Anyone else find it weird

[Guest cynicalprofit]

Anyone else find it weird that the FBI being the vast information gathering network that it is, full of highly intellegent people, is being outsmarted by 1 or 2 people driving around in a white van, i believe, who are shooting at people?

 

I mean after the 9-11 goof and now this, does anyone have any faith in the FBI and its intellegence anymore?

 

I mean its been over a month, i think, i dont read the news to often so if im worng on this time frame excuse me here, and they still have no ideas behind the shootings other then a white van. Talk about not doing good detective work.

 

I dont know....Im just loosing faith fast in our so called intellegence agencies.

[Guest EricMM]

Well what would you like them to do? Besides having PSYCHIC POWERS~! and employing a Mrs. Cleo look alike, I mean what are they supposed to do?

 

They can't search anything because usually the guy shot the person while he was idling in his van.

 

Look, I don't know much about forensics and the like, I dunno if I even spelled it right, but honestly, besides outlawing white vans, how are these people supposed to figure out how to find this guy? What can they go on?

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

I don't find it weird. Sorry...

[Guest DrTom]

Considering how many white vans there are on the roads -- both for private and commercial use -- and considering that all the killings have taken place on or near major roadways, it's not hard to see how the killer has avoided capture so far. I think our law enforcement and intelligence communities are doing all they can to stop this maniac before he kills again, but they're working on a very difficult task. Perhaps you'd like to suggest something they haven't considered?

[Guest CoreyLazarus416]

cynicalprofit suggests BATMAN.

[Guest cynicalprofit]

No Corey I dont, but why not.

 

Having round the clock look outs, hey in Englad theres like video cameras on all the street corners, and putting the patrol cars on the highway on alert, that sounds reasonable.

 

But its been what a month and the best they have is white van and 1 or 2 shooters? I thought these ppl were suppose to be the best of the best and all that crap. I mean tire tracks, witnesss, family memebers who think it might be someoen they know. And is there a tip line, i honestly dont know cause I have no tv.

 

Cops have gone to psyches before.

[Guest Angle-plex]

It's hard to look for a man (or men) when you don't have any solid leads. I don't event think they are positive about the van.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

Tip line:

1-888-324-9800

 

Mail-in tips:

P.O. Box 7875

Gaithersburg, MD

20898-7857

[Guest Edwin MacPhisto]

Profit, it's gotta be tough as hell. This guy's pattern has become irregular--it's not a pattern anymore. There's no real motivation here, it seems, aside from "I want to shoot random people and fill the nation with fear." He's done an excellent job of that. Consider that this guy does not seem to leave his vehicle at any time during the attacks, uses a common caliber bullet, and has presently been using one of the most widespread, indistinct vehicles in America...I don't know what you're expecting. You can't get evidence if he doesn't leave it behind, and you can't put a government agent at every Home Depot and Mobil Station in America.

 

His pattern is random, and short of running after the van, dragging him out of the car, and beating him to death if you happen to see someone get sniped, the only way someone's going to get him is if he leaves the van, or if an eyewitness gets the license plate, or if he gets pulled over for a busted tail light. Something like that. I worry that if he keeps this up or simply disappears that it'll be ages before he's caught, but I think it's a bit unfair to demand that the FBI get him right here, right now, with seemingly few palpable leads or advantages.

 

Actually, rephrase that: it's not unfair to demand that, because it is the job of the government and the civil service to protect the nation. However, it's unfair to not understand how difficult this case must be. Give it time and hope that he fucks up.

[Guest RevEvil]

His pattern is random, and short of running after the van, dragging him out of the car, and beating him to death if you happen to see someone get sniped, the only way someone's going to get him is if he leaves the van, or if an eyewitness gets the license plate, or if he gets pulled over for a busted tail light. Something like that.

Having someone with a gun to shoot at the van's tires if it should open fire?

[Guest Edwin MacPhisto]

Having someone with a gun to shoot at the van's tires if it should open fire?

