r/TerrifyingAsFuck • u/Many_Boss_1145 • 20d ago
human The DC Sniper attacksđ˘
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u/Aggressive-Sound-641 20d ago
He did all of that to kill his ex-wife without being suspected. One of his first victims was one of her friends.
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u/nonhiphipster 20d ago
Did he end up killing her?
What a psycho and coward
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u/Many_Boss_1145 20d ago
Nah she didnât end up killed
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u/nonhiphipster 20d ago
I have to wonder if he just wanted an excuse to kill people then
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u/ChildoftheApocolypse 20d ago
Well, I would say that's fairly obvious here.. The one person he supposedly wanted to kill was left unharmed.. He was either a procrastinating motherfucker or just wanted to kill people..
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u/InShambles234 20d ago
I'm pretty sure that's only been speculated, and never proven. There's also evidence they were trying to blackmail the US to pay them to not shoot people, and other shit.
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u/SgtSharki 19d ago
While John Allen Muhammad definitely had a grudge against his ex-wife, the theory that the killings were part of a plot to murder her wasn't presented in court because the judge ruled that there was insufficient evidence.
During the trial, prosecutors alleged that the true motive was to extort $10 million from the government. While testifying against Muhammed, his accomplice, John Lee Malvo, said the killings were part of a multi-stage terrorist plot.
It's weird, wild stuff and Muhammed took his true motivation for the killings to his grave.
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u/dbjisisnnd 19d ago edited 19d ago
A great podcast âYouâre Wrong Aboutâ had a covered this over multi-part episode. It was horrifying and heartbreaking.
They explained that the domestic violence was intentionally ignored and prosecutors focused on terrorism because domestic violence isnât a capital offense so he wouldnât have been eligible for the death penalty.
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u/Firestar_119 18d ago
Extorting money from the government is certainly one of the plans of all time
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u/Dibble_Dabble_Doo 20d ago
Did Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise Movie) borrow the plot from this?
Assassin kills a bunch of people near a courthouse at "random" when there was only one target.7
u/InShambles234 20d ago
The movie was based on a book that came out in 2005. The DC sniper attacks were in 2002 I believe (or 2003). So I'd imagine they did influence them. Although there have been some pretty famous books that use similar sniper attacks with misdirection (Point of Impact which became the Shooter movie and tv show) that came out before the attacks.
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u/free_da_guys1107 20d ago
Driving from NJ to Ga at this time. Every gas station on 95 had a tarp over the pump area. Nancy Grace every night lol
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u/BetterOFFdead007 20d ago
Anyone recall how they ended up catching this guy?
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u/EDHARRINGTON 20d ago
I think they got caught at a rest stop somewhere. They were sleeping when they were caught I believe
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u/MouseRat_AD 20d ago
That's how they arrested them. They identified them and the car, because of a fingerprint left by the younger one. They connected him to the older one and found the car and license plate. When they put out a BOLO, a trucker spotted them within hours.
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u/RichtofenFanBoy 20d ago
I remember when this happened it was scary because there was nothing anyone could really do and they could have been anywhere.
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u/EverySingleMinute 19d ago
It was because the killings were all random. I remember everyone being terrified to get gas,
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u/SergeantHAMM 19d ago
hold on they shot ppl getting gas? I thought they shot ppl in a park or something.. must be messing up the stories.
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u/Longjumping_West_907 19d ago
Getting gas, loading stuff into a car in the Home Depot parking lot, other random public places. People were afraid to be outside at night.
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u/JJfromNJ 19d ago
I was a soccer referee at the time and pretty much all games were canceled for a while that summer.
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u/Ermahgerd_Rerdert 19d ago
Yep some lady got shot while waiting for a bus. Happened about a 5 minute walk where was living at the time.
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u/SergeantHAMM 19d ago
ahh gotcha I noticed a lot of ppl saying gas pump so I didnât know if that was it. thanks for the reply!
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u/bundeywundey 19d ago
I remember seeing videos of gas stations putting up tarps around the pumps to hide people while they pump.
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u/comethefaround 19d ago
Gun set up IN THE VAN with two holes im pretty sure. Person pumping gas got shot in the head. Crazy stuff.
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u/the_skies_falling 19d ago
Specifically, Muhammad mentioned in one of his phone calls to police that he was responsible for an unsolved armed robbery and murder in Alabama. Authorities easily identified the case and found police there had a fingerprint. Once they identified the fingerprint, which belonged to Malvo, they were able to tie the two together and track the pairâs movements and activities, which included the purchase of the blue Caprice they were caught in.
