Panic grips region as sniper kills again

HIGH-OCTANE fear stalked the Washington area in the US yesterday after a man was shot dead at a Fredericksburg petrol station just 30 miles from where a sniper claimed his seventh victim on Wednesday night.

Police are still trying to establish whether it was the same shooter who has killed seven people and seriously injured two others within a 30-mile radius over the last 10 days.

The petrol station location, the single shot and reports of a white van, similar to that seen at the scene of Wednesday's shooting at Mannassas, lead police to believe it the same man.