How to Catch the Sniper

[Nolan Dalla]

Completely off topic, but.......

I'd like some feedback from others out there who might know more about this subject than me. Here it goes.....

MY THEORY ON HOW TO CATCH THE SNIPER:

Here's the situation. We pretty much know the sniper drives a van. The van white or light-colored. It has a ladder truck on top. There are about 4 million people in the Washington area -- and you can't tell me that there are more than 500 vans in the region that meet this exact description. I have no idea why investigators can't track down all the vehicles that meet this narrow description, but that's beyond the point I will now make.

Now, to my theory.

When I got out of college many years ago -- I interviewed with several prominent government agencies realted to intelligence. One of those agencies was the National Photographic Interpretation Center (NPIC), which at the time was within the Directorate of Technology at the Central Intelligence Agency. This sectrion used to be at the Old Washington Navy Yard. The NPIC gets the feeds from the Keyhole satellites which circle the globe constantly and take pictures (and which is now capable of "live" video feeds). These Keyhole satellites used to be concentrated over the former Soviet Union and Red China. Today, they are circling above us all over the world, and reportedly (according to alternative press) even spy on Americans (I believe this is true).

Those that saw the Tom Clancy movie (I think it was "Clear and Present Danger") might remember the scene of the commando kill on a terrorist camp, where the analysts in the command center at Langley (CIA) watched live from the satellite feed as the commandos went in. The kills was taking place in North Africa. Yet, the entire operation was being watched live on TV beamed in from a satellite hoovering over the region. THIS TECHNOLOGY EXISTS. It is now possible to take a photo of a dime laying on the ground from 100 miles up and for the photo to show the date on the coin. Remarkable stuff.

Aside from the legal questions about using this technology in a criminal investigation (the CIA is forbidden to engage in domestic operations) -- would a space satellite be able to shoot TIME-LAPSE photography of an entire region (let's say a 50 mile radius)? If not, could the satellite shoot pictures over several areas in rapid succession to get a clear picture of the entire region?

The idea is this -- if a space satellite were to take a photo of the Washington region (it might take many photos to be able to cover the entire area), couldn't the sniper be tracked? Let's say a photo is taken every 30 seconds. This means WHEN AND WHERE there is a shooting, all vehicles in the immediate area can easily be identified. It would be relatively simple to point out which van is white and/or has a ladder on top. Then, using the series of snapshots -- the van could easily be tracked and it;s location found with time-lapse photography. Eventually, the van will end up parked where the sniper lives or is staying.

The satellites are much like the "eye in the sky" inside a casino. The photos could be constantly beamed back to earth -- and erased over and over until the next shooting occurs (like a VCR tape). Once the next shooting takes place, those photos could be saved and then the tracking process begins.

If this sounds complicated, it's not. It's actually a very cheap way of catching a criminal of this type. Contrast the use of spy satellites with thousands of man-hours wasted on roadblocks and police "investigations" and this is a no-brainer.

Again -- I realize there are lsome egal issues here, but I would like to know from anyone who knows -- is this idea practical?

-- Nolan Dalla


PS -- I realize that cloud cover could make some of this technology not 100 percent effective.

 

[yyz]

I don't know about all the James Bond stuff, but if I was Mr Snipper, I would start taking some pot shots at folks a little farther down the pike.

This persom has to have some level of inteligence, to evade capture this long. If he has any survival instincts, he would either lay low, or move on.

 

[ferdville]

From sources that I have read, I believe that your assessment of the technology is correct. I don't think that there is any doubt that this can be done. Unfortunately, a law passed in and around 1880 does make it illegal for the military to get involved with police enforcement. Even though this is an outdated law, I can understand the philosophy behind it. So the problem would be to somehow integrate the military technology for mainstream use in cases like this. My best guess is that the ACLU would jump up and down with more vigor than the Rally Monkey if this was to happen. Great idea Nolan - maybe we can make you director of homeland security! This makes much more sense than trying to surveil areas with thousands of cops and FBI. Since this last snipe was at night, wouldn't there have been some flash of light from his rifle? Again, this could probably be detected with the technoloogy you describe. Hopefully, the people who make decisions are considering something along these lines.

 

[dr. freeze]

a good reason for the people to be armed.....if they were, this sniper would be shot by now.......if this activity starts in Houston -- i am gonna start packing.....

unfortunately when terrorists start acting -- as it is here regardless of where he is from....citizens are all called to be soldiers.....that is why we have the need of a militia.....in my opinion the best way to get this guy is to arm the people.....

 

[VaNurse]

Careful there, YYZ.

I don't know about all the James Bond stuff, but if I was Mr Snipper, I would start taking some pot shots at folks a little farther down the pike.

It appears that he may have done just that. There was a shooting in Ashland, VA (approx. 90 miles south of DC, approx. 35 miles south of Spotsylvania, VA) last night where a 37 y/o man was dropped with a single shot as he and his wife exited a Ponderosa restaurant. While this hasn't been ruled a "sniper" incident yet, the authorities treated it as such, closing I-95 and other potential exit routes over a 30-40 mile stretch for over three hours!

