The DC Sniper Murders: When Terror Arrived in the Capital

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.ค. 2024
  • Experience the gripping true story of the DC sniper attacks. Discover how random shootings terrorized the Washington D.C. area, claiming innocent lives and sparking widespread fear. Watch now for chilling details!
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ความคิดเห็น • 501

  • @cbdy1358
    @cbdy1358 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +577

    This needs to be a casual criminalist episode. There’s so much to this story it’s crazy

    • @courtneybermack
      @courtneybermack 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +11

      I remember the relationship between the men being a real Thing but I don't remember the details.

    • @WizzleJizzy
      @WizzleJizzy 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +7

      Simon is too scared.

    • @SuperKendoman
      @SuperKendoman 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +11

      He should, even Count Dankula has done a longer episode than this 😂

    • @acehayato
      @acehayato 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +4

      The youre wrong about podcast had a great series on the dc snipers

    • @calebbean1384
      @calebbean1384 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +11

      He's double dipped before. Jonestown managed to show up on both channels

  • @michaelbatson1879
    @michaelbatson1879 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +207

    The one you need to remember about this that heighten paranoia: this took place only months after the 9/11 attacks.

    • @CaptainFSU
      @CaptainFSU 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +26

      And the anthrax

    • @pantherdddjvdgx
      @pantherdddjvdgx 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +8

      And Muhammad no less

    • @topogigio7031
      @topogigio7031 16 วันที่ผ่านมา

      Republicans revel in pain and chaos

    • @Stichting_NoFap
      @Stichting_NoFap 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

      @@pantherdddjvdgx He was also a member of the nation of islam.

    • @jprehberger
      @jprehberger 15 วันที่ผ่านมา +12

      I agree. I lived in northern Virginia at the time and the general consensus was that this was terrorist activity.

  • @amaltoadie
    @amaltoadie 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +171

    I was in elementary school in the DC area when this was happening. It was like a fever dream. We weren't allowed to be outside alone, and we were instructed to walk in zigzags if we needed to go between buildings.

    • @lukematney7062
      @lukematney7062 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +4

      I was in elementary school nearby too. I was in Fredericksburg and my mom and I drove by the Michael's in Fredericksburg the day after the shooting and then again not long after the gas station shooting nearby. I remember the windows at school were all blacked out, the doors all locked, and we weren't allowed outside. I remember seeing a treeline outside the school and wondering if the snipers were out there watching us.

    • @Pr0toPoTaT0
      @Pr0toPoTaT0 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +3

      Yeah I was in elementary school in southern Maryland but we were still forced to watch the news. Remember, this was a year after 911. I think the whole country was still affected. I still wonder why they forced us to watch the news whenever something bad was happening. 911. Dc sniper. Michael Jackson's death.

    • @Mr.Durant
      @Mr.Durant 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

      Same, I'm 31 now

    • @Mr.Durant
      @Mr.Durant 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

      From Baltimore

    • @johnnyr2646
      @johnnyr2646 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +2

      Sterling Archer yelling"SERPENTINE!"

  • @josephgraham1540
    @josephgraham1540 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +100

    People forget how crazy those few years were, especially the younger generations I don’t think realize it, I just started middle school when 9-11 happened, then we had the anthrax letters, DC sniper, the shoe and underwear bombers, it really felt like anything could happen at anytime

    • @mattdad8429
      @mattdad8429 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +19

      Columbine in '99, Oklahoma City bombings a couple years before that; the unabomber; Honestly, the late 90s to early-2000s was like a nightmare every other week. Mid-to-late 90s was when these ultra-bizarre catastrophe's really started hummin'. Things have been a mess ever since.

    • @esteemedmortal5917
      @esteemedmortal5917 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +4

      Seemed like every year of high school started off with something awful 😢

    • @esteemedmortal5917
      @esteemedmortal5917 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +18

      @@mattdad8429and people wonder why millennials cherish being a child at heart and enjoying silly things.

    • @goosenotmaverick1156
      @goosenotmaverick1156 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

      ​@@esteemedmortal5917 too true. That's got to have a lot to do with it. Childhood was a wild time and we (my friends and I) thought the world was absolutely ending, bad stuff happening faster than our little brains could keep up with.

