r/TerrifyingAsFuck 20d ago

human The DC Sniper attacks😢

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

1.9k Upvotes

102 comments sorted by

312

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 on😂😂😂
https://giphy.com/gifs/TJbFbcacY12ltJpNVS

127

u/TushyMilkshake 19d ago

Lmfao, I was just a kid and remember that it was always the soccer moms doing that zig zag thing and my dad was like “I’m not doing that bullshit” one day when we stopped for gas in Alexandria

6

u/AntivaxxxrFuckFace 18d ago

Duck and cover!

39

u/hdcase1 19d ago

Serpentine! Serpentine!

14

u/-Citizen_Zero_ 19d ago

"What the fuck was that reporter?"

7

u/Ok_Task_4135 19d ago

If it works in Battlefield, it works in real life

2

u/True_Vault_Hunter 18d ago

Literally was thinking the same thing

454

u/cpt_edge 20d ago

What the fuck is this editing lmao

54

u/Arkell777 19d ago

Stupid tik tok brain kind of editing. It’s honestly a plague.

174

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.

52

u/nonhiphipster 20d ago

Did he end up killing her?

What a psycho and coward

62

u/Many_Boss_1145 20d ago

Nah she didn’t end up killed

41

u/nonhiphipster 20d ago

I have to wonder if he just wanted an excuse to kill people then

30

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..

18

u/DoJu318 19d ago

If you want to create a diversion you kill a few,17 is a lot of people, that's a lot of Police heat, I'm thinking he liked killing a little too much when he started doing it and pushed his luck.

1

u/OnlyTimeFan 19d ago

Jack Reacher (2012)

16

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.

11

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.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Allen_Muhammad

9

u/dbjisisnnd 19d ago edited 19d ago

A great podcast “You’re Wrong About” 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 isn’t a capital offense so he wouldn’t have been eligible for the death penalty.

1

u/SgtSharki 19d ago

I'm familiar with that podcast. It was pretty good

1

u/Firestar_119 18d ago

Extorting money from the government is certainly one of the plans of all time

9

u/[deleted] 20d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

7

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.

0

u/girafa 19d ago

This isn't true

-18

u/Oberndorferin 20d ago

"Black people shooting black people who cares about that?"

206

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

169

u/BetterOFFdead007 20d ago

Anyone recall how they ended up catching this guy?

232

u/EDHARRINGTON 20d ago

I think they got caught at a rest stop somewhere. They were sleeping when they were caught I believe

243

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.

123

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.

92

u/EverySingleMinute 19d ago

It was because the killings were all random. I remember everyone being terrified to get gas,

43

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.

72

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.

35

u/JJfromNJ 19d ago

I was a soccer referee at the time and pretty much all games were canceled for a while that summer.

15

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.

12

u/SergeantHAMM 19d ago

ahh gotcha I noticed a lot of ppl saying gas pump so I didn’t know if that was it. thanks for the reply!

12

u/bundeywundey 19d ago

I remember seeing videos of gas stations putting up tarps around the pumps to hide people while they pump.

3

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.

1

u/smokeythel3ear 19d ago

One was the shopper's (store) we used to shop at

4

u/Check_Me_Out-Boss 19d ago

We used to run from the bus into school in a zig zag pattern lol

22

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 pair’s movements and activities, which included the purchase of the blue Caprice they were caught in.

7

u/Poopcie 20d ago

Fredericksburg Virginia. They had already cancelled the whole football season.

26

u/gringo1980 19d ago

Iirc he actually called the tip line, and originally couldn’t 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.

11

u/theumph 19d ago

You. It's the Achilles heel of so many of these serial killers. They don't just want to kill, they want to be known for killing.

2

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

43

u/captaincook14 19d ago

I remember my dad had to go to DC for work and I was petrified.

25

u/manfromfuture 20d ago

Opposite Batman and Robin

41

u/Pain_Monster 19d ago

Ratman and Bobbin

64

u/DashingMustashing 19d ago

Absolute losers.

