The kid confessed
It’s amazing, the amount of information the police withheld. I just heard on the news that the kid confessed out of guilt to a priest (!) in Ashland, Va. (I wonder if the kid represents the fucked-up Nation of Islam, like Muhammad does … I highly doubt that he would approve of the kid contacting anyone, let alone a priest, in this matter!) Also, a great deal of the content of the notes is now being released. But I don’t care … if we truly have the perpetrators in police custody now, I am completely cool with the information that was withheld. A miracle has occurred: the veritable “needle in a haystack” has been found.
Although …
Police told us to look for variations of white vans, trucks and cars … only for us to learn now that they have been searching for a blue or maroon Caprice since the get-go. How many Caprices have I seen on the road? Granted, not many, but I could have been on the lookout for it for three weeks.
Something’s still up, though. We have this convergence of unmarked police and FBI vehicles in a neighboring parking lot at work every single day. It’s within full view of my office; their token vehicles (with multiple antennae) sit there from 9 to 6, give or take, every day. Today was no different. With our area having been thought to be a potential target, I fear that again, some level of information is being withheld in regard to this case.
Schools in the area are lifting their restrictions on field trips and outdoor activities. Wobin and I were laughing about it, how parents were refusing to send their kids to school, but in TV interviews, they openly said that they were taking their kids to the malls, movie theaters, etc. Cripes, wasn’t the whole point to keep the kids hidden after that 13-year-old in Bowie, Md., was shot?
The tally: 22 days, 14 shots, 10 deaths, 3 wounded.
You know, I giggled in an earlier entry when Mom heard about a bombing in Bali and immediately associated it with Bally, my gym. Yet her unique perspective could have solved this case … she is the type of person who would have connected Washington, D.C., to Washington State. She would have related Montgomery County, Md., to Montgomery, Ala. Perhaps this is another case of the police, by not releasing the information, missed out on someone like Mom out there in TV land who might have made the association, given the right clues … and what, for her, is obvious might have taken cops days or weeks to unravel. Although, with all the rabid media coverage, I am shocked that the recent sniper shootings in Alabama — which took place during the snipers’ supposed four-day hiatus — weren’t publicized in this area. If for no other reason than to make us feel better that we weren’t the only ones watching our asses, I think we should have heard about that.
I was angry when a CNN poll showed that the public gave the media an “F” for their coverage of this case. I at least rated it as a “C.” But now, after NOT hearing about the Montgomery, Ala., shootings, I say shame on our reporters (or, rather, their assignment editors) who weren’t watching the wire and making the connection. Christ, if pseudo-literate Moosehead can solve a case in three weeks, I’m certain a half-witted journalist could have solved it in two weeks, max.
Speaking of breaking news. …
Something that puzzles me … Reuters reported that Muhammad was homeless, and he and the kid spent some time in shelters. Yet Reuters also reported that shelter workers noted his ease in flying to Louisiana, Jamaica (the kid and the kid’s mom allegedly immigrated here illegally from Antigua) and other locations, whenever he damn well felt like it. How, praytell, did he get such money? Was it from extortion? And did he drive to Alabama or fly this time? Inquiring minds want to know. 🙂
What frosted Shan’s and my flakes today was reading about how the backseat of the Caprice was rigged to collapse, and how there was a hole in the back of the car through which the barrel of the rifle could fit, allowing for easy, undetected shooting. Damn, that was clever as shit. But how could this clever man get caught? Obviously, he wanted to get caught. Was he tired? Bored? Longing for a roof over his head? A homeless man and an immigrant minor seem like such an unlikely pair to conduct such a reign of terror, but I will be scratching my head till a motive is declared. I mean, shit, they were sleeping at a Maryland rest stop when a trucker reported seeing the wanted vehicle with the right license plate. Obviously, they didn’t have access to a TV, to know that the information was released at midnight. But I would assume they had a radio in the car, even if it was a little transistor radio.
Gawd, how many times do you get behind a shitty driver on the freeway? Who’da thunk it that they could shoot you for tailgating them? At least, though, they didn’t do that. They picked off one victim at a time, whereas a freeway shooting could injure dozens of people, at least, simultaneously.
And how bizarre that Sniperoo’s note asked Moosehead to tell the public that they caught him “like a duck in a noose.” Is that a new cliche that’s sweeping the nation? Shan said that the Ducks are a sports team in Oregon, which is dangerously close to Washington state. Further, her dad is a fire chief in Oregon, and he’s dealing with a serial arsonist right now (40 fires in 10 months, all linked stylistically). Perhaps Sniperoo was truly acting alone in his sniping activities, but what if one of his buddies is a serial arsonist? What’s next? I wonder if there could be a connection. I’d rather have a sniper than an arsonist, though, I think. My biggest fear (alongside car accidents) is of fire. I love fire for its dangerous beauty, but having faced an apartment fire when I was in third grade, I am not a happy Dawn when flames are present.
Bleah. I just want to breathe. So many residents are crawling out from their holes, venturing out to stores and gas stations and letting their kids go back to school. Is it REALLY safe? Let’s assume Sniperoo and Sniperoo Jr. are truly the felons in question … what’s to stop another sadistic son of a bitch from picking up where they left off?
Moosehead infuriated me with today’s press conference. He thanked area residents for their patience and cooperation, and he said that this was the worst act of terror in this area, ever. Um, did Sept. 11, 2001, slip his mind? I felt that terror from 250 miles away. Unfortunately, this area is just a sitting target. One only wonders what’s in store for us next, and how long it will take before we have to enter panic mode again.
It’s interesting that Muhammad is a Gulf War veteran. I’m dealing at work with some dumb bitch who served in Saudi Arabia. She’s out of her god damn mind, and she’s pursuing her doctorate in counseling. She initiated the process of me writing a story on her, only for her to call Shan (because Shan was the only one at her desk when the bitch began bouncing through the voice mail system) and rant that I initiated the process over a year ago (yeah, when I didn’t even work there) and that I was the one who asked her about stuff that she wouldn’t have otherwise talked about (like some references to a public execution square in Riyadh), when she, in her initial e-mail to propose the profile, talked at length of that horrid place. It’s a shame that she got to treat military personnel for post-traumatic stress disorder, when she’s clearly one fucked-up duck herself. Argh. Had tons of drama at work yesterday in relation to her, and I didn’t finish my own work till 11 p.m. (at least I had come home briefly at 5 to feed the cat). Bleah. Today should be an easy one, I hope. This week has been full of tension, despite the winning press conference and coverage, and I will be glad to lock myself in the apartment with the cat and not deal with anything related to work for two full days.