    • @topogigio7031
      @topogigio7031 16 วันที่ผ่านมา

      Gen Z griping about how Meema said They instead of Fae meanwhile Millennials are continuously flashing back to bodies splattering on concrete.

  • @billlauretti7963
    @billlauretti7963 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +27

    I was living in Wheaton, Maryland at the time, and 7 of the shootings took place within 5 miles of my house. It was a terrifying experience, leading us to pump gas by putting a tennis ball in the handle (if it couldn't be locked on) so you could sit in the car with your head ducked down while the pump was running. Everyone was doing a "serpentine" walk in every parking lot. I was stopped at a traffic light one time behind a white box truck, and it was surrounded by police who rolled up the back door with guns drawn--and there I was right in the line of fire if there was a shooter inside! The day of the last shooting (the bus driver) I woke up to the sound of a police helicopter hovering overhead, since it took place just down the road. This was a time of great anxiety in the DC area, barely one year after the 9/11 attacks, and months after the anthrax in the mail scare (which would make another good topic for a video).

    • @terpman
      @terpman 13 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

      My father had a white box truck for his business and I was shocked it never got pulled over and searched. We were in Burtonsville at the time.

    • @Zeta9966
      @Zeta9966 4 วันที่ผ่านมา +2

      I lived in Manassas at the time. The pump Dean Meyers got shot at (pump 4) is the one I always used. Crazy that had different decisions been made that day, it could have been me…

  • @jackturner214
    @jackturner214 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +39

    I remember I was in my first semester of grad school during the Beltway Sniper spree, and I have distinct memories of sitting at my desk in my apartment, working on a paper with the news on for background noise when they caught the perpetrators. I wasn't anywhere near DC, but it was still an captivating experience for everyone. Something I can still remember all this time later.

  • @timothymcnerney3352
    @timothymcnerney3352 15 วันที่ผ่านมา +28

    This should be a casual criminalist episode, my father was a lead investigator on this case and the whole story is wild

    • @sigurdurmarolafsson4183
      @sigurdurmarolafsson4183 14 วันที่ผ่านมา +2

      I can imagine his frustration and his feeling of helplessness while trying to get a break in the case.❤❤❤❤

    • @joshuab3715
      @joshuab3715 12 วันที่ผ่านมา

      Check out the podcast “Moster: DC sniper”

    • @Kromsmitesyou
      @Kromsmitesyou 12 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

      My mom was the judge that sentenced malvo 🫡

    • @timothymcnerney3352
      @timothymcnerney3352 10 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

      @@joshuab3715 yup, that’s my dad also on there 😂…mark of a killer on prime (final episode of season 3 I think?) does a great job covering it with the detectives and agents involved

    • @GetRightGB
      @GetRightGB 4 วันที่ผ่านมา

      ​@@timothymcnerney3352 Would he do an interview with a writer? Liam runs his discord, and he writes for cas crim

  • @TheCometCE
    @TheCometCE 15 วันที่ผ่านมา +9

    Definitely one I'd love to see expanded on for a Casual Criminalist episode, on top of the murders themselves being so brazen, I remember this being so fresh off 9/11 that everyone was paranoid out of their mind already

  • @stephenhood2948
    @stephenhood2948 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +34

    I grew up in Southern MD, just south of DC. I remember them telling everyone to zigzag when walking in parking lots. What a crazy world we live in.

    • @DaHighTechCave
      @DaHighTechCave 16 วันที่ผ่านมา

      Bro I was in middle school and I remember them telling me that 😂

    • @theywantusdead373
      @theywantusdead373 16 วันที่ผ่านมา

      World? This doesn't happen where I live

    • @shifty1927
      @shifty1927 16 วันที่ผ่านมา

      Yup I was a freshman in SOMD at the time.

    • @michellebaker6302
      @michellebaker6302 15 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

      I realized it was serious when a grown man where I am from (in Northern VA) literally zigzagged across the parking lot AND THEN he dove onto the ground next to his car. Reached up, unlocked it (back before remotes were universal) and climbed in from the ground. I was like, "If an actual adult felt that was necessary, we're screwed."

