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THURSDAY
INSIDE: • SGA takes a 'light' walk, page 2
October 24, 2002
• Best concert venues in Philly, page 7 Vol.XLIX
Number Eight
• Terror behind the walls, page 8
Inside the mind of the 'Beltway Sniper' JACKIE FREESE STAFF WRJTER
The "Beltway Sniper" is an unusual case of a criminal mind, according to local authorities and faculty. The sniper, who as of Tuesday, Oct. 22, has shot 13 people, killing l O of them. All of the shootings have occurred in Washington D.C. and suburbs of Maryland and Virginia. The sniper appears to be picking his victims at random, which is unusual for a serial killer. "Usually, serial murderers have a certain victim in mind," Kevin Steele, deputy district attorney of the trials division of Montgomery County, Pa., said. "These shootings appear to be completely at random." Steele will be teaching criminal law next semester. Police districts have special departments to profile criminals. Behavioral units, as they are called, attempt to piece together the mind and background of the perpetrator. "Tl)e FBI certainly has their hands full with this person," Steele said. "Serial killers are a lot easiei; to profile if they have a motive and the sniper seems to have no clear motive. It is evident, however, that the sniper knows the area very well because the shootings have been confined to a particular region." The sniper has taunted area residents by leaving behind evidence at the scenes of the shootings. In the shooting on Saturday, Oct. 19, the sniper left behind a lengthy message at the Ponderosa steakhouse, where a man was· critically wounded. The message warned area residents, "Your children are not safe anywhere, at any time." Other evidence that has been left behind is a tarot death card and a message saying, "Dear Policeman, I am God" at the shooting at a Bowie, Md. school on Monday, Oct. 7, which wound-
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With so many elements complicating the case, police and the FBI continue the search for the "Beltway Sniper."
minutes away from where I live," ed a 13-year-old boy. "The sniper has "left evidence, Michelle Murray, sophomore, so he or she probably wants noto- said. "I figure if the sniper was riety for his or her crimes," Dr. willing to drive 50 miles away Kathleen McKinley, sociology from D.C. to shoot, he or she could department chair, said. "These drive 20 minutes to Baltimore. killers have socio-path aspects in Honestly, I am not all that worried, but I talk to my mom everyday and them and expect impunity." Residents of the region remain she is very worried." "While everyday life has not fearful and alert. Many are scared changed dramatically,. police are to walk down the street, go to the grocery store and even pump gas everywhere," sophomore Morgan in their cars because many of the · Manago, who went home to shootings have occurred in public Washington, D.C. over the Columbus weekend break, said. places. Danielle Dorsey, a freshman, "Montgomery County is 20
learned of something particularly eerie when she went to her father's house in Washington D.C. over the weekend ):,reak. "My sister was at the Home Depot two hours prior to when that woman was shot there on Monday night," Dorsey said. "At first, I was not scared when I went home, but after I found out about my sister, .I was very scared." Dorsey's fear may be put to an end in the near future. The FBI has put together a composite sketch of a truck that was seen at many of the shootings as well as a descrip-
tion and partial license plate number of a white van with ladders on the top of it that was around the killings. They ·have also profiled the killer as a white male, aged 1530, who probably lives in the D.C. area with a military background. The sniper has apparently left police with a phone number to call and a ransom of "several million dollars" to comply with, according to an anonymous law enforcement source. "Hopefully this person is caught soon," Dorsey said. "It is a very scary time."