That'd be a fine course of action--at least shooting at the van in some attempt to disable/blow to happy-go-chunky smithereens--but chances are there aren't too many people with the capacity to do so hanging out at most gas stations.

 

Good news, though. Apparently there were witnesses who've verified statements at a couple of the DC shootings, and they described an "olive-skinned man." Which isn't much of a lead, but hey, it's better than "dude in a van."

[Guest CoreyLazarus416]

Sonow we're lookin for a man that shoots from far distances, is tanned, and drives a white van...

 

This eliminates cynicalprofit's original suspect, Frank Castle, known to those in-the-know as The Punisher, as good ol' Mr. Castle is fairly pale.

[Guest Mattdotcom]

And drives a BLACK van, unless he's changed since the Spider-Man cartoon.

[Guest DrTom]

Cops have gone to psyches before.

I'm going to guess you mean "psychics" there. I REALLY hope you're not suggesting that the police consult a bunch of frauds and charlatans. There are enough of those in DC without bringing in the ones who claim to see the future and other such rubbish. No psychic has ever contributed anything to any law enforcement investigation, despite the ridiculous amounts of wild guesses and general misinformation they've shoveled at the police. Our law enforcement folks have a difficult enough job as it is now without bringing so-called "psychics" into the fold. What a useless idea.

[Guest J*ingus]

I REALLY hope you're not suggesting that the police consult a bunch of frauds and charlatans.

It's happened on occasion, but I don't remember any cases ever being solved by a psychic's "help".

[Guest DrTom]

It's happened on occasion, but I don't remember any cases ever being solved by a psychic's "help".

Actually, the police have never gone out and sought the advice of a psychic. Psychics have approached the police under the pretense that they can help solve the case. The police have to record any information they gather because it's part of their job.

 

Many American law enforcement agencies, as well as Scotland Yard, publish an official statement concerning the involvement of psychics with criminal investigations. Basically, the statements say that the psychics are the ones who contacted the police, and that the psychics contributed nothing useful to the investigation. Which makes sense, considering they're carnival hucksters out for some easy publicity.

[Guest J*ingus]

Actually, the police have never gone out and sought the advice of a psychic.

I seem to remember some of the local precincts around here having done that once or twice, but don't remember any specifics. I'll ask around some more.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

I remember a judge who consulted a psychic, a couple of lawyers who used them in jury selection, and another judge who used the criminal's horoscope when sentencing. Never heard of actual police work being conducted under a psychic's direction, though.

[Guest J*ingus]

Not "under a psychic's direction" per se, my extremely vague memories on the subject suggest that it was something like them going to a psychic to ask about an old unsolved crime which had no new leads. Like I said, I'll try to find out more.

[Guest cynicalprofit]

There was this one undersolved mysteries, where aftet having no leads, they went to a psychic, sorry about the earlier mispelling, the girls name was jacklyn and they found her in a lake with the psyhics help. The only reason I remember this is because I guy my dad knew had the same psyhic work on the case of who tried to kill his father.

[Guest MarvinisaLunatic]

The pattern of shootings (Monday Wednesday Friday) dictates there will be a shooting sometime today..

 

From what I've heard, there is a pattern to the shootings that the police aren't releasing although I've head talk that the likely area for the next target is St. Mary's or Charles Counties in Maryland.

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

Sonow we're lookin for a man that shoots from far distances, is tanned, and drives a white van...

How do we know he even drives one?

 

It's pretty obvious he's watching TV and is changing his actions based on what he sees, so if I were him I'd trade it in for something else, and just make my targets whenever I saw a white van in the vicinity.

 

This is more of an Armchair Assassin (heh) kind of comment, so I don't know how likely it is that he's doing that, but it's all I'm trying to say. There's a LOT of white vans in that area.

[Guest DrTom]

There was this one undersolved mysteries, where aftet having no leads, they went to a psychic...

