13-year-old sniper victim fights for life

A 13-year-old boy was fighting for his life today, after the Washington-area sniper struck as the boy’s aunt dropped him off at a Maryland school.

Yesterday’s shooting escalated fear across the densely populated neighbourhoods surrounding the US capital. Schools kept youngsters indoors at recess and lunchtime, and parents raced to pick up their children early under the watchful eyes of police.

The child was shot once in the chest before the start of classes at Benjamin Tasker Middle School and was in a critical but stable condition at Children’s Hospital in Washington. Doctors said they were optimistic he would survive.

He was the gunman’s youngest victim so far.

“All of our victims have been innocent and defenceless, but now we’re stepping over the line,” Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose said, tears streaming down his face. “Shooting a kid – it’s getting to be really, really personal now.”

President George Bush denounced the attacks as ”cowardly and senseless acts of violence” and pledged government support to local authorities and schools.

Police say there have been no eyewitnesses and precious little to go on. They have spoken of a single sniper, but have not ruled out the possibility that more than one person is involved.

The sniper has shot eight people since Wednesday, killing six. Five died in Montgomery County within five miles of each other, and the sixth died on a Washington street.

The latest attack was 20 miles further east, in neighbouring Prince George’s County north of Washington.

Ballistics tests found the bullet that struck the boy was identical to those that killed some of the others and wounded a woman in Virginia, said Joe Riehl, an agent with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

All victims were hit by a single bullet fired from a distance.

Sharon Healy had just sent her 12-year-old son off to Benjamin Tasker on his bicycle when she heard of the shooting. She said she ran to the school and pulled him out of class.

“You think you’re safe, but you’re only as safe as your next step,” Healy said.

Montgomery County officials asked parents to escort their children to school today and serve as safety patrol volunteers.

“This community is in a state of fear,” county Executive Doug Duncan said. “We need everyone to do their part to bring this killer to justice.”

Police and federal agents pored over maps and put together a psychological profile to hunt down the sniper, stepping up patrols and sorting through thousands of tips.

They also began to use a geographic profile submitted by investigators that uses crime locations to determine where the killer feels comfortable travelling and may live. A $150,000 (€152,757) reward has been posted for help in solving the attacks.

All the victims were shot in public places: the boy outside school, two at gas stations, two in car parks, another outside a post office, and another as he mowed the grass and the eighth on a street corner.

Ballistics evidence also linked the Maryland killings with the wounding of a 43-year-old woman on Friday who was shot in the back in a car park lot at a craft store.

The high-velocity rounds used in the shootings are common military ammunition and are also a favourite of recreational shooters.