WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- A man shot dead while pumping gas Friday in Fredericksburg, Va., was the 10th victim and eighth slaying connected to a Washington-area sniper, authorities announced Saturday.
"The ballistics evidence has conclusively linked the shooting yesterday in Spotsylvania County to the other shootings in Virginia, D.C. and Maryland," Maj. Howard Smith of the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Department said at a news briefing Saturday.
The shootings, which began Oct. 2, have left eight dead and two wounded. The latest fatality was Kenneth Bridges, a 53-year-old Philadelphia businessman in the area on a business trip. Bridges was shot once in the upper back with the same type .223-caliber bullet used in the other shootings, Smith announced.
On Saturday afternoon, Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose released two composite images of a white box truck being sought by authorities. The images were based on accounts from witnesses at more than one shooting location, Moose said.
Meanwhile, contributions from the public have helped boost a reward fund to some $500,000. Donations have come from across the country.
A white van was seen leaving the scene of Friday's shooting and witnesses were able to give police a description of the passengers, a spokesman said Friday.
Smith said a Virginia state trooper was at a traffic stop about 50 yards from the gas station where the shooting took place.
"He ran up and assisted the victim," Smith said of the trooper.
Smith said police were searching for a white van with ladders strapped to its roof, but would not say if the van's occupants were potential suspects or witnesses to the crime.
"We do have a description of the passengers," he said, but later described the descriptions as "tenuous."
The shooting occurred about 9:30 a.m. and comes after eight days of terror in the metropolitan area in which seven others have been killed and two seriously wounded by a sniper firing a single .223 bullet from as far as 150 yards.
Friday's killing was the third attack in Virginia. One man was killed in Northwest Washington last week, but Maryland has borne the brunt of the attacks, with five killed in Montgomery County and the grave wounding of a 13-year old boy outside his middle school in Bowie. Two other attacks -- one in Virginia Wednesday and another in Maryland last week -- have taken place at gas stations.
The shootings have terrorized the metropolitan area as schools have canceled outdoor activities and sports, and a jumpy suburban population has forsworn outdoor cafes and other leisure activities they think could leave them open to long-range attack.
Besides the white van, the task force has concentrated on a Tarot "death card," found near the scene of Monday's shooting of the 13-year-old boy at Tasker Middle School in Prince George's County, Maryland.
CNN and several other news outlets said they had learned that whoever left the card had also written on it the request not to leak it to the news media. There was speculation the sniper or snipers were trying to open a dialogue with police and when the discovery of the card was leaked, it scotched that effort.
The words "Dear Policeman, I am God," were written on the card, which was found in an area where police believe the gunman lay down to shoot at the 13-year-old. A cartridge casing was found nearby. The discovery was reported first on WUSA in Washington Tuesday night and then carried by other media outlets.
Tarot cards are used in fortunetelling, and when the "death card" turns up, it supposedly means that the person who received it may die shortly. The leaving of calling cards or trademarks has a long history in crimes and in war.
Firearms experts agree that the sniper is likely a trained shot, perhaps a former soldier. Police have contended that most of the shots could have been made by someone with "moderate" training.
The .223 slug is used in a range of weapons, but it is the ammunition for the M-16 and the AR-15, the civilian version of the same weapon. Fired bullets are identified by the marks left on the slugs as they travel through the rifling inside the gun barrel.
But bullets, even of the same caliber, can be developed for different uses. There are .223 bullets for military use, hunting and police work. The police have not said what kind of .223 they have found in this case.
