fingerprint from the youth, and the authorities supposedly got the older suspect’s name by tracing who owned a Jamaican bank account that the sniper’s correspondence wanted money transferred to. That being said, I’m not being definite about these guys being the ones yet, but I am hoping. I also hope they aren’t just copycats trying to cash in on this. I mentioned Richard Jewell to my husband last night as well; if the authorities (or news media) are off in their suspicion, how can you reclaim your reputation? ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-caught-the-sniper/133676/9 "2002-10-24T13:49:35Z")
I would have said the same things re: Richard Jewell and “we think”\*. However, if they are guilty, this: > [@](#): > > **Muhammad, who also goes by the name John Allen Williams, is said to be Malvo’s stepfather.** will prompt me to ask, “What is this, the year for (step)father and son rampages?” \*The link **astro** posted quotes “a source” as saying, “The general feeling is we got our guys.” I’m thinking of the scene in **The Iron Giant** when the Army general (voice of John Mahoney) hollers down the phone at the government agent, [paraphrasing] “Oh, you’ve got a FEELING! You want us to send a platoon up to that podunk town because you’ve got a FEELING!” ---
**Author:** ![SlickRoenick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SlickRoenick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickRoenick)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-caught-the-sniper/133676/10 "2002-10-24T13:54:16Z")
Wow, a mere 10 miles from where I live. It’s a small world after all. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-caught-the-sniper/133676/11 "2002-10-24T14:04:35Z")
The Monday morning guys were eliminated as sniper suspects within a few hours, IIRC. The guys they’ve caught today, on the other hand, seem to have a heck of a lot of evidence against them already. I don’t think there was ever this much evidence against Jewell, was there? Jewell merely had opportunity and no alibi, but nothing evidential actually connecting him to the Centennial Park bombing, right? ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-caught-the-sniper/133676/12 "2002-10-24T14:16:29Z")
QUOTE]\*Originally posted by DeniseV \* the authorities supposedly got the older suspect’s name by tracing who owned a Jamaican bank account that the sniper’s correspondence wanted money transferred to. [/QUOTE] And here I was thinking this/these guys were smart. How did they evade capture for so long if this is the level of their subterfuge 😕 Are the Authorities not as hot as they like to think and say or is there something I’m missing? ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-caught-the-sniper/133676/13 "2002-10-24T14:19:10Z")
> [@](#): > > Are the Authorities not as hot as they like to think and say or is there something I’m missing? Just a WAG, but maybe it was a case of once you know what to look for, it’s easy to see the pattern. ---
**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 24, 2002, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-caught-the-sniper/133676/14 "2002-10-24T14:22:56Z")
Prepare yourself for hours and hours of “we don’t know anything, but we can speculate” crap from the local media, doing endless remotes from Rockville and other locales. I did hear the quote about “we got our guy” - but who would “our guy” be, the guy or guys who did the shooting or someone who can give info? ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-caught-the-sniper/133676/15 "2002-10-24T14:46:44Z")
How can we reinstitute firing squads in Washington/Virginia capital murder cases? ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-caught-the-sniper/133676/16 "2002-10-24T15:17:08Z")
Have read on another BB that a Bushmaster .223 caliber rifle has now been found in Muhammad’s trunk. Can anyone confirm? If this pans out, they’ll have all but a videotape of Muhammad pulling the trigger. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-caught-the-sniper/133676/17 "2002-10-24T15:46:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bordelond \* > Have read on another BB that a Bushmaster .223 caliber rifle has now been found in Muhammad’s trunk. Can anyone confirm? The [Washington Post](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4422-2002Oct23.html) has confirmed that “a long gun” was found in the trunk; no other details. But they’re now saying they believe these are the guys: > [@](#): > > A former Army soldier and a teenager arrested this morning at a Maryland rest stop are believed to be behind the deadly Washington area sniper shootings that threw the region into panic for weeks, according to two law enforcement sources. > > A long gun was taken from their car, a source close to the investigation said this morning. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-caught-the-sniper/133676/18 "2002-10-24T16:02:57Z")
A sniper caliber rifle called the “Bushmaster”? Last thing I want to hear right now. ---
**Author:** ![Asylum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/53a042/32.png) [@Asylum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asylum)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-caught-the-sniper/133676/19 "2002-10-24T16:18:24Z")
It’s a [Bushmaster.](http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/South/10/24/sniper.shootings/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-caught-the-sniper/133676/20 "2002-10-24T16:49:43Z")
From CNN Breaking News in my email: “Rifle, scope and tripod found in sniper suspects’ car, Washington, D.C. radio station WTOP reports.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-caught-the-sniper/133676.md?page=2)