Amen.

I have to disagree. If the police kill him/them during the arrest, my "Gantlet Around the Beltway" idea is a nonstarter.

Yeah it's a circle with no way out. So what? Start running.

I understand your sentiment, and I agree... unless they grab the wrong guy.. so I agree if the police are sure... but which police? and what does it mean to be sure in the heat of the moment? Temper your vengeance, my friend. Revenge is a dish best served cold.

Just to be clear, I can't in any way lay claim to vengeance -- that belongs to the families he's broken.

What if this person is part of a terrorist plot? Will we be continent if they are gunned down in a police shoot out?

This is not to understate your understandable rage and concern with the safety of your family, rather just something to think about...

I'm certainly not trained in matters of the mind or the subtleties of how our dispositions are changed by fear, but I would say based on your rancor towards this "individual" that you deeply love and cherish your family. Also startling to me is how your convictions about the killer in question bring you dangerously near the realm of his distorted perception of life. I certainly do not abide these wanton acts of horror, and want them to end as well...

Vile and evil.

Unfortunately, the area's law enforcement is still batting zero. Between now and "when the police track him down," one can still hope for a confrontation between this human refuse and a well-armed citizen.

Rob,
I think we have a fundamental disagreement over the nature of killing. To me, the killing of most people is horribly wrong.

But I also believe that the killing of some people is a very good thing -- for example, unrepentant child molesters, rapists, terrorists, and snipers. This difference I have with the sniper over appropriate targets is all the difference in the world; I don't think you can treat them as morally equivalent without manufacturing some new moral system out of whole cloth.

Rob, I'm sorry you've come across me on a morning that I'm raging about, but I have to say that your comment is tripe. To even put Tony's attitude in the same time zone as this scum's mentality is to show yourself either dangerously naive, arrogantly pious or (pardon me) unintelligent. Do you understand that there are people out there who would rape your wife and slice up your children in front of your eyes, then gut you before going home to get off on it? If they wait until they get home? Do you understand that the best way to deal with those people is to shoot them dead where they stand, that they have abrogated any rights to be considered human? Our country doesn't go for vengeance in just that way anymore, and I'm okay with that. But it doesn't mean that it shouldn't happen. And your moral equivalence is closer to this sniper's "view of life" than Tony's righteous anger.

Perhaps you should get a little more training in "matters of the mind" before the one you have falls out your ear.

Tony, actually I think we agree. I just get the feeling, and it is well founded, that sniper has intruded upon the security of those nearest to his area of operation, and that security will not be restored until sniper has been aired out. The fastest route to that happening would be by his own chosen method. I guess I am still working over my thoughts on how our justice system either works or fails within the context of our system of policing, prosecution etc. I would hope that he would be stopped as quickly as possible. He is obviously deranged, perhaps pathologically. You have to wonder though,does the typical law enforcement officer feel as passionate about your solution to sniper or the systems. My perception of your comment about how you wanted sniper to meet his end struck me as raging and scary. I realize that it is tempered with the ultimate cause of justice, and I accept your rationale...
I am a fairly new reader to your site, and I enjoy your postings. I'll be back -Rob

Susanna, I am glad you are so pleasant with me today... I submit that you are not ok with that! In fact,I think you might be inclined to want more suffering inflicted upon him above and beyond the level of what he has caused. It is a big world, some play nice and some don't. Do you hope to educate me by insulting me?

Not educate, just perhaps bring you to some understanding of the bizarre nature of your attempt to equate Tony and sniper dude. If you truly see a similarity, and weren't just using rhetorical hyperbole to make your point, then I'd say you do need to do more reading. Having taught corrections, policing, criminal justice, psychology and sociology on a college level, I would be happy to make recommendations.

And no, I'm not into torture - that's the difference between good and bad people. The good people let even the most vilely wicked die a quick and easy death, after they have been convicted of their horrors. The bad slice and dice unmercifully and move on to do it again, until they're dead.

Don't worry, I usually wear a muzzle. :) And they don't let me out very often.

Susanna,
There's also this guy on the Metro who pushed in front of me yesterday. Can you come down here and kick his butt?

Susanna, I appreciate your candor. As for Tony...I think he likes having you on his team, but he knows you better than I. I'll bet you are alot of fun in the coffee shop and something tells me you are a wicked fast typist...:)

I hope they kill him, too. He's obviously an egotistical nutcase, and for the life of me I can't see why we should provide him with a public forum at public expense at which he can enjoy another 15 minutes of infamy. I hope he dies slowly and in pain, too.

I heard a theory tonight on the news that the shooter might be one or two teenagers. Would you still prefer the police to shoot him/them.
I would, even more so because our lame bleeding hearts would try to convince us that they are just misunderstood.
I think I understand them very well. They are animals. You don't rationalize about animals that have gone bad you put them down.

I sure hope the cops get the sniper very soon.
What worries me is the prospect of having some loser, weirdo sitting in some other city, watching the constant coverage, and getting inspired by it to go out and commit similar copy-cat crimes.- The spectre of copy-cat crimes inspired by this dude on the Metro D.C. area is frightening, indeed.

Tony, I'm glad you and your family are safe!

Tony, I know exactly how you feel. Our home was burgled shortly after I married. I was so furious for days that I felt like I would have joyfully shot the creep into rags, and whistled a happy tune while I mopped up the mess.

If they catch this guy, I think justice will be done. Nobody will be on this creep's side.

...did someone say Colin Ferguson? Damn...

Still, this sniper is a not a berserker, so I doubt we'll have any "crime of passion" noise in this case.

Guys dont worry- some scumbag, bleeding-heart leftie, liberal defense attorney will surely rush to the defense of this poor excuse for a human being. We will be subjected to endless sob-stories about he was abused as a chile, is misunderstood, that the cops screwed up the forensic tests etc. Bet you Barry Scheck, Johnny Cochran and all such lawyers are salivating at teh prospect of getting their ugly mugs on TV, making excuses for this perp.