    • @stephenhood2948
      @stephenhood2948 15 วันที่ผ่านมา

      @@michellebaker6302 Wow I never saw anyone react like that. I just had a creepy feeling anywhere I walked. Crazy

  • @Frosty_tha_Snowman
    @Frosty_tha_Snowman 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +36

    What people are capable of is terrifying

    • @topogigio7031
      @topogigio7031 16 วันที่ผ่านมา

      I mean look at the American GOP. They aren't even hiding it anymore

  • @Typical.Anomaly
    @Typical.Anomaly 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +72

    In 2004, I had to live in my car (1988 Pontiac 6000) for a few months. I took out the back seat, and put in a piece of plywood and carpet, so when I'd sleep, my legs extended into the trunk. I had an extra car battery (which I charged at my parents' house) that I used to run a small CRT TV and a SNES.
    Ngl, the mod to the car was inspired by the maniac spoken of in this video. I promise I'm not a sniper, though.

    • @mattdad8429
      @mattdad8429 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +10

      See? Good things can come from these situations! Bro was living his best life playing Super Mario World in a damn Pontiac. That's called freedom, baby.

    • @khironkinney1667
      @khironkinney1667 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +7

      You took the innovation of what others have done and used it to better your life in the circumstances you had at the time. What you did in your limited ability enhanced your life, and it did not detract from any others. We all got to do what we got to do you did all right and I hope you're doing better

    • @keithmoore5306
      @keithmoore5306 16 วันที่ผ่านมา

      the way things are going you might want to learn to be one!!!

    • @jrmckim
      @jrmckim 16 วันที่ผ่านมา

      ​@@keithmoore5306 skeletor: wat?

    • @YeshuaStrongbow
      @YeshuaStrongbow 15 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

      SNES…you are a Legend

  • @Xiporah
    @Xiporah 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +17

    I live less than 20 minutes from the first shooting. Life in the DC suburbs was scary that week.

    • @djrukahs8926
      @djrukahs8926 14 วันที่ผ่านมา

      Felt longer than a week for sure...

  • @ryanandre3623
    @ryanandre3623 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +71

    Why isn't this on the casual criminalist? This was way to short there's so much more to this story

    • @cheapciggies
      @cheapciggies 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

      Probably because it's free. The mainstream media have a lot more resources to hand and no doubt an extensive library of media dedicated to this case all online for you to watch

    • @thomaswilson8022
      @thomaswilson8022 16 วันที่ผ่านมา

      th-cam.com/video/oc-3cUD5u_o/w-d-xo.htmlsi=sx3Xoc_THTBpAb1B

    • @markhalver3391
      @markhalver3391 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +7

      @@cheapciggies Insanity...Were you on high end drugs when ya spammed this 50 or so times as an answer to anyone who wanted a longer script?

    • @cheapciggies
      @cheapciggies 16 วันที่ผ่านมา

      @@markhalver3391 no it was a quick scroll through and paste to the moaning whining folk. What do they want for nothing, a refund? 😂😂😂 Pull your socks up folks and quit whinging. I hope this is clearer for you now Mark. Cheers now.

    • @topogigio7031
      @topogigio7031 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +3

      ​@@cheapciggiesyou can share the same ditch as Trump

  • @grimeto7323
    @grimeto7323 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +17

    The money were just an excuse. The power the killers felt while stalking their victims and the fear they spread intoxicated them. Incurable psychopaths.

  • @TheDarkDogmaticDragonArisen
    @TheDarkDogmaticDragonArisen 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +19

    Simon and the team putting out videos almost as fast as I can watch them, and I love you all for it - great work, folks! 💯

  • @markhalver3391
    @markhalver3391 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +16

    I've been asking for this to be a Casual Criminalist for awhile. I'll take this, but you need a longer script, there is so much more here to tell

    • @cheapciggies
      @cheapciggies 16 วันที่ผ่านมา

      Probably because it's free. The mainstream media have a lot more resources to hand and no doubt an extensive library of media dedicated to this case all online for you to watch

    • @markhalver3391
      @markhalver3391 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +4

      @@cheapciggies Again, are you new to the internet? "The mainstream media has a lot more resources..." What does this even mean, are you suggesting I watch old news articles from early 2000 instead of suggesting a full script? And how do you figure that the mainstream media is not free, but this is.
      Honestly the strangest most pointless message I've seen and you've spammed it everywhere.

