People ‘watch their backs’ as police hunt sniper

PEOPLE in West Virginia are “watching their backs” as the probe continues today into three shootings, feared to be Washington sniper copycat killings.

Two men and a woman have been killed after dark outside convenience stores by a single shot from about 30 yards. Tests indicate the same rifle was used in each shooting.

Police are interviewing more than 100 suspects following the attacks which have terrorised the state capital of Charleston.

FBI agents who hunted the Washington sniper attackers were also helping the probe.

Mayor of Charleston Danny Jones said people were on their guard.

“We are definitely looking over our shoulders, especially after dark. These different shootings took place at convenience stores so we are especially mindful of that.”

A large contingency of law enforcement officials are on the case and the crimes will eventually be solved by good police work and not by a serial profiler, he said.

When asked if the nature of the shootings frightened him, the war veteran and former county sheriff said: “If somebody is gunning for you, they are probably going to get you. I do not think that it’s happening here, but we are guarded, we are watching our backs. We try not to go alone and we try to protect ourselves.”

The families of the three victims were devastated, he said. Kanawha County Sheriff Dave Tucker said the FBI agents who helped track the alleged Washington DC snipers were on the “front line” of the new investigation.

“They’re on board with us and giving us some good advice, which we’re following,” he told a news conference yesterday.

Mr Tucker said it was not certain that the killings were linked but that there were similarities.

“They’re connected by the site ... that they were shot at a convenience store, shot in one single hit, the fact they were shot at a distance, and I think the most important thing, that the bullets that we recovered, they have similar characteristics.”

Police are stopping dark utility vans after witnesses reported seeing one near two of the killings. Investigators believe the attacker may have fired from inside the van as it was seen speeding off immediately after one of the shootings. There were also no shell casings found at the site, suggesting they fell into the vehicle.

Gary Carrier, 44, of South Charleston, was shot in the head while using a pay phone outside a petrol station on the city’s west side. Last Thursday, 31-year-old Jeanie Patton, was killed at a petrol station. An hour later, US Air Force veteran Okey Meadows was fatally shot while using a pay phone at the Go-Mart on the east side of Charleston.