Five Dead After Maryland Shooting Spree

By STEPHEN MANNING
Associated Press Writer

SILVER SPRING, Md. - Five people were gunned down one by one in the Washington suburbs in less than 16 hours, and authorities said Thursday they were looking for a "skilled shooter" suspected of felling each victim with a single bullet.

While cautioning that the slayings had not definitely been linked, police said it was a strong possibility.

"We do have someone that so far has been very accurate in what they are attempting to do, and so we probably have a skilled shooter," said Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose. "If that leads us in one direction as far as a profile, I'll have to leave that to my investigators."

The five were gunned down one by one in public places, including two gas stations and a post office.

Police said they did not have any eyewitnesses to the shootings, but one person reported seeing a white van with two occupants speed from the scene of one shooting. The van was not reported at any other shooting scene, said Capt. Nancy Demme, a county police spokeswoman.

The first person killed was James D. Martin, 55, of Silver Spring, who was shot in the parking lot of a Wheaton grocery store about 6 p.m. Wednesday, police said.

James L. "Sonny" Buchanan, 39, Arlington, Va., was killed about 7:45 a.m. Thursday while cutting grass at a car dealership in the White Flint area. Prenkumar Walekar, 54, Olney, Md., was shot about 8:15 a.m. while pumping gas at a Mobil station in the Aspen Hill area.

At the station, a minivan remained parked at the pumps after the shooting, its door covered with blood from Walekar, a taxi driver, who slumped onto the vehicle after being shot.

"He said call an ambulance and fell down, so I called an ambulance and tried to help him, but I didn't see anything," said the owner of the minivan, who did not want to give her name.

The owner of the gas station, Shin Song, said Walekar began filling his car, went into the gas station, bought a lottery ticket, used the bathroom and went outside, where he was shot.

About a half-hour later, Sarah Ramos, 34, of Silver Spring died at a post office next to the Leisure World retirement community in Silver Spring after she was shot in the head.

Dolores Wallgren said she saw Ramos slumped over on a bench, bleeding from the head, when she arrived to go to a beauty shop near the post office.

"She was sitting on the bench, just sitting there," Wallgren said.

In the fifth shooting, Laurie Ann Lewis-Rivera, 25, Silver Spring was shot and killed about 10 a.m. at a Shell gas station in Kensington.

Mechanics at the gas working said they heard the shot but didn't see who shot Lewis-Rivera, who was vacuuming her van.

"We didn't see any confrontation or anybody around her," said mechanic John Mistery.

About a half hour before the first shooting, the window of a store at a shopping center was shot at, but no one was injured, county police said.

The shootings occurred in one of the wealthiest and most well-educated counties in the nation.

U.S. Census data compiled last year show that Montgomery's median household income of nearly $71,000 is among the highest in the nation, and more than twice that in nearby Baltimore.

The county is also fairly diverse, with 26 percent of residents foreign-born. Thirty percent of those older than 5 speak a language other than English at home, and of those, almost 40 percent say they don't speak English "very well."

Demme said investigators were awaiting forensics tests from each of the five crime scenes, but "no common denominator" has been found between the victims. None appeared to have been robbed, Demme said at an afternoon press conference.

Terrorism is not believed to be a motive. Race also did not appear to be a motive, noting the victims included a black male, a Hispanic male, a Hispanic female and a white female, Demme said.

"No, we have no indication of that yet... We're across the board in genders and ethnic backgrounds," Demme said.

A single shot apparently was fired at each location, but it is unclear whether they were fired from a vehicle or at what range, Demme said.

Gov. Parris Glendening spoke with Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan and committed 140 state troopers, a helicopter and whatever additional aid is needed, said Glendening spokesman Charles Porcari.

The FBI, Secret Service, and ATF also were involved, and officers were stopping all white cargo vans in their search for the killers, police said.

Montgomery County schools, meanwhile, canceled all outdoor activities and locked down school buildings. No one was being allowed to leave or enter school buildings unless a parent calls ahead to retrieve their children.

Ceciliea Desousa picked up her 9- and 10-year old daughters from Harmony Hills Elementary School in Aspen Hill, near one of the shootings.

"It took five years off my life," said Desousa, who said her son normally picks up the pair.

Parents had to show a photo identification and give names of their child, as well as their child's teacher's name.

Schools in Frederick County were also locked down. In Washington, a public schools spokeswoman said all recess and outdoor activities were canceled.

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)