    • @cheapciggies
      @cheapciggies 15 วันที่ผ่านมา

      @@markhalver3391 Not you again, you are a pest. Is there some kind of disconnect with you being able to join ideas together in a coherent fashion. It's called thinking. Look here's the deal, Simon is not here to pander to your whims. What I've written which has somehow ripped your knitting means what is says...... Simon is not Lord of the DC Sniper case. Get over it, bunch of old women honestly. I will make a point of reading through the comments on this channel now and gauge the amount of soggy biscuits on it. Now go away again. That's twice I've told you now. Shoo

  • @84marcow
    @84marcow 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +8

    I remember the 3 hour drive into WV to do our grocery shopping because my parents were not going to risk going out in Fredericksburg.

  • @ubiquitousliquorice
    @ubiquitousliquorice 15 วันที่ผ่านมา +3

    This NEEDS to be a Casual Criminalist episode. There's so much about this story.
    If anyone wants to know the full detailed history, watch the 6-part miniseries "I, Sniper". Possible the best crime documentary I've ever seen.

  • @ProductBae
    @ProductBae 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +12

    I was in high school when this happened in DC. It was a terrifying time and it really impacted all of our lives. Lockdowns bc of van sightings and more. It was a lot. Rip to those we lost.

    • @kimberlyfelten6368
      @kimberlyfelten6368 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +2

      Me too, I was in Rockville, up the street from one of the gas stations that was hit. I can't watch this yet, but I'm glad I read through the comments to see I'm not alone lol. I didn't realize I still it still had impact on me, but it was truly terrifying looking back.

    • @ProductBae
      @ProductBae 12 วันที่ผ่านมา

      @@kimberlyfelten6368 yesssss same!!! I haven’t watched either. Thanks for sharing that. In time tho I will

  • @JacobMcandles
    @JacobMcandles 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +13

    I remember this event WELL… you see at first the media was blaming an older white male and younger white male, in a white van….
    Well my father and I are both white & just so happen to ride around in a white Ford van..😳
    I still recall how we would pull up somewhere & folks get real quiet and on edge…

    • @BuffaloSpiritGuide
      @BuffaloSpiritGuide 12 วันที่ผ่านมา

      Don't mind all the Swastikas or NRA stickers on the van orthe fact we are the people that carry automatic rifles in public, the legal way of course.
      (Only kidding lol)

    • @JacobMcandles
      @JacobMcandles 12 วันที่ผ่านมา

      @@BuffaloSpiritGuide actually we had no such decals, we aren’t car decal people

    • @XimTraax
      @XimTraax 8 วันที่ผ่านมา

      @@JacobMcandlespretty sure that’s a bot we only carry semi automatic rifles anyway smh

  • @johnathansaegal3156
    @johnathansaegal3156 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +21

    I was a photocopier repairman (the coin operated ones in supermarkets and libraries) and was always going to and from my service van for parts and supplies, carrying the coin bags, etc.
    In 2002, I had my concealed carry permit, but knew that this sniper was shooting victims mostly in parking lots. My boss made sure to tell all the technicians to "just be highly alert, for if the sniper decides to move west, who know where the next location will be".
    Using deductive reasoning, the location of the victims were mostly in or next to parking lots or places where you would have your car parked, so the sniper would most likely be IN a vehicle when they made their attack. My boss told us to get in and out of the van as quick as possible and do not stand in one position for any length of time if possible.
    Although the attacks were on the east coast, even people as far west as Nevada and California were wondering if it was going to be a terror cell linked to Al Qaeda that would be popping up across the country, or if there was a lull in the attacks, could the terrorist(s) move across the country to throw off investigators - it was that random. It did make people look all around as they (we) pumped gas. I know a time when people would park in the gas station with my service van between their car and any open space, mentioning to me comments such as, "This way they'll get you, not me" on three occasions.
    Yes, even in Nevada and California where my service territory was, this was how impactful of a terror situation the media had hyped it up to become. The local news channels saying, "Is Reno next?" or Sacramento? Vegas? My service territory was all of Nevada and parts of California including the home office in Sacramento. The media made one feel you might be next regardless of your location in the US, that the sniper(s) was mobile and could drive across country in a few days time.
    Everyone in the US was on edge. The only places that weren't were the smaller cities like Elko, Nevada where there were just too few vehicles on the road at the time for anyone to take a shot and get away quickly without being spotted. I kept an UZI carbine in my service truck and a 9mm on my hip (concealed). People in Nevada would be openly carrying rifles and handguns, "just in case".
    It was a crazy time for sure.

