Sniper Threatens Children, Demands Millions
today's news is quite upsetting...
Quote:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - "Your children are not safe anywhere, at any time." Mothers and fathers in and around the U.S. capital were to send their children off to school Wednesday under that chilling threat from a sniper blamed for nine deaths -- and possibly a tenth -- in the past three weeks, reportedly in a scheme to make money.Police were still working to confirm whether the shooting death of a bus driver Tuesday in Silver Spring, Maryland, was the work of the gunman, whose murderous spree has terrorized the Washington region since Oct. 2.
Three other people have been shot and critically wounded.
The Washington Post, citing unidentified sources, reported Wednesday that a message to police from the sniper demanded that authorities put $10 million in a bank account within two days or face more killings.
The angry letter, left at the scene of a shooting Saturday night in Ashland, Virginia, about 85 miles south of Washington, berated police as incompetent and listed six calls to the sniper task force that had been "ignored," the newspaper reported.
The threat to the children was part of the letter, Montgomery County, Maryland, Police Chief Charles Moose said at a news conference. "It is in the form of a postscript: 'Your children are not safe anywhere, at any time,"' he said.
In an apparent response to the letter, Moose sent a televised message to the sniper indicating that police had been considering his requests.
"We have researched the options you stated and found that it is not possible electronically to comply in the manner that you requested," Moose said.
"You indicated that this is about more than violence. We are waiting to hear from you," Moose said, adding that it was important to "do this without anyone else getting hurt."
Moose indicated that police wanted to continue the dialogue and said the person could communicate through a private post office box "if you would feel more comfortable."
In the latest shooting, Montgomery County bus driver Conrad Johnson, 35, was felled by single bullet around 6 a.m., as he was about to begin his work day.
The first five killings also took place in Montgomery County, an affluent and usually tranquil suburban area just north of Washington. One occurred inside Washington, close to the Montgomery County border. Three people have been killed in Washington's Virginia suburbs.
A 13-year-old boy was wounded in Prince George's County, Maryland, east of the U.S. capital. A 43-year-old woman was wounded in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, and a 37-year-old man was wounded in the Ashland shooting Saturday, the last attack definitively linked to the sniper.
"Everyone knows that all of our citizens are and have been at risk," Moose said. "The person or people have demonstrated a willingness and ability to shoot people of all ages, all races, all genders and they've struck at different times of the day, different days at different locations."
The shooting spree has paralyzed the region. Schools have canceled sports events and other outdoor activities and kept hundreds of thousands of students indoors during school hours. The schools were in a high state of alert, with volunteer parents helping to patrol school grounds.
Business has been slowed by public reluctance to venture from home. Most of the shootings have been at shopping areas or gasoline stations.
yahoo news
I don't really care who gets this guy, but after making this kind of act and then demanding money for the sake of the community's protection, this jerk-off needs to be taken out RIGHT NOW!
I just pray we get him, and soon before he kills anyone else.
