The two people arrested turned out to be illegal immigrants (1 from Mexico, the other from Guatamala). So they've been turned over to INS and are going through deportation hearings.

As for the insane killer... I have this feeling in the back of my head that the note wasn't from him. I mean, he's been so smart up to this point - then leaves a 'long' (as it's been described) note. And then either in the phone conversation or the note the 'killer' left has several demands - one of them being money!

Now, if this person knows history they'd know that there is about a 1 chance in 100 that they will actually get the money and get away - no matter what. The police won't let the money out of their sites. The money will be tagged. Unless the police give him all quarters (and that'd be a LOT of quarters), there's no way this person is going anywhere (besides, who would harbour him?)

I'm curious, lady macb...what do YOU think of the press coverage? I think it's best to keep the public updated. But lately it seems to never end. I know on Saturday night I stayed tuned to CNN and the coverage went on and on and one. They seemed to cycle the same information every 10 minutes and actually there was no more news to tell. I didn't quite get the "need" of this. The public was well informed on the details and really, there was nothing else to say! Also, what do you think of all the "experts" in different fields who are endlessly interviewed for their "take" on the sniper and tactics and conjecture? Is this helpful or calming or informative to the citizens of the area? Or does it heighten the fear factor? I'm only asking because I'm truly interested, not trying to be critical. Just a few questions that keep popping into my mind, and I must say, anyone I run into on a daily basis doesn't really share my interest!

Stay safe and I hope this all comes to an end soon.

Actually, I don't know. Personally, I could do without all the 'expert' people. Today they had an interview with someone who had investigated the Son of Sam case and the only thing useful I picked up from the interview was his caution to the officers to be careful and take their time.

I do like that it's on a lot - I know most people don't! I like being able to flip on the channel, catch up the day's events for 5 minutes without having to sit around as they discuss some random topic before doing the news highlights. But I guess I could get the same information from my hometown's tv station which has stared airing the first 5 minutes or so of the news each night on the internet.

Oh, and I do have a theory about this: I think that the killer is someone involved with the investigation. Think about it: Who else had all the access to the scene of the crime? I don't know... but some feeling tells me that maybe I was wrong in my past post - that the letters are from the killer... and he happens to be someone who has complete access to the scene of the crime and is 'above' suspicion.

Thank you for your insight, lady macB! I do watch an awful lot of this coverage, being the news junky that I am. It just struck me that if I actually lived where you are, I might be more scared than informed.

I, too, thought over the weekend, about the possibility of an "inside job". I haven't been able to convince myself. There are so many theories it's mind boggling, and when they are presented to me, each sounds plausible. There was a man on last week talking about his "wedge" theory, and poor Bill Hemmer (CNN) was having the awkwardest (is that a word?) time trying to make what this fella said make sense to the common man! It was almost comical watching these two. It was rather statistically based and mathematical, which loses me right away, but Bill soldiered forward. However, in retrospect, I think his theory is making sense!

I guess we just won't know for awhile yet. I think positively for the survivors and the families of these unfortunate victims.

It could be a "disgruntled employee" thing, to make monkeys out of his coworkers. Never thought of that.

My friend told me that she personally did not see the end in sight. She was very pessimistic, her nerves were frayed as she's a mile from the Pentagon, lived through the Sept 11 events, and now, just trying to get back to normal, is taking a major effort and she sees that her local gas station is hit, that the day they drove to Richmond to see a college, the Richmond thing occurred.
She said that the guy could go on forever. In any case, he seems to have attained his fame.
From the commentary we're seeing in Europe, we're hoping that the guy will slip up soon.
PS. Someone corrected me and said, "it could be a woman".

I said, that in my opinion, I'd seen irrational behavior in women, going into a place and shooting people when a wire went loose in the brain or something snapped, or perhaps revenge for some injustice, but cold calculated random attacks like that, does not seem possible.

As to experts, whenever you work at a university, you get called up often when a news event occurs and you might have someone on staff to comment. I've seen this happen several times over the years. But sometimes they scrape the bottom of the barrel and it's unfortunate.

I could be being silly here and maybe it's been thought of before, but I was looking at the paper yesterday and they had a list of all the victims and where they were shot and my thought was "cars". People were either filling them with petrol, getting out of them at car parks or the young lad was being dropped off at school. The only one that puts a spanner in the works of my theory is the lady who was sitting on a park bench.

Please feel free to tell me I'm being silly, or that my (or rather the newspaper's) facts are wrong. I just wanted to see if my theory held water or sank.

Still got everything crossed that they'll catch someone, and thinking of everyone in the area.

Amberg, the latest victim was a man sitting on a commuter bus but that doesn't rule out a transport link.

Yeah - I'm thinking now tarnsport, petrol, western values. Thanks for the new info coz.

I thought the same thing myself.
My friend told me that she went to the very last drop in her tank until she went ahead and filled it up...and that the Guardian Angels weren't there.

I wonder if the crime rate has gone down during this whole thing. I'm sure it has!

Pascal Charlot was killed on the second day of the shootings, not in a car. He was standing on a corner walking back from the drugstore.

One thing you'll notice is that you are fairly vulnerable when you fill up your car, if you have a locked gas cap, you have to manage not to lock your keys, leave your car and run to pay, in terms of coordination, it is rather hard to coordinate things.
I notice when I fill up my tank, I always worry about leaving the vehicle open when I go to pay with my credit card or cash, or leaving my keys on the gas cap on top of the car...because motorcycle riders come by and rip you off quicker than you think here.
And you always have another motorist breathing down your neck when you go to pay.
It is a particulary easy target.

I am finding myself without enough "descriptors" to express my horror with this. This morning, Tuesday, they have just announced it was a bus driver, standing in the door of his bus, in the bus yard. Shot in his lower chest and is now at the area's best shock/trauma centre. Truly terrible.

I just heard on the radio that the possible victim this morning was the driver of the bus. He was on the step of the bus.

Yeah - the driver was shot shortly before 6AM. I haven't checked the news and such so far, but they think he was on either the top step or the one just below it. The bus' door was open to the street, across from which was a wooded area.

I think they are giving this story too much airtime when they really have nothing new to report. They are filling time with all these alleged experts, who really haven't got a clue about the nature of this case because this particular crime is unique in many ways. And, what's worse, each cable news channel has the same "experts" saying exactly the same things over and over. While channel surfing I saw Bo Dietl on Fox (I think) and CNN at just about the same time. Can't Fox, CNN, and MSNBC/CNBC at least dig up different talking heads? Do we have only a handful of "experts" in this country--so few that they all must make the rounds of all the cable networks? The coverage is so redundant, I'm getting sick of it. Some diversity would be welcome. Less coverage, and less "filler"--when there is no news to report--would also be welcome.

My own feelings are that the perpetrator(s) of these shootings have now achieved their goal (They are the number one news story)- they are playing a game with the police. I only hope that they are caught before another innocent person is shot.

Did anyone read the Washington Post this morning? There's an article which says a little but more about the communications between the killer and the police. Apparently, the killer called the hotline several times and was HUNG UP ON - he said things like "I am God," etc. I'm sorry and I know the people manning those tip lines have to try and weed out the crazies, but I cannot believe that this could have happened.

So in the letter or something, he alludes to saying that because of the treatment he received, 5 more people had to die.

$20 bucks says those FBI people are going over the tapes of all of those people who called in right now.