The "Beltway Sniper" Case
Cartridge Case Found in Rental Truck?
Wrong!
Current news reports (19 Oct) state that an empty cartridge case was found in a returned rental box-type truck. No further information has been released. This cartridge case -- if it is of the same caliber and type used by the shooter -- could be extremely important. If the truck was rented, there is considerable paperwork associated with the rental. What is difficult to understand is why the most important detail about this cartridge has not been released: Is it a .223 case? That would require about two seconds to determine.
No matter what, I believe it was a gross error to announce that this cartridge case was found. If the case does belong to the shooter, imagine what is reaction would be when he heard the news reports: "Geez, I left a cartridge case in the truck?" He would realize that the police would soon be knocking on his door. I would think he would immediately leave the area.
Latest press reports now describe the cartridge case as a .308 caliber. -- which is very different from a .223 and very easy to distinguish (see above.)
NOTE: The Washington Post made this false report. Be very careful about what you "learn" from the news media.
AK-74 . . . ?-----PHONY!!
Fox News reported many times that one witness (now discredited)in the Home Depot shooting insisted that the weapon used was an "AK-74, not an AK-47." It is difficult to believe that someone several dozen yards away could identify the difference between the two weapons. The 74 is a later model of the 47 and the visual differences between them are very subtle. Either weapon could have been used because variants of both are available in this country in the .223 caliber but they are relatively rare -- especially the AK-74.