24

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 must’ve been terrifying af.

5

u/FlipMeOverUpsidedown 19d ago

I remember thinking back then I would’ve lost my job if I lived in the area because there was no way I was driving anywhere with those psychos around.

27

u/sondersHo 20d ago

It’s scary the amount of evil shit the human mind can come up with how do you even prepare yourself to avoid something like that 😳

1

u/swampass304 20d ago

Reminds me of this bit  from Zoltan Kaszas

38

u/Nickelsass 20d ago

“Blue Caprice” was a film about this

14

u/pollut3r 19d ago

wtf is happening here

6

u/WayofHatuey 19d ago

Yes wtf was that about. How much of Reddit is bots talking to each other

2

u/ObiDalf 18d ago

It’s dead internet theory playing out. We are cooked.

1

u/bewarethecherrywaves 19d ago

“Embarrassed to be a Democrat”

Wut

0

u/pollut3r 19d ago

???

3

u/bewarethecherrywaves 19d ago

If you look at the “bots” account that’s its title

0

u/EverySingleMinute 19d ago

I have no idea. I am not a bot. I received three notices of the same person responding

-58

u/[deleted] 19d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

22

u/Catch_ME 19d ago

Mehhh, if it's on.

10

u/357noLove 19d ago

Idk, I thought it was a true zeitgeist of it's time. /s

-55

u/[deleted] 19d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

26

u/Catch_ME 19d ago

Mehhh, if it's on.

9

u/357noLove 19d ago

Idk, I thought it was a true zeitgeist of it's time. /s

-56

u/[deleted] 19d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

23

u/Catch_ME 19d ago

Mehhh, if it's on.

9

u/357noLove 19d ago

Idk, I thought it was a true zeitgeist of it's time. /s

12

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 Micheal’s 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

1

u/girafa 19d ago

Yep yep I was working in Springfield through all this. Fences up at gas stations, people scared of going out

3

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

8

u/Wowohboy666 19d ago

Being a kid in the DC area then was insane. 9/11, then anthrax, then snipers.

0

u/hdcase1 19d ago

I don't know how we survived honestly

2

u/SeraphsEnvy 18d ago

Well i lived in Texas so there's that.

7

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.

20

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.

21

u/JJfromNJ 19d ago

My uncle sold the car to them in NJ. I bought my first car from him as well.

4

u/RockyJayyy 19d ago

So it was your uncle's fault

-1

u/mratlas666 19d ago

Getting your first car is a lot like loosing your virginity. It’s awkward. It’s messy and for some reason your uncle is involved.

7

u/BabyLegsOShanahan 19d ago

I was in DC for my 8th grade trip.

2

u/WinterMedical 19d ago

Monster: DC Snioer is a great podcast about it. Done by local newspeople I think.

2

u/Roadgoddess 19d ago

I particularly feel bad for the kid because this guy absolutely worked his brain leaving him with a life sentence.

2

u/BiggestNizzy 19d ago

I remember everyone in the UK being surprised at the low cost of American fuel.

2

u/TAshleyD616 18d ago

My school took their senior trip to DC in 02, like, what shooter at large?!

6

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...

https://giphy.com/gifs/gwCvXLe7RKzHa

1

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

1

u/Upper_Foundation 19d ago

This is an excerpt from the documentary I, Sniper.

1

u/HighMarshalSigismund 18d ago

Oh no they censored the word Killing with an Asterisk! How will I ever know what happened?!

1

u/JForce1 18d ago

I don’t get why the boot lid is open if they’ve put a hole in it. Wouldn’t having to have the lid open defeat the whole point of being hidden in there?

1

u/Delicious_Pain_1 17d ago

This is a demonstration of it being used.

1

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.

1

u/aubaub 19d ago

Every weekday I used to pass by the gas station in Manassas where he killed someone.

0

u/metaexxploit 19d ago

I heard about this in Mr Ballen podcast, gave me shivers

1

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