Latest Sniper Victim Worked for FBI

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20021015_1339.html

FAIRFAX, Va. Oct. 15, 2002 - An FBI analyst who studied terror threats
is the latest victim of the Washington-area sniper, and investigators
said Tuesday they were confident that detailed witness accounts from
the scene will lead them to the person who has now killed nine people.

A senior law enforcement source, speaking on condition of anonymity,
said there were no indications the sniper targeted Linda Franklin
because of her job. Sources said she worked for the FBI's National
Infrastructure Protection Center which assesses threats against major
structures and cyber networks.

Franklin, 47, of Arlington was shot in the head Monday night as she
and her husband loaded packages into their car outside a Home Depot at
the Seven Corners Shopping Center.

Fairfax County Police Chief Tom Manger suggested that witnesses gave
investigators more details than on any of the other shootings. For the
first time, witnesses were able to give information about license
plates on vehicles seen leaving the scene, he said.

"There was some additional information that we were able to get from
last night's case, and I am confident that that information is going
to lead us to an arrest in the case," Manger said at a morning
briefing.

Manger declined to discuss which state the license plates were from or
answer questions about whether police had a description of the
shooter. He said only that several people contacted police after the
shooting and investigators were still interviewing them.

"We have been receiving quite a bit of information from witnesses,"  
Manger said. "Information is always the key in solving cases like
this."

Police closed highways around Falls Church, about 10 miles west of the
nation's capital, after the shooting and Manger said police were on
the lookout for a light-colored Chevrolet Astro van with a burned-out
left rear tail light and a chrome ladder on its roof. The highways
were reopened in time for morning rush hour and no arrests were
reported.

"There are a fair number of ways to leave the area," Manger said. "We
made a number of traffic stops. I am unaware of any pursuits."

Franklin was felled by a single shot to the head about 9:15 p.m. as
she stood in the parking lot of the blocks-long shopping center. All
the other deaths in the sniper spree were also caused by one shot.

Outside the Home Depot on Tuesday, a line of officers on their hands
and knees scoured the covered parking deck for evidence, and a tow
truck hauled away the victim's car a small red convertible with a
black cloth top.

The Washington Post, quoting an FBI chaplain at Franklin's home,
reported on its Web site that Franklin and her husband were planning
to move Friday to another home in the area and were at Home Depot to
buy supplies.

The center where Franklin worked, established in 1998, is the only FBI
organization scheduled to transfer to the Department of Homeland
Security under the Bush administration's proposal.

The shooting spree that has terrorized residents in the Washington
area began Oct. 2 in Montgomery County, Md. With Monday's shooting,
the toll has grown to nine people killed and two seriously wounded in
Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

"Ballistic evidence has conclusively linked this case to the other
murders in the area," Manger said.

Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose, who is leading the task
force investing the shootings, was on the scene of the latest
shooting.

Monday's killing happened near one of northern Virginia's busiest
intersections, where major arteries come together to form seven
corners. Virginia State Police said the van was last seen traveling
east on Route 50 from Falls Church. Interstates 66 and 495 are nearby.

Clint Van Zandt, a former FBI profiler who lives in Fredericksburg,
Va., said the location sets the slaying apart from the others. "This
is not bold, this is brazen," he said. "It's a much more highly
congested area, even under the cover of darkness."

While giving few details of the manhunt, investigators have logged
some consistencies: the killer favors suburban gas stations; takes
down each victim with a single bullet; doesn't kill on weekends; and,
judging from a fortunetelling tarot card left at one of the shootings,
appears to enjoy taunting police. The card read: "Dear Policeman, I am
God."

Many schools in the region remained under lockdown Tuesday, meaning
outdoor recess and physical education classes were canceled and
students were kept indoors all day.



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