Sniper traits falling into place
( 2002-10-14 14:54 ) (7 )

The Washington-area sniper again took the weekend off, adding a tiny trait to the personality profile of an assassin who has killed eight people in 12 days.

"He's a weekday warrior. Even snipers have jobs," said criminologist Jack Fox of Northeastern University in Boston. "They have to make time to kill, and obviously he doesn't have time on the weekends."

"Everything that helps a little helps a lot in terms of finding someone," Fox said Sunday. Other criminologists have suggested the shooter lives in the area and may have a job and work schedule that accounts for the timing and location of the attacks.

Investigators hunting the increasingly brazen killer have logged some consistencies: the killer favors suburban gas stations; fires a single round; has not let two days pass without opening fire again and, judging from a tarot card left at one of the shootings, appears to enjoy taunting police.

Authorities have refused to release investigative details, saying they don't want the killer to know what they know.

"We don't want to release anything that may cause ... anyone to think they're a suspect," said Mike Bouchard, an agent with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

Montgomery County police Chief Charles Moose, meanwhile, has cut back on his news briefings while saying he wishes there was more he could reveal.

"I wish we could give you a name, a mug shot and an address but we're not at that point," he said in one of four appearances he made Sunday on national TV talk shows.

Moose has become the public face of a massive task force investigating a random shooter who has fired a single shot into each of 10 victims, killing eight, since Oct. 2.

On Oct. 7, after a weekend without striking, the killer opened fire just after 8 a.m., seriously wounding a 13-year-old boy.

"Frustration comes from not knowing where he'll strike next," said Montgomery County police officer Derek J. Baliles.

The last killing occurred Friday morning, when a 53-year-old father of six was shot while fueling his sedan in a gas station just south of Fredericksburg, Va. At the time, a state trooper stood just 50 yards away, investigating a traffic accident.

Authorities described the serial sniper as not just a local threat, but an attempt to terrorize already anxious Americans.

"This reminds us that people in our past have tried to intimidate and put fear into Americans," Moose said. "This a strong nation ... and we will not be intimidated."

In Landover, Md., police on horseback and bicycles ringed parking areas before Sunday's Washington Redskins football game against the New Orleans Saints. Fans grilling burgers at tailgate parties said they appreciated being encircled by patrol cars and rifle-toting officers.

"I don't think anybody in their right mind would try something out here," said Bill Freitag of Virginia Beach, Va., a die-hard Redskins fan. "But he's not in his right mind to begin with."

The victims, in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., were shot as they carried out daily errands. Four were killed at service stations.

Moose and federal officers refused to comment on published reports that the FBI asked the Pentagon to search records for recently discharged soldiers who had undergone sniper training.

Investigators also would not discuss a yellow piece of paper found at Friday's killing site, which reportedly contained scribbled directions from northern Maryland to the Capital Beltway.

A white truck matching composite images compiled by the FBI was still being sought. And as Sunday wore on without another shooting, a reporter asked Moose if he dreaded Monday morning.

"We won't make any assumptions about any kind of pattern," Moose said. "I never approach Monday morning with a sense of dread."