Beltway sniper attacks

The Beltway sniper attacks took place during three weeks of October 2002 in the eastern United States. Ten people were killed and three others critically injured by spree killers in and around Washington D.C. in various locations throughout the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area and along Interstate 95 in Virginia. It was later learned that the rampage apparently began the month before with murders and robbery in other states which had resulted in 3 deaths.

Investigation

The investigation was publicly headed by Montgomery County (of Maryland) Police Chief Charles A. Moose, with assistance from the FBI and police departments in other jurisdictions where killings and woundings had taken place.

Related Topics:
Charles A. Moose - FBI

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Police responded within minutes to reports of attacks during the three weeks of the sniper attacks, cordoning off nearby roads and highways and inspecting all drivers, thereby grinding traffic to a halt for hours at a time throughout parts of one of America's largest metropolitan areas.

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Eyewitness accounts of the attacks was mostly confused and spotty. Hotlines set up for the investigation were flooded with tips, as was the post office box set up for tips by mail. The most common tip was that the snipers were driving a boxy white van, which ultimately proved erroneous.

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The sniper attempted to engage the police in a dialog, compelling Moose to tell the media cryptic messages intended for the sniper. At several scenes Tarot cards were left as calling cards, including one Death card upon which was written "Dear Policeman, I am God. Do not tell the media about this." This information was leaked to the press. Later scenes had long handwritten notes carefully sealed inside plastic bags, including a rambling one that demanded $10,000,000 and threatened the lives of children in the area.

Related Topics:
Tarot - Calling cards - Death card

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At one point, a telephone call from the sniper(s) was traced to a pay telephone at a gasoline station in Henrico County, Virginia. Police missed the suspects by a matter of a few minutes, and initially detained occupants of a van at another pay telephone at the same intersection.

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During the period of the attacks, the North American media devoted enormous amounts of air time and newspaper space to news of each new attack. By the middle of October 2002, all-news television networks were providing live, ongoing coverage of each new attack - with the coverage often lasting for hours at a time.

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Despite an apparent lack of progress publicly, federal authorities were making significant headway in their investigation and developed leads in Washington (State), Alabama, and New Jersey. They learned that Muhammad's ex-wife, who had obtained a protective order against him, lived near the beltway in Clinton, a census-designated place in suburban Prince George's County, Maryland. Information was also developed about an automobile purchased in New Jersey by Muhammad. Much to their shock, police discovered that the New Jersey license plates issued to Muhammad on the older Chevrolet sedan had been checked by radio patrol cars several times near shooting locations in various jurisdictions in several states, but the car had not been stopped because computers did not indicate that it was wanted. Of course, like almost everyone else, the police were looking very hard at white vans.

Related Topics:
Clinton - Census-designated place - Prince George's County, Maryland - New Jersey

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Authorities were quick to issue a media alert to the public to be on the lookout for a dark blue Chevrolet Caprice sedan. For the anxious and vigilant public, as well as law enforcement agencies throughout the region, this was a major change from the mysterious white van earlier sought based upon reported sightings. Within a day, the disclosure to the public of the new vehicle lookout information led directly to the sighting and report of the vehicle by two different alert citizens at a Maryland Rest Area, resulting in the capture of the two murderers.

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The sniper attacks finally ended on October 24, when police arrested Muhammad and Malvo at a highway rest area on Interstate 70 near Hagerstown, Maryland, after receiving two separate tips from alert citizens who saw a parked, occupied car that matched the description distributed by the media. The former police car had been specially configured with a firing port so that a sniper could shoot from inside the closed trunk. Police called it a "killing machine."

Related Topics:
Interstate 70 - Hagerstown, Maryland

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