twist of fait accomplis

Please let the clues they're getting from this one turn out to be helpful. They're looking for a white Chevy Astro van with a ladder and the words 'Total Recall' or 'Total Access' on the side.

My concern is that there's a copycat thing going on here and there's more than one person to catch.

What really surprises me is that they're putting so much emphasis on the van... I'm worried that the media's hyping of the white van (even when it was at the point that only one person saw it) is making witnesses hypersensitive to white vans and possibly ignoring other obvious clues.

As far as copycats, that's always a concern, especially in a situation like this. Something tells me, though, that a copycat wouldn't get very far... the amount of people with this kind of marksmanship and the ability to get away unnoticed (*and* with a burning desire to shoot people) is probably severely limited.

And now they're saying that vans with 'Total Recall' on it is not what they're looking for. This information shouldn't be released unless it's certain - and that's the fault of both the media and the police.

At this point, I think only information that the public needs to know should be release, not rumors, not crap about tarot cards (in what way does knowing information about tarot cards help the public in the least?). I wish members of the media would focus more on responsible reporting and less on getting the scoop.

Leave the rumor mongering to us bloggers. :)

Tarot cards sell and put a "personality" together for people. In order to fear someone, we need to understand them... etc. etc. etc.

In any event, this stuff is just damned scary. I hope everyone over there is coping ok.

When the sniper isn't referred to as the sniper, it's always 'he', not 'he/she'. We always think of violent criminals as being men.

I stopped for gas yesterday in Rockville, prepaid with a credit card, put the nozzle in the auto-hold position and got back in my car. I felt and probably looked like a moron, but I didn't care.

They usually *are* men, but I agree -- it's dangerous to automatically pigeonhole any criminal because it might rule out the real suspect.

Huyen told me that one of her co-workers said that when she went to get gas, *every person* there put the pump in their tank and then got into their cars. Nothing odd about you, Mike. Not for this reason, anyway. :)

Strange, at least locally speaking, how this has done more to terrorize our day-to-day lives than 9/11 did.

Agreed, at least locally.

It serves as a reminder that we have just as many people to be scared of living right around us as we do living on the other side of the world.

There's a happy thought!

I also pumped gas yesterday and the station was frantic. People were trying to insert their credit cards and pump at record speeds, not to mention the two women I saw running at a full sprint towards the food mart. I wanted to tell them not to worry, because the guy that was vacuuming his car a few feet away was a more likely target.

And speaking of Tarot, as a user of the cards, most non-users see them as dark,evil tools of the devil. So by linking them to the sniper they are trying to show how evil, terrifying, possibly anti-God he is. I agree with you Ryan, do we really need to read "The Backgrounder: Tarot" on CNNs webpage?

My wife was stuck on I-95 this morning. They shut down the interstate and forced every car thru a 1 lane roadblock at Exit 140. ATF agents were visually inspecting every car and questioning some.Michelle got thru without being questioned. She was gone 3 hours and only got 10 miles down I-95 n that time.

Instead of spewing half-assed theories on my site, I'll mess up Ryan's instead.

Is it just a coincidence that the gas station shootings have all been different. So far it's been a Mobil, Shell, Sunoco and Exxon, right? So avoid BP, Sheetz, Amoco, Citgo, etc.

Until this morning, I thought we were safe in Fredericksburg since he had already hit here.

Apparently, I was wrong.

Mike, when I first heard of the shootings I thought there might be a gas connection - one person was mowing his lawn, and it might've been a gas mower. People walking to their cars, which use gas. People walking from their cars, which use gas... et cetera. I don't know if it holds up though.

There's a good though, Paul... but the kid that was shot -- can't think of where that would connect with gas.

You know who the real victims are? All the people the own white vans.

There's a good though, Paul... but the kid that was shot -- can't think of where that would connect with gas.

Only thing on that is... well, he was in a car? Walking from a car? I don't know. That's weak.

Is that most recent shooting the same where a state trooper was dealing with a traffic accident a block away, and in plain sight of the victim? Talk about ballsy. I have to get gas tomorrow on my way to Madison and I'm wondering if anyone there's going to be acting oddly at the pumps.