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| By Jonathan Dube MSNBC | |||||
| Oct. 16 — Ever since a sniper began picking off people one-by-one, daily tasks like shopping, pumping gas and mowing lawns have become potentially deadly. Desperate to stay out of the fatal crosshairs, Washington, D.C.-area residents are adjusting where they buy groceries, when they fill their cars, how they exercise. Some even wear bullet-proof vests. | |||||
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GENERALLY PEOPLE
fearful of crime tend to flock to public, crowded places to feel safer, on
the theory that most killers shy away from visible areas. But this one
defies traditional patterns, shooting people in public, in front of gas
stations and popular places like Home Depot and Michael’s craft stores.
It’s hard for residents to know what to do to protect themselves The sniper shoots from a distance, so guns are useless as self-defense. He’s struck at day and at night. He’s shot children and adults, standing alone or next to loved ones. He’s hit whites and minorities, men and women, old and young. Figuring out how to stay out of the sniper’s crosshairs is a guessing game, albeit an educated one. The sniper has followed a few patterns, such as striking people outside, and residents have latched on to the shooter’s perceived habits in a desperate attempt to do something — anything — to protect themselves. “You tend to go shopping in places where there’s not wide open places where you park,” said Chad Capellman, a 29-year-old Web producer who grew up one block from the first slaying, in Glenmont, Md., and lives a short drive from Monday’s shooting in Falls Church, Va. “I use a gas station that’s pretty much walled in — it’s as close to an indoor gas station as you’re going to find.” |
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Sooner or later,
everyone has to fill up their gas tank, so drivers are doing everything
they can to minimize the risk. Some quickly insert the gas nozzle and duck
back into their car while the gas pumps; others have preferred filling
their cars in downtown D.C., where the prices are higher but the risk,
they guess, is lower, since the shootings have occurred in the suburbs.
Many have been opting for full-service gas stations. One person even said he waits until the sniper strikes, then rushes out to get gas on the theory that the gunman would be busy fleeing and not looking for another target. .gif){kind=small}  Latest developments in the sniper
hunt |
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People of all walks of life have been touched. LaDara Barnes, 29, of Lake Ridge, Va., isn’t taking any chances, giving up her practice of walking around the neighborhood and choosing to work out at home instead. Full Metal Jacket, a military surplus store in Alexandria, Va., has gotten a few dozen calls asking about bullet-proof vests. But clerks there have discouraged people from buying them because most vests, including the standard ones police use, are designed to protect against handgun fire. “They wouldn’t do you any good with the .223 rifle fire this guy is using,” said one clerk, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “The bullet would go completely through the vest, through you and out the other side. The only type of vest that would stop rifle fire are those huge 50-pound ones with metal plates that police use when they go on raids.” But even though standard protective vests won’t stop the sniper’s bullets, some people are still wearing them. “I have a (30-year-old) friend whose parents got him a bullet-proof vest and are making him wear it every time he gets gas,” Capellman said. ON THE LOOKOUT FOR WHITE VANS Everyone is on edge, and even the slightest possibility of another shooting can literally stop traffic. A 17-mile section of the Capital Beltway in Maryland was closed over the weekend after a woman was shot by an unidentified attacker. State troopers kept watch at the Woodrow Wilson Bridge over the Potomac River until it was determined the shooting was unrelated. “Every time I hear the sirens, I think there’s been a shooting,” said Sandra Compher of Bethesda, Md. “I wish this person were done with it, but I don’t think so.” Most area schools remain locked down, meaning students are kept indoors all day, outdoor recess and physical education classes are canceled, and extra police patrol the schools. Field trips have been dropped, canceled football games aren’t even being rescheduled and other outdoor activities are forbidden. |
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| The football stadium stands
of Montgomery Blair High school, which would have been filled with fans
celebrating the school's homecoming celebrations, were empty Oct. 12 in
Silver Spring, Md., after all events were canceled due to the sniper
murders. |
 In Fredericksburg, Va., a field hockey game was canceled at James Monroe High School and a homecoming game was moved to a nearby rural county where there have been no shootings. “I’m looking around for every white van I see,” said Richard Spears, who mows grass at the school, referring to the type of vehicle reportedly seen at several of the shootings. “It makes you a little leery.” Jerry West, the superintendent of schools in Montgomery County, Md., where several of the shootings have occurred, has been sending a daily letter to parents, students and staff to ease their fears. More than 1,000 parents, government employees and other residents from the local communities have volunteered to help walk children to and from school since the shootings began. “Vulnerable children need visual reminders of safety and courage from adults,” West said. ‘HE COULD BE WATCHING’ Trips to the supermarket and convenience store have become harrowing. Everyone does their best to avoid white trucks and vans. |
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“Going
to a grocery store the other day, I found myself looking around the
parking lot for the first time in my life,” says Roy Littlefield of Bowie,
Md., where a 13-year-old boy was shot Oct. 7 as he was dropped off at
school. “No matter how careful you are, these killings have been totally
at random and it’s very hard to defend yourself against that kind of
action. You just try to keep yourself in safe places and you try to keep
alert.” Even going to work feels perilous to some. “I didn’t want to come to work because it’s all glass,” said Bebi Tasawar, the mother of three, from behind the counter of the 7-Eleven in Dale City, a few miles from Friday’s attack. “My 10-year-old daughter told me, ‘Mommy, he could come into the cafeteria at school.’ ” |
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Tasawar says she’s afraid to do even the most routine tasks. “When
we throw the trash out, we’re looking around. It’s scary,” Tasawar said.
“You don’t know when you walk out the door what will happen next. He could
be watching us right now.” Anne Vance, a high school English teacher in Burke, Va., first broke down in tears when she heard about the 13-year-old boy who was shot, then awoke the next day to find her own 13-year-old asleep on the floor downstairs, traumatized by a nightmare in which her friend was shot. In school that day, Vance handed out newspapers and encouraged her students to pick a story and share their responses in their journals. Most chose to write about the sniper, and an 11th-grader’s words helped Vance understand why she had developed knots in her stomach. “She said, ‘I know it’s not the same as September 11th, but I feel the way I felt then,’ ” Vance said. “She’s right. You feel the same lack of safety.” The Associated Press contributed to this report. |
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  Montgomery County Police
Department |
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Police: No sniper sketch possible
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