Ten years ago, Maryland, Virginia and the nation’s capital were faced with a crime that could be compared to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Parents yearned for their kids, schools went into lockdowns and it was difficult for many to go anywhere alone. That was a horrifying day for most citizens and in October, 10 innocent people were killed, though not by foreign terrorists. Two American citizens went on a month long shooting rampage, ending the lives of ordinary civilians. Their names are John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo, aka the 2002 Maryland snipers.
What Happened?
Until their arrest, Muhammad and Malvo terrorized the citizens of Maryland, D.C. and Virginia with homicidal attacks and attempts. Every victim that survived the death intended attack was hospitalized and placed in critical condition. The survivors had physical wound that can heal, but the region received emotional wounds beyond repair.
“I was frightened. I was scared too,” said Kathleen Carey, a health teacher at WJ. “It was so unbelievable that it could be happening.”
The snipers would kill people out in the open. As Malvo would drive, Muhammad would shoot undetected, due to a discreet hole drilled out of the car trunk. This was the most common way the snipers would strike, though not every attack followed this process. Because of this, adults were advised to stay indoors and children were protected with extreme safety measures.
“I remember I wasn’t allowed to go to the playground because it was too dangerous,” said sophomore Maxx Espinosa, who was five years old when these events took place. “I would have practice drills and sometimes [the school] would have to bring everyone to the gym.”
Junior Robert Berry elaborated on Espinosa’s statement, explaining how freedoms were taken away.
“Our lives became very enclosed so everything we took for granted was gone,” he said. “We couldn’t go to Montgomery Mall, even with our parents and we couldn’t play outside.”
Besides children being potential targets, Muhammad would add to the fear by leaving notes, saying, “For you Mr. Police/Code: Call me God/Do not release to the press.” Muhammad now had added another scare factor, claiming to be God, as if he is the controller of who lives and who dies.
The ninth sniper attack, took place at Tasker Middle School in Bowie, where a student was wounded. Being a child was no longer a “get out of getting killed” card. Sophomore Sammy Gilligan, five at the time, recalled how his parents and teachers reacted to this incident.
“At school, the teachers freaked out, trying to comprehend what was happening and making sure we were safe and all,” said Gilligan. “My mother freaked out too.”
At the school crime scene, police found one of Muhammad’s infamous notes as well as a fingerprint that was later identified as Malvo’s. Police then uncovered the relationship between the two, that Muhammad was Malvo’s mentor, and a car the duo had registered in New Jersey, a blue 1990 Chevrolet Caprice. However, the killers weren’t caught until later, so the snipers were still hitting close to home. Carey stated that the Shell station shooting up near Kensington was very close to her neighborhood.
Then, on Oct. 24, a refrigerator repair man from Pennsylvania saw the car at a rest stop on I-70, near Myersville, MD and called the police. They arrested the two on the spot and the duo were sent to court for their sentencing. Both were tried, charged and convicted of six accounts of murder in Maryland and two in Virginia. The trial exposed the truth of everything that occured and future plans when Malvo confessed to the court. Muhammad refused to speak.
The Maryland sentencing was six life terms without parole for both Malvo and Muhammad. Virginia was stricter with its punishments. Malvo was sentenced to life in prison without parole and Muhammad was sentenced to death. Malvo was spared the death penalty because he was a minor, being only 17 years old. On Nov. 10, 2009, Muhammad’s time came. He had his last meal and was then executed by lethal injection.
Espinosa said he was glad it was over.
“At the time I really didn’t understand what was happening,” he said. “Now I do and it feels great being able to look back on it. Living.”
Victim Log
Sept. 5- The first victim, Paul LaRuffa, was shot three times but not killed. The snipers’ main attack on the public wasn’t until October.
Oct. 2- The second victim, James D. Martin, was shot and killed outside a Shopper’s Food Warehouse in Wheaton.
Oct. 3– Pascal Charlot was the only victim in Washington D.C., as he was shot on the streets. James “Sonny” Buchanan was killed while mowing the lawn of the Fitzgerald Auto Mall in Bethesda. Premkumar Walekar was shot filling his taxi up at a Mobil station in Aspen Hill. Sarah Ramos was innocently sitting on a bench located outside Leisure World when she was assassinated. The most famous incident was the fourth victim of that day, when Lori Ann Lewis-Rivera was shot and killed at a Shell station in Kensington, just a short ride from WJ.
Oct. 4- Caroline Seawell was shot and critically wounded in a parking lot located in Fredericksburg, VA. She was released from the hospital a while later.
Oct. 7- Kids became victims as the crime spread to schools when 13-year-old Iran Brown was shot while arriving at Benjamin Tasker Middle School, located in Bowie. He was critically wounded.
Oct. 9- Dean Harold Meyers had his life ended by the snipers while pumping gas in Manassas, VA.
Oct: 11- Kenneth Bridges was filling up his gas tank at an Exxon station near Fredericksburg, Virginia when he was shot and killed.
Oct. 14- Linda Franklin was shopping at a Home Depot in Falls Church, VA with her husband. She departed and was murdered by the duo while loading items into her car.
Oct. 19- At 8pm, Jeffrey Hopper became a victim of Malvo and Muhammad when he was shot leaving a restaurant in Ashland, VA accompanied by his wife. He was not killed but was seriously injured since the bullet pierced through several organs and his upper abdomen.
Oct. 22- The snipers’ final victim, Conrad Johnson, was annihilated on a Ride-On bus in Silver Spring, MD. He was hit while trying to get off the bus, on the top step.
