Sniper issues threat to target children
US police investigating a sniper who has shot 12 people in the past month said tonight they had received a message warning: “Your children are not safe anywhere at any time.”
The chilling threat was apparently discovered by police on Saturday night at the scene of a shooting outside a Virginia steakhouse. Police said the warning came in the form of a “postscript”.
Sources added that the warning contained a demand for millions of dollars.
Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose said police “will be responding soon” to the latest message and did not take any questions from the media.
On Monday, police asked the sniper to call them, saying investigators had received a message too muddled to understand.
Early today, bus driver Conrad Johnson, 35, was fatally wounded as he prepared for his morning bus route in nearby Aspen Hill, the suburban Washington community where the shootings began on October 2.
In all, 12 people have been confirmed shot by the sniper in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC. Three were critically wounded.
Johnson, a father of two, was shot as he stood at the top of the steps of the bus shortly before 6am.
Police Chief Moose has now used four briefings to communicate directly with the person believed to be the sniper.
A senior law enforcement official said tonight that a letter found near the scene of Saturday night’s sniper shooting in Virginia suggested the killer wants several million dollars.
Another source said the letter was “lengthy”.
Schools in the Richmond area, near Saturday’s shooting, remained closed for a second day today.
Immediately after today’s shooting, police put a widespread dragnet into place, clogging traffic on Connecticut Avenue, one of the main arteries into Washington, just as the morning rush hour began.
The shooting happened near an apartment building and wooded area along Connecticut Avenue.
The bus was parked at a staging area where drivers get ready for their morning runs, state police spokesman Corporal Rob Moroney said. He did not know if anyone else was on the bus.
Agents for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms combed the crime scene. A police dog searched near a basketball court in a park, and police helicopters flew over the scene.