    • @mrtlsimon
      @mrtlsimon 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +3

      With this video I really see the difference in someone telling a story from media research and people that lived through an event. We were concerned all along the East Coast too.

    • @jordanledoux197
      @jordanledoux197 15 วันที่ผ่านมา +2

      The thing about the Beltway snipers for me, is that it completely dispelled (in my head) the notion that "good guys with guns" can stop gun violence. I was younger (in high school) at the time, and still forming my political opinions. The arguments that "good guys with guns" would stop shootings was persuasive to me. Until this. None of these people would have been safe with a gun. They wouldn't have been safe even if every single person near them had a gun and knew how to use it.

    • @mrtlsimon
      @mrtlsimon 15 วันที่ผ่านมา +2

      @@jordanledoux197 I understand where you're coming from with "good guy with a gun" keeping people safe. That was one of the dumbest slogans the NRA pushed. As a firearms instructor I've pointed out that firearms aren't magic talisman that prevent you from being injured or killed. Imagine believing owning a pair of boxing gloves means you will win every fight you get into. Firearms solve firearms related problems, sometimes. Conversely "Good guys with guns" caught the DC sniper and put him in custody.

  • @kacheek9101
    @kacheek9101 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    Crazy you put this out today. Just last week I was telling a couple of my younger coworkers about this. I was in DC at the time and the fear was incredible. Definitely one of the things that has stuck with me even after all the years

  • @bradbrandon2506
    @bradbrandon2506 13 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    I've got to say this. I've loved how, right from when you first started doing reports on atrocities, that you don't flinch to honor the victims. Too many that do this put a lot of emphasis on the person that committed the act, murder p**n, if you will. Instead, you see it as a tragedy: an act that should never happen, and, with your voices, give the power back to the victims.

  • @smac1706
    @smac1706 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    Finally. I've been patiently waiting for you to make a video about this! 💯

  • @michellebaker6302
    @michellebaker6302 15 วันที่ผ่านมา +4

    Don’t forget: we in Northern Virginia had 9/11, anthrax, AND this in like 13 months. We were not okay.

  • @traildoggy
    @traildoggy 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +3

    I was visiting back home at the time. It was crazy, everyone was focusing on white vans all over the city. People looked nervous just filling up gas and walking around town.
    One woman was shot at a bench outside the post office just a few minutes away from my mother's apartment. I remember seeing the bench afterwards, but it has since been removed from the sidewalk.

  • @ljre3397
    @ljre3397 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +4

    I remember this story. It really had the whole country worrying it could’ve been anywhere.

  • @brandonf.8360
    @brandonf.8360 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +8

    Although I'm from Baltimore, we definitely were checking for any suspicious white vans.

    • @josephgraham1540
      @josephgraham1540 16 วันที่ผ่านมา

      Same I’m from WV but they could have just decided to drive a couple hours and hit another area

  • @Harbinger1776
    @Harbinger1776 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +6

    I was expecting Simon to do a deep dive on this case on the Casual Criminalist.

  • @howyoudurrinhunneh
    @howyoudurrinhunneh 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +3

    I was working nights and remember staying up all day watching the constant coverage

  • @vudoga6082
    @vudoga6082 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +2

    I remember this vividly, I was in high school and didn't live too far from Ashland, VA. School lockdowns, the overall sense of unease, it was wild. I remember one of the suspected types of vehicles was a white work van. As ubiquitous as those are, that was a stressful 3 weeks seeing them everywhere.

