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PandoraJohn Allen Muhammad, 41-years old and 17-year old Lee Boyd Malvo completely terrorized Maryland’s Montgomery County as well as the surrounding areas of Virginia and Washington D.C. Before October 2002, Montgomery County was regarded as a relatively safe place to live. They didn’t experience a very high crime rate; the homicide rates were pretty low. Montgomery County was a good place to live, until John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo got there.
The shootings began on October 2nd, 2002. At 5:20 p.m. shots were fired through the window of a Michael’s arts and craft store located in Aspen Hill. Luckily, only a few people, including a handful of workers were inside the store at the time and no one was injured or shot.
One hour later, around 6:30 p.m., 55-year old James Martin, a program analyst for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was shot and killed in the parking lot of a Shoppers Food Warehouse grocery store in the city of Wheaton, Maryland.
The next day, October 3rd, a little after 7:40 a.m., 39-year old landscaper James L. Buchanan, known by many as “Sonny”, was shot and killed while mowing the grass at the Fitzgerald Auto malls.
Twenty minutes later, at 8:12 am, Prem Kumar Walekar, a 54-year old part time taxi cab driver was heading home to celebrate his 25th wedding anniversary. On his way home, he stopped at a gas station in Aspen Hill to fill up his car with gas. As he pumped gas at the Mobil gas station, he’s shot.
At 8:37 a.m., 34-year old babysitter and housekeeping Sarah Ramos was shot and killed at the Leisure World Shopping Center. Witnesses reported that Sarah had just gotten off a bus and was sitting down on a bench when she was shot. She was shot while sitting, reading a book. Witnesses reported seeing a white minivan or box truck speed away immediately after the shooting.
At 9:58 a.m., Laruie Ann Lewis-Rivera, a 25-year old was shot and killed while vacuuming her Dodge Caravan at the Shell gas station at the corner of Connecticut and Knowles Avenue.
Within a little over 2 hours on October 3rd, 4 people had been shot and killed throughout Montgomery County. All shooting appeared to be completely random. All victims had been shot with a long-distance rifle or sniper.
Hours later on October 3rd, at 9:20 p.m., there’s more shootings. Pascal Charlot, a 72-year old retired carpenter is gunned down while walking along Georgia Avenue in Washington D.C.
The entire Montgomery County Public School system and the District of Columbia Public School district went into lockdown following the shootings. No school was allowed to have recess, and PE classes were cut from the schedule. People were terrified.
The following day, October 4th, around 2:30 p.m., Caroline Seawell, a 43-year old mom was loading bags into her minivan at another Michael’s store. As she’s loading her bags into her car, she’s shot. The bullet traveled through her diaphragm, liver, lung, and broke a couple ribs. Even though the bullet tore through her pretty bad, Caroline Seawell ended up surviving. She would become the first victim to survive the shooting.
A couple days later, October 7th, the first child in the area would become a victim. 13-year old Iran Brown, was shot as he arrived at Benjamin Tasker Middle School in Bowie, Maryland. He survived the gunshot becoming the second survivor of the D.C. snipers.
In the area where Iran Brown was shot, authorities recovered a shell casing and the Tarot card for Death.
Inscribed on the front of the tarot card read “Call me God”. On the back it read “For your Mr. Police, Code: Call me God, Do not release to the press”.
Two days later, on October 9th, at 8:18 p.m., 53-year old Dean Harold Meyers was shot while pumping gas at a Sunoco gas station in Prince Williams County, Virginia.
Gas stations began putting up tarps to protect their customers. The tarps were put up at gas station to eliminate the D.C. sniper’s visibility.
October 11th, 9 days after the first shooting, around 9:30 in the morning, 53-year old businessman Kenneth Bridges was shot and killed while pumping gas at an Exxon station just off Interstate 95 in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. Kenneth Bridges would become the sniper’s 9th victim.
October 14th, around 9:15 p.m., 47-year old Linda Franklin, a FBI intelligence analyst, was gunned down in a Home Depot parking lot in Fairfax County, Virginia.
On October 19th, at 8:00 pm in the evening, 37-year old Jeffrey Hopper was shot in a parking lot near the Ponderosa Steakhouse in Ashland, Virginia. Jeffrey’s wife, Stephanie called 9-1-1 and Jeffrey was rushed to a hospital. He became the 3rd person to survive the shootings.
Near the area where Jeffrey was shot, authorities recovered a 4-page letter in the woods nearby. The letter was wrapped in plastic and stuck to a tree. The letter, written by the D.C. Snipers, demanded $10 million to stop the shootings. They told authorities they called in to the D.C. sniper tip-line but they weren’t taken seriously. They snipers said by ignoring their tip, this would cost the community an additional 5 lives.
The following day, October 22nd, just before 6:00 in the morning, 35-year old bus driver Conrad Johnson was gunned down while standing on the steps of his bus in Aspen Hill, Maryland.
The D.C. Snipers now claimed the lives of 10 people and injured 3 more.
Government buildings, including the White House, the U.S. Capitol, and the Supreme Court Building were all under high security protocols. Residents were scared to even leave their houses.
Experts in the field of forensic ballistics are able to positively link all of the shootings to the sniper. Experts studied the bullet’s rifling marks.
After 10 victims, authorities finally caught a break in the case.
Over 2,700 miles away from the shootings, in Tacoma, Washington, a man by the name of Robert Holmes called into his local FBI office in Tacoma. The auto mechanic called in a tip believing that the DC Sniper, was a friend of his, John Allen Muhammad.
Holmes told the FBI that Muhammad’s life started to fall apart after losing custody of his three children from his ex-wife, Mildred.
Muhammad told Holmes “Can you imagine the damage you could do if you could shoot with a silencer?”
Robert Holmes also reported that John Allen Muhammad owned a Bush Masters rifle, and he had extensive military training. Someone who would know how to shoot a long-distance rifle or sniper.
Authorities in Montgomery County recalled an earlier tip they received. The tip cam from the alleged D.C. snipers where they bragged about their involved in a shooting that occurred at a liquor store in Montgomery, Alabama on September 21st. Law enforcement working the D.C. sniper case requested the magazine that was left behind at the liquor be sent to Washington D.C. for testing. When authorities tested the magazine, they discovered a fingerprint. The fingerprint belonged to Lee Boyd Malvo.
Police have identified the D.C. snipers as John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo.
Investigators learned that a Chevrolet Blue Caprice was registered to John Allen Muhammad. They sent out a BOLO with the vehicles license plate: NDA-21Z.
A witness spotted the blue Caprice and called police. Authorities arrived at the parking lot and ambushed the car. Both Muhammad and Malvo were arrested.
John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo were both convicted in the D.C. Sniper case. Muhammad was executed by lethal injection and Malvo received a life sentence.
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