WASHINGTON, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Investigators hunting for a Washington-area serial sniper said the release of a composite image of a white box truck seen in the area of at least two of the shootings has generated several tips from the public.
Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose Sunday encouraged anyone who might have serviced the suspected vehicle in the past to come forward with any information. The sniper has fired a single round into each of 10 victims, killing eight, since Oct. 2.
The composite image was released Saturday and posted on Web sites run by the FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Authorities said they believe the vehicle's rear bumper is damaged. They said the truck has dark lettering on the side and emitted a loud noise, suggesting it is an older vehicle.
"The puzzle has yet to come together," Moose said Sunday. "We are continuing to make progress."
Officials are offering a reward of $500,000 for details leading to an arrest and indictment.
Moose said authorities are working on a second sketch of a Chevrolet Astro minivan with a ladder on top reported seen leaving the site of Friday's killing in Fredericksburg, Va.
The FBI has asked the Pentagon to search its records for recently discharged soldiers who received training in sniper school, Time magazine reports in its latest edition. The schools teach snipers to work in tandem--one as the spotter, the other as the shooter
The latest fatality was Kenneth Bridges, a 53-year-old Philadelphia businessman who was killed at a gas station. Bridges was shot once in the upper back with the same type .223-caliber bullet used in the other shootings, authorities said.
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.
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," the spokesman said, but later described the descriptions as "tenuous."
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.
Firearms experts agree 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.