CSICOP has researched the issue, and has determined that psychics always contact the police, and never contribute anything useful when they do "add" to an investigation. Hundreds of psychics were horribly wrong about famous cases like the Hillside Strangler, who actually turned out to be two people (a possibility none of the psychics foresaw).

 

I believe CSICOP and its affiliates before I'd believe the self-aggrandizing claims of pyschics, or the naive claims and shoddy investigation of a credophile-based TV show.

[Guest Samurai_Goat]

This is kinda late in coming, but anyone notice how when anything goes wrong in investigations, everyone thinks the entire system is flawed, people are slacking, it's being run by circus bears, etc, but of course no one starts a discussion about all the times groups like the FBI came through for America? I mean, COME ON, drop the 9-11 arguement! I don't blame someone for not being able to prevent something that is pretty darn unprecidented. I mean, sure, if them terrorists had pulled a plot like this on us before, I'd be so mad I'd be skipping in circles, I'll admit. But how many people here were sitting around Sept. 10, thinking "Boy, I wonder if these guys are gonna hijack some planes and smash them into the world trade center?"

[Guest Edwin MacPhisto]

This is kinda late in coming, but anyone notice how when anything goes wrong in investigations, everyone thinks the entire system is flawed, people are slacking, it's being run by circus bears, etc, but of course no one starts a discussion about all the times groups like the FBI came through for America? I mean, COME ON, drop the 9-11 arguement! I don't blame someone for not being able to prevent something that is pretty darn unprecidented. I mean, sure, if them terrorists had pulled a plot like this on us before, I'd be so mad I'd be skipping in circles, I'll admit. But how many people here were sitting around Sept. 10, thinking "Boy, I wonder if these guys are gonna hijack some planes and smash them into the world trade center?"

Very well said. September 11th and unpredictable snipers fall under the old adage: fool me once, shame on you. If they do manage to fool us twice, though, shame on us. So far, for whatever violations of civil liberties or perhaps overexuberant aggression in the Middle East our federal powers have imposed, we sure haven't suffered another terrorist attack, and I'm grateful for that.

[Guest cynicalprofit]

This is kinda late in coming, but anyone notice how when anything goes wrong in investigations, everyone thinks the entire system is flawed, people are slacking, it's being run by circus bears, etc, but of course no one starts a discussion about all the times groups like the FBI came through for America? I mean, COME ON, drop the 9-11 arguement! I don't blame someone for not being able to prevent something that is pretty darn unprecidented. I mean, sure, if them terrorists had pulled a plot like this on us before, I'd be so mad I'd be skipping in circles, I'll admit. But how many people here were sitting around Sept. 10, thinking "Boy, I wonder if these guys are gonna hijack some planes and smash them into the world trade center?"

 

The reason I will NEVER forgive for 9-11, some fbi suggested before 9-11, that maybe terrorist could fly a plane into a building. They threw the idea in the trash. The fact remains, you've thought of it, maybe they could too.

 

Thats why I will never let that shit go.

[Guest EricMM]

Are you saying that you won't forgive the FBI?

 

Listen, the success rate of the FBI is STAGGERING.

 

You just never hear about it.

 

It's like, you wouldn't ever hear on the news that "Things continuted normally for the FBI, caught some more terrorists, etc."

 

That's not a news bit, that's boring.

 

Practially noone is 100% perfect. You can't blame anyone for making one mistake, when they've prevented so many other things. Would you rather they didn't do it? I mean please...

[Guest Cancer Marney]

It's not just staggering, it's unprecedented. Consistent and sustained 90-95% solution rates have never before been achieved in any country in the history of the world. The FBI is absolutely incredible. It's always a pleasure, a delight, and an honour to work with their people, and I have complete confidence in the skilled and selfless men and women who devote their lives to the Bureau.

[Guest Edwin MacPhisto]

I have complete and utter confidence in your Agent Scully avatar. Booyah.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Word.