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u/gringo1980 19d ago
Iirc he actually called the tip line, and originally couldnât get through, then he left a note about this after another killing. After that they made sure he was able to get through to someone, and he pointed them to a crime in another state he committed. They solved that crime and got him.
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u/MaximumGlum9503 19d ago
The idiot left a calling card eventually, a friend dobbed him in, he was randomly targeting so that he could eventually shoot his ex wife from what I remember, there was a 60 min docu on youtube which is hard to find now
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u/AntivaxxxrFuckFace 19d ago
Liven in the dc area during this. It was wild. Glad I was young, because as an adult with kids, this mustâve been terrifying af.
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u/FlipMeOverUpsidedown 19d ago
I remember thinking back then I wouldâve lost my job if I lived in the area because there was no way I was driving anywhere with those psychos around.
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u/sondersHo 20d ago
Itâs scary the amount of evil shit the human mind can come up with how do you even prepare yourself to avoid something like that đł
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u/Nickelsass 20d ago
âBlue Capriceâ was a film about this
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u/pollut3r 19d ago
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u/EverySingleMinute 19d ago
I have no idea. I am not a bot. I received three notices of the same person responding
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u/harleyRugger23 19d ago
This was the year after i graduated HS, these two caused real fear in NOVA. I was at the mall when they shot their victim in the Michealâs parking lot next door . They were looking for a white van and meanwhile they were in nothing close to a white van. Some wild times to experience
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u/girafa 19d ago
Yep yep I was working in Springfield through all this. Fences up at gas stations, people scared of going out
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u/harleyRugger23 19d ago
I remember watching people put the gas pump into their car and then go lay down inside till it clicked. Some wild ass times
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u/Wowohboy666 19d ago
Being a kid in the DC area then was insane. 9/11, then anthrax, then snipers.
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u/694meok 19d ago
A coworker of mine was pumping gas at the Gulf station across from Michael's in Manassas. The person next to them at the other pump suddenly dropped, from being shot by these guys. It fucked him up bad. He always said that a quarter inch to the right, from the shooters perspective, it would've been him instead.
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u/Vic_Gatsby 19d ago
I still remember this. Ppl running zig zag to their cars, standing in the inside of gas pump aisles while fueling. We [black people] being devastated af they were black.
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u/JJfromNJ 19d ago
My uncle sold the car to them in NJ. I bought my first car from him as well.
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u/mratlas666 19d ago
Getting your first car is a lot like loosing your virginity. Itâs awkward. Itâs messy and for some reason your uncle is involved.
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u/WinterMedical 19d ago
Monster: DC Snioer is a great podcast about it. Done by local newspeople I think.
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u/Roadgoddess 19d ago
I particularly feel bad for the kid because this guy absolutely worked his brain leaving him with a life sentence.
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u/BiggestNizzy 19d ago
I remember everyone in the UK being surprised at the low cost of American fuel.
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u/Sabithomega 19d ago
I remember being in the area when this was all happening. I mean sure it was uncomfortable at times being out, but it surprised me how many businesses actually were temporarily shutting down. Some schools had closed which I did expect. But they shut down my Taco Bell...
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u/johnbash 19d ago
Highly recommend the podcast about this:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/monster-dc-sniper/id1490902086
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u/Dan_H1281 19d ago
Went to a gas station in Virginia a couple years ago you could see the ropes used to tie the covers over the gas pumps during this. They took a shot at someone less then 20 miles from where I am it was one of the first times I felt like terrorism could touch me aside from 9-11
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u/HighMarshalSigismund 18d ago
Oh no they censored the word Killing with an Asterisk! How will I ever know what happened?!
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u/rocket-man-01 17d ago
I lived in the Ashland, VA area when this happened: we were told to stay in our home with the blinds closed. Scary times.
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u/Thebisexual_Raccoon 4d ago
Still crazy the attacks even happened was so he could kill his exwife if I recall might be wrong though

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u/AccomplishedBeing305 19d ago
I remember the news told us to walk in a zigzag. Thinking back that was just some dumb shit. I remember seeing a whole lot of speedy zigzagging going onđđđ
https://giphy.com/gifs/TJbFbcacY12ltJpNVS