Snipers suck

[Maeve]

My kids are home today because of Sniper Fear--the school district is closed after a routine inspection found two buses to have holes in them that may (or may not) be bullet holes. This is the southwest side of Columbus, Ohio where we've had more than a dozen random shots at cars and houses the past few weeks around the outerbelt(one death).

There goes the play the 6th grade has worked on for weeks, the parties before the winter break...and no assurance the kids are any safer outside school than in. Glad I'm "at home" and not scrambling for a baby sitter.

[Kamika]

1. I guess I agree

They sure aren't that fun

[Maeve]

4. I think it's the seige mentality that bothers me

The creep needs to be stopped before someone else gets hurt or killed, but I am frustrated by the fear he has engendered. The risk of getting hit by a bullet is still very, very low--but folks are changing their driving habits (he's shot at homes, too, so that's pointless), changing their lives and living fearfully.

The terrorist wins again. And that pisses me off.

[everythingsxen]

2. These snipers are weak cowards...

their tactics offend the honorable warrior in my soul.

To attack with stealth is not dishonorable. To attack from range is not dishonorable.

To attack innocents like children IS dishonorable.

*spits indignantly*

I pray for you and your childrens safety. May you stay safe in the face of monsters like these.

[THUNDER HANDS]

3. well if that's the case

Your beef is with those long scope rifle manufacturers as well as those who use those weapons.

[everythingsxen]

6. Indeed

I often long for the days of the sword and shield when men must look into their enemies eyes to do battle.

:shrug:

The time of the sword has passed though.

So to shall the time of the gun.

Replaced with the time of the (something even worse) eventually.

[THUNDER HANDS]

28. didn't einstein say

That first were swords, then came guns, then came bombs, then came sticks and stones or something like that.

[Withergyld]

27. The problem is the shooter

The weapons are inanimate objects.

The blame lies squarely with the nut pulling the trigger, nowhere else.

[commander bunnypants]

5. Take care and be careful my friend

DDQM

[Maeve]

7. Thanks

Really, it's random enough that all you CAN do is keep an eye out for possible "oddities"--like a guy with a gun. They suspect he's modified a car to shoot from, but we don't really have much info at this point.

[GOPisEvil]

8. Where do these freaks come from?

Goodness!

[Maeve]

9. From the heartland

Does make you wonder tho...

[WoodrowFan]

10. here is a link to the story

here is a link to the story from the Columbus Dispatch.

http://www.dispatch.com/reports-story.php?story=dispatch/2003/12/18/20031218-A1-00.html

[Bertha Venation]

11. I'm sorry, Maeve.

I work in DC. I know how you feel. (The last person killed by the DC sniper was the husband of a friend here at work.)

[Maeve]

12. That is worse

Our little sniper isn't as lethal---and we hope never will be.

[Bertha Venation]

14. "worse" doesn't matter

I agree, I pray the OH sniper doesn't kill anymore and just QUITS. But I don't believe in comparative misery. The terror and sense of siege are no doubt the same. You're in my prayers.

[HEyHEY]

13. good call

[Ernesto]

15. Wanna bet your sniper has a NRA sticker on his pick up?

[Maeve]

17. Sucker bet

This is Ohio, after all!

And a hunting license, just not for humans....

[slackmaster]

18. Muhammed and Malvo's Caprice didn't have any stickers

I'll take you up on that bet.

NRA sticker on a pickup truck - You win a bucket of beer.

Pickup truck with no NRA sticker - I win a bucket of beer.

Not a pickup truck - Wager is void.

What do you say, Ernesto? My reasoning is that people who are committing serial crimes strive to remain anonymous. Stickers of any kind tend to get the attention of police.

[slackmaster]

16. Real snipers provide valuable support for combat troops

The individual or individuals who are shooting randomly in Ohio are not snipers. The Ohio incidents are perpetrated by one or more plain old criminals, and apparently not even very good shots.

Shipers don't shoot randomly.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

29. thank you. I am getting tired of these punks being called

snipers too.
Semper Fi.

[Ernesto]

19. Simple logic: fewer guns, fewer nuts using them.

There now, that comment oughta start a shit storm.

[slackmaster]

21. That would be an appropriate topic for J/PS

Why don't you start a thread with that title there rather than sullying The Lounge with a topic guaranteed to degrade into an argument?

[Ernesto]

26. Sully the lounge?

HAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAA

[Blade]

20. Be careful...

and hopefully that coward will be caught and brought to justice.

I find it really disgusting that a person like that has to prey on little children. What is this world coming to?

[Maeve]

22. Part of the problem is we don't even know if they were bullet holes

The vast "unknown" in this mess is a real cause of anxiety.

[Maeve]

23. Update--they are bullet holes

But they have no idea when the buses were shot. Investigation ongoing.

Crap on a cracker.

[slackmaster]

24. I think a prediction pool would be interesting

Give the number and demographic characteristics of whoever is doing this shooting, and their motivation.

IIRC in mid-October 2002 the FBI profilers and all the pundits were pretty sure the DC "sniper" would turn out to be a middle-aged white male loner. Then everybody and his brother was looking for a white Ford van with a middle-aged white male loner. All that turned out to be bunk.

I predict the Ohio "sniper" will turn out to be two teenage Amish girls out wilding, sort of a Thelma and Louise gone all the way over to the dark side. They'll go out in a blaze of machine gun fire like Bonnie and Clyde, and everyone will ask "How could this have happened?"

[Zuni]

25. I grew up close to one of the Muhammad/Malvo

sniper attacks (the one outside the school in Bowie, MD). There wer a lot of people freaked out in the area. People hid behind their cars when they pumped gas and stuff. It was really surreal.
Just shows how unnerving just a few shots at random people by a maniac can effect everyone's lives