  • @EveryGameGuru
    @EveryGameGuru 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +6

    I remember this. They told us to walk in "zig zag" patterns 😆

  • @jayday1480
    @jayday1480 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +3

    I lived in NOVA during this. Everyone's world was flipped upside down. No one had anyway of understanding why it was happening

  • @ghostsquirrel8739
    @ghostsquirrel8739 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +5

    The killers owned a 1990 Caprice. Not the 1972 Caprice in the thumbnail.

  • @thomasjordan5578
    @thomasjordan5578 15 วันที่ผ่านมา +2

    Fun fact ; the car purchased and modified for stealth sniping was aquired at SURE SHOT used cars Trenton NJ.
    SURE SHOTs is still in business there.

  • @MichaelArlt
    @MichaelArlt 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +6

    Interesting to see the rifle had a sight and not a scope, if it was the original rifle shown.

    • @dilldowschwagginz2674
      @dilldowschwagginz2674 16 วันที่ผ่านมา

      I would imagine the rifle used had some glass mounted on it... Probably not a good scope but some magnified glass nonetheless. I see the pic shows a simple AR with an EOTech style red dot optic but as we've learned from recent revelations - they aren't above showing the public misleading pictures.

    • @MichaelArlt
      @MichaelArlt 16 วันที่ผ่านมา

      @@dilldowschwagginz2674 I did imagine the same. Not an ACOG but some 2 times maybe. Im not a gun enthusiast, nor i own a gun, but i know the challenge of aiming. Im not patronizing what they did, its horrible, though the shots seemed to be very accurate. On the second point i also agree with you, do not always trust what you get to see ;)

  • @Qb3nsis
    @Qb3nsis 15 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    I'd very much like to see a long-form episode of this in the Whistler-verse. It was a chilling time.

  • @KarynHill
    @KarynHill 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +3

    The Home Depot one took place within minutes of me having left that parking lot. I kept the receipt, which had the time I checked out, for a long time. I still have and use the extra long extension cord I bought that day, and think of it each time I use the cord. We're all a coincidence away from complete disaster, so make the most out of every moment.

  • @utilitarian
    @utilitarian 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +2

    I remember this being all over the news here in the UK and remember how surreal it felt, and absolutely terrifying. RIP to those who were going about their day, just to be slaughtered at random :(

  • @brucemichaelwentworth3857
    @brucemichaelwentworth3857 15 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    I too lived in the DC metro area during the sniper shootings. I worked for a local household moving company, and with reports of a white box van being involved we were stopped many times, also only happening a year after 9/11 most of my friends at that time figured that it was ongoing terror attacks related to 9/11. Crazy crazy times. We also ended up doing a household move for Charles moose, the Montgomery county officer in charge of the investigation and eventual arrest. That was surreal!

  • @cutencurly9019
    @cutencurly9019 3 วันที่ผ่านมา

    I was in high school in Rockville, and I remember getting locked down that first day and just sitting in a classroom in the dark with a bunch of other students. Lock down started in between classes so we were just pushed into random classrooms by the teachers to get us out of the hallway so I wasn’t even in the right room.
    I still have to leave the room when school shootings get announced on the news because it brings back that anxiety and uncertainty.
    I can’t even watch this right now, just needed to go in the comments and see I’m not the only one who has issues from growing up in the middle of this wild time in the DC area.

  • @vaibanez17
    @vaibanez17 8 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    The next year after the DC Sniper, there was another sniper case of random shooting murders out of West Virginia. That one went unsolved for a while due to police ineptitude. A person literally told cops who it was, and cops ignored them. That person had to go on a cable access show called WV's Most Wanted to tell the information before embarrassed police followed up.

  • @michaelpipkin9942
    @michaelpipkin9942 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +7

    I remember all the black cooks at my restaurant were incredibly sad it wasn't a white guy.

    • @Shoelessjoe78
      @Shoelessjoe78 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

      Yeah that theory has been playing out for far too long. But racism runs both ways.

    • @cantsay2205
      @cantsay2205 16 วันที่ผ่านมา

      It's tragic that's how people think. They don't hate that it happened, they just hate that they can't make a narrative about it.

    • @Stichting_NoFap
      @Stichting_NoFap 15 วันที่ผ่านมา

      That's very sad of them.

    • @ecocodex4431
      @ecocodex4431 11 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

      I HIGHLY doubt this. The