Snipering

[Tedob1]

i gotta agree Syini666, an act of terrorism would be pointless with out an announcement by the perps. its more like 2 sickos that walked out of a james patterson novel.

[gghornet]

Actually just because he's using a .223 round means very little,because the AR15 is one of the most common assault rifles in the US.Therefore it would be very hard to trace the sales back to a suspect,and very easy to get rid of when he's done with it.I personnaly have a CAR15 and with 5 custom made 45 round mags,an excellent scope top mounted,a laser site mounted on the bottom of the barrel,and a custom fit hard case it ran just short of $2000.My rifle obviously isn't that great for long range shots because it's a carbine,but having shot a standard AR I know it's very accurate at long range,can penetrate any body armor on the market,and the .223 round starts to wildly spin and bounce around the inside of your body when it comes in contact with bone making it very devestating.Hence the reason it was used for the standard military issue M16 A2.I feel this guy has definately had quite a bit of training,because the shots were taken from a distance where wind and leading of the target would play a huge factor in wether the person was even hit,not to mention that all but one died.And being able to pop off shots with an assault rifle without drawing the attention of tons of people to your location isn't too easy.A terrorist?I doubt it,because most middle eastern people prefer the Kalichnakov or AK 47 because of the fact that they're accurate,durable,and relatively light weight,and that would likely be what a terrorist would've used throughout his training so he would be most comfortable with one of those two.The AK47 is the most common rifle in the world on top of that.I think it's probably an ex-sniper with a grudge,and he just lost it.Wether that's military or swat I don't have the slightest clue,but I'd venture to guess military war veteran,because SWAT members don't get that emersed in warfare,and always have the proper back up and supplies making their conditions for battle as ideal as such a thing can get.On the other hand soldiers in war often have to go on very little food and water,don't know when or if they'll ever get to see their families,don't have enough ammo in some cases,and don't know when or if relief is coming.From those facts I'd say the life of a soldier is much more traumatic than that of a SWAT member making a soldier more likely to lose it.Then again most SWAT snipers have spent a good deal of time in the military,so who knows.

[t2k2]

Well, I work and live in the vicinity, and I can tell you this - people were leaving work early and calling their families when they heard the news. Even more were so paranoid that they were afraid to leave work without the company of others - which, I guess, wouldn't have done them much good since this guy is sniping people from such distances. I tell you, there are some sick people in this world!

[er0k]

yeah like the person that was shot while mowing there yard.. kinda freaky broad daylight, makes me worry more about my mom out mowing while im at school.

[allenb1963]

Folks....it could be anyone. It could be an AR-15, a Ruger Mini-14, an M-16...you get the picture. While it may be someone with formal training, it may not be either. I myself have no formal training, but can provide you with witnesses that have seen me take an open site Remington Nylon 66 (.22 cal.) and drop the "O" out of a stop sign (I live out in the country) at almost 300 yards. The guys who watched me do that can shoot rings around my ass, and none of them have formal training either. The only thing we can say for sure is that we are dealing with one sick mother*****er with a good aim...

[gghornet]

Hey at least you have stop signs to shoot at.The closest one to me is about 15 miles away.I have to shoot at empty beer cans most of the time.

[4MidgetHitmen]

I've always thought that it took a rather off and somewhat messed up kind of individual to be a sniper in the military

Sorry Syini666 but I take a little offense at your comment... (I used to be a military sniper...) It takes an individual with a strong mind, courage, and great deel of self control to be a military sniper... Unlike most "Line Grunts" who only see an outline at 250 meters... You can see the color of a mans eyes at 800 through a sniper scope... You can tell if he has zits and how many... And I can tell you that this guy or girl is not a sniper... He/she is a shooter... Snipers have gotten a bad name because of jerk wads like the person cappng people off in MD and VA...

Snipers do not use .223 caliber bullets. .308 to .300 win mag is the preferred caliber of snipers...even .50 caliber can be used.

While 7.62 (.308) is the most common round used by snipers the 5.56 (.223) is widely used by police departments throughout the US... The reason being it that the average shot taken by a police sniper is about 70 yards and the energy delivered by the .223 at that range is more than enugh to do the job without a significant risk of over penitraion (shooting through the target and into someone/something else) The average range for the military sniper on the other hand is about 650 meters (around 800 yards) so the round we used has to deliver it's energy at a greater distance... from what I heard on the news here (I live about two hours from where the shooting happened) most of the shots were head shots... the person doing this crap is sick in the noodle to be sure but whoever it is can shoot...

[carbonlifeform]

The term sniper has been used for any people that shoot out of hiding. For
example many vietnamese snipers were kids, pre-teens and teens.

If you've ever shot anything with a rifle, you'll know that this isn't something
that just anybody could do. Training, yes. Eastern, why not, they buy western
weapons as well for missions? It would be too obvious to have people in the
U.S. shot with guns only made in Russia?

Hope the bas**** gets caught soon.

[optiq]

Yea the shootings are happening in my old areas in montgomery county. They're now up to 7 victims the last being a 13 year old boy in Bowie (PG county). Hope they catch him.

[Chuck56]

It isn't really a laughing matter, but I take some offense to military snipers being termed off or a little messed up. On the contrary, a sniper has to be "with it" mentally, emotionally, and physically. He has to be above average almost across the board to do the job. I can understand why people would think an Army or Marine Sniper would be a little twisted. How many people could sit in a hide and wait, maybe for days, for a single clean shot?

That's beside the point, though. The characters doing the shootings aren't snipers. They're thrill killers who just happen to have a well sighted in rifle. I'm guessing there are two. One to drive, one to shoot. These folks are twisted and the best thing that could happen is that they die before getting to trial. I'd really rather not see taxpayer dollars wasted on creatures like these, so some shyster lawyer can talk about how abused they were as kids, because mommy or daddy made them mow the lawn for their allowance.