Man Shot Dead at US Virginia Gas Station

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, October 10, 2002

Man Shot Dead at US Virginia Gas Station

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A man was shot and killed Wednesday night after filling his tank at a Virginia gas station, and police were trying to determine whether he was the latest victim of the sniper who has terrorized the Washington area for a week.

Meanwhile, a tarot card with the words "Dear policeman, I am God" emerged as a potential clue in the investigation into the sniper slayings of six people and the wounding of two in Washington and its Maryland and Virginia suburbs.

Virginia State Police said two men were seen driving away in a white Dodge Caravan after the shooting Wednesday in Prince William County, near Manassas, 30 miles west of the nation's capital.

Prince William County police chief Charlie Deane said the victim had just finished paying for gas, was not from the area and was traveling solo when he was shot. He said the victim's identity would be released once his family was notified.

The shooting occurred about 8:15 p.m. Over 100 law enforcement officials were scouring the area for clues, Deane said. Authorities blocked off several streets around the gas station and interviewed witnesses.

"At this point, we cannot say if this case is related to those shootings," Deane said at a news conference early Thursday.

Maryland investigators went to the scene of the killing because of similarities with the previous shootings, according to Montgomery County Executive Douglas Duncan.

"Everything is very similar," he said, adding: "Let's hope this is not it."

The previous Virginia shooting was 40 miles to the south. Two of the Maryland shootings were at gas stations, and one Maryland witness had told police he saw two men in a white truck or van leaving the scene of a shooting outside a post office.

On Monday, a 13-year-old boy was critically wounded by a gunman at a middle school in Bowie, Md., about 40 miles from Wednesday's slaying. The tarot card was found near a shell casing outside the school, a source familiar with the investigation said on condition of anonymity.

Authorities said the shell was a .223-caliber, the same kind of bullet that authorities believe was used in the earlier shootings. The casing is believed to be the first one recovered since the slayings began Oct. 9.

Michael Bouchard, an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, would not say whether authorities had linked the casing to the attacks.

Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose also wouldn't comment when asked about the tarot card, and angrily suggested unapproved information had been leaked.

"I need to make sure I don't do anything to hinder our ability to bring this person or these people into custody," Moose said.

The "I am God" message left on the tarot card called the Death card was first reported by WUSA-TV and then by The Washington Post. Police sources told the newspaper the items were found 150 yards from the school in a wooded area on matted grass, suggesting the gunman had lain in wait.

The Post on Thursday reported that the tarot card also contained a handwritten request from the sniper that it not be revealed to the media. Sources said some detectives had hoped if they honored the request, the sniper might communicate with the investigators again.

Tarot cards, used mainly for fortunetelling, are believed to have been introduced into western Europe by Gypsies in the 15th century. Many tarot enthusiasts say the Death card usually does not connote physical death, but instead portrays a symbolic change or transformation.

Crime experts, while noting that the link between the card and the sniper remained unconfirmed, recalled other serial killers who left "calling cards."

One of the most notorious was David Berkowitz, who killed six people in New York in 1976-77. He wrote a letter to newspaper columnist Jimmy Breslin and left a note addressed to a police detective that said: "I am a monster. I am the 'Son of Sam.'"

Robert K. Ressler, a former FBI profiler, interviewed Berkowitz after his arrest.

"He said this was a stimulating thing for him to see the letters in the paper," Ressler said. "Even though he's the only one who knows, notoriety becomes very satisfying to an inadequate loser. It's a way of imposing power and control over society."

Ressler recalled one previous case, in 1970, where a multiple murderer left a tarot card �� the slayings of a wealthy ophthalmologist and his family near Santa Cruz, Calif. The killer was captured and sentenced to life in prison.

The motive for the seemingly random attacks remains unknown. Nearly 200 investigators are working their way through some 8,000 tips. One tip sent them on a search of woods behind a school in Prince George's County, but nothing was found.

All the victims have been felled by a single bullet. Investigators say the sniper, or snipers, fired from a distance with a high-powered hunting or military-style rifle.

The wounded boy, whom police have not identified, remained in critical but stable condition Wednesday. Ballistics tests found that the bullet that struck him was of the same caliber as those that killed some of the others and wounded a woman in Virginia. That woman was released from the hospital Tuesday.

Source: agencies

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