Personally, I'm still not convinced that the shooter is even using a white van or box-truck. I just think that we've become so swayed by the hype that that's the thing that most people focus upon. I've never been so aware of a particular type vehicle and have been amazed to realize just how many white vans and box-trucks are on our roadways. It seems to be the vehicle of choice for most service businesses and there are many of them out there.

I don't claim to know the solution, but I'm starting to feel that the highway closures are really feeding the sniper'(s) ego, while he either just cruises on through in a completely different vehicle.

 

[yyz]

When the story broke awhile back, the talk of a white Astro van came out. The news broadcaster noted that there were 15,000 of them in that part of the country.

 

[TIME TO MAKE $$$]

edited by request

Jack

 

[TIME TO MAKE $$$]

same as above.

yes, you offended some people.

 

[TIME TO MAKE $$$]

then we shall pull his eyes out while he is alive, slice his scrotum in half

Vent mode off now

 

[VaNurse]

Just a thought TTM$$, if he were gay, would that be punishment?

I'm really getting sick of the gay-bashing around here. Do you all think it's macho to slam people because they're different from you?

 

[PaTsJaMM]

...please don't tell me you'd stop there


In all seriousness, if there was every anyone who deserved the death penalty it's this clod. And none of that insane bs.

 

[TIME TO MAKE $$$]

Sorry gang, Jack has informed me that I offended several people. It was a stupid thing to say, and it was out of anger. This guy deserves the harshest torture possible. Maybe feeding him to a pack of lions for 30 seconds ought to do it??

Again my sincerest apologies to all, I was out of line....

 

[TCSN]

Oh my words on the internet offended some

 

[wondo]

Dr. Freeze,

How do you shoot at something or someone you can't see? There have been no witnesses, let alone a witness that could have shot the son of a buck. Plus, think about half the people you find around town -- you want them carrying a gun with a license to snipe the sniper? Then I would be scared to pump gas! I don't see how me carrying a gun will keep more people from getting snipered, or myself from getting plucked.

Nolan,

Interesting comments. I think they are headed in that direction with some of the surveillance planes that are now canvasing the area. There have to be many more than 500 or even 1000 vans in the area -- I know you lived here, but it's the type thing you don't even pay attention to. My feeling is the guy will be caught because he wants to get caught. There is no sense doing something if nobody knows who is doing it -- at some point this person will want some recognition and allow himself to be seen and soon after caught.

 

[TheShrimp]

At one of the first shootings, someone saw one of these trucks. At every shooting since, someone hears a gunshot, looks around and sees a white van. It's become a self-fulfilling prophecy, and i don't think they even think that's what he's in. A case of bad information being worse than no information.

And, even if he was driving one, every contractor/florist/electrician/plumber/delivery man/whatever drives around in a white van. You can't drive a half-mile around here without seeing one. There must be thousands in the area.

Besides, from witnesses who have seen a van closely, its been an isuzu/astro/caravan/econoline. People are just seeing white vans and reporting them.

I can't say I'm too knowledgable of the satellite/spy plane technology, but I think trying to track a single vehicle in a metro area of the size of DC and coordinate that with local police really seems outside the scope of the technology. Some of this stuff works fine out in the desert where people and vehicles really stand out, but a lot of the technology is too hyped in TV and movies. The "smart bombs" of the gulf war are a good example. They had a high percentage of misses, but the only clips you ever saw on the TV were of the good hits, right on the crosshairs.

As for shooting this guy, like freeze mentioned, wondo is right. No one has seen this guy. They have no description, much less someone able to see him long enough to get a bead on him.

I'm not sure if he's a trained sniper or not.

One argument I've heard is that "a sniper can kill people from 600 yards. He's only doing it from 100 yards." I'd respond: you get 600 yards away from some of these places, and you're on the other side of a building or 200 yards into the woods. Also, I doubt any sniper would pass up a 100 yd shot if he could get it.

Another argument is that "it just couldn't be a military guy". That's like the argument that Monica Lewinski "just couldn't be Jewish". Well, McVeigh was ex-military. Charles Whitman (texas bell-tower sniper) was ex-military. Fort Bragg murders were all military, obvioiusly. The military has just as many messed up folks as the rest of society. That's not to take a shot at the military which I highly respect, but just to say I don't think its wise to rule it out.

Whether his "kill percentage" would indicate he's military, I don't know. Sniper's are trained to kill, but is 9 out of 11 considered "good" or "poor", beats me. The boy may have died but his aunt was a nurse and got him right to a hospital. A sniper in war might have killed 11 of 11, but his victims aren't exactly being rushed to state of the art medical facilities either.

That's just some of my thoughts on the matter.

TheShrimp

 

[Nolan Dalla]

Excellent point about the white van sightings.

ND