- SILVER SPRING, Md. (Reuters)
- Police in the Washington area launched a massive manhunt on Tuesday after
a driver standing on the steps of his idled commuter bus was fatally shot,
raising fears a serial sniper had struck again.
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- Authorities closed major roads and checked vehicles --
especially those driven by men -- as they scrambled to determine whether
the fatal attack in Montgomery County, Maryland, was the work of the gunman
who had already killed nine people and wounded three since Oct. 2.
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- But it appeared the shooter once again evaded capture,
despite the rapid deployment of law enforcement agents, backed by helicopters
and dog teams.
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- Left behind was a pall of fear and anger and the gnawing
sense that police -- long accustomed to the area's low murder rate -- could
do nothing to protect citizens from the unseen gunman.
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- "We have not been able to assure that anyone, any
age, any gender, any race. ... We have not been able to assure anyone their
safety with regards to this situation," a somber Montgomery County
Police Chief Charles Moose told a news conference.
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- The shooting of bus driver Conrad Johnson, 35, around
6 a.m., shattered the morning rush-hour routine of the nation's capital,
raising havoc just a day after investigators' hopes were dashed for a major
break in the case.
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- In an intensive effort, an array of law enforcement officials,
including FBI, Secret Service and other agents, joined the chase. Long
lines of traffic snarled the roads.
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- "The law enforcement community is looking at this
situation, certainly very similar to other situations we have been dealing
with as a region. Evidence, ballistics will be gathered ... to determine
whether this situation is linked," said Moose, who leads an area-wide
sniper task force.
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- Police said the bus driver, who had been waiting at a
side street used as a staging area for commuter buses, was shot in the
chest as he stood on the top step of his vehicle.
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- While police sought ballistic evidence that could link
the shooting to previous sniper assaults, it appeared similar to earlier
attacks -- an apparent single shot, the proximity of a wooded area for
cover, the stealthy escape of the assailant.
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- REGION FEARFUL, ANGRY
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- The latest incident took place on Connecticut Avenue,
near where some of the original shootings took place.
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- 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.
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- Residents, many drawn to the area by its parks, trails
and other recreation sites, have grown increasingly frustrated at having
to restrict their activities.
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- And business has been slowed by public reluctance to
venture from home. Most of the shootings have been at shopping areas or
gasoline stations.
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- "It's disturbing," said Robert Colwell, who
lives near the scene of the latest attack.
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- Schools in Ashland, Virginia, the site of a shooting
over the weekend, and elsewhere in the area around the Virginia capital
of Richmond were to be closed for a second day on Tuesday even before the
latest incident occurred.
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- The new shooting followed a day of dashed hopes that
investigators had cracked the case with the detention of two men near Richmond,
Virginia, on suspicion of ties to the sniper attacks.
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- But authorities later announced the two taken into custody
were illegal aliens with no connection to the case. They were being held
by immigration officials, pending deportation.
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- Police also were hoping to hear again from a mysterious
caller involved in a cryptic dialogue with investigators.
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- Quoting law enforcement sources, The Washington Post
said police had started such a dialogue with a man they believe is the
serial gunman.
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- The newspaper said police began delivering messages through
the media after they found a handwritten letter at the scene in Ashland,
Virginia, 80 miles south of Washington.
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- On Monday Moose urged the caller to phone again, saying
an earlier communication had not been clear.
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- "The person you called could not hear everything
you said; the audio was unclear and we want to get it right," Moose
said. "Call us back so that we can clearly understand."
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- Moose provided no details about who the caller might
be and has not said whether the caller is the sniper. He disclosed on Sunday
that police discovered a "message" at the scene of the Ashland
shooting, which critically injured a 37-year-old man.
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- The unidentified man, who is not from Virginia, was shot
on Saturday as he and his wife were leaving a restaurant. He was in critical
but stable condition, said Dr. Rao Ivatury of the Medical College of Virginia
Hospitals in Richmond.
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- Each of the victims has been hit with a single bullet
from a high-powered rifle. The shootings have been linked by ballistics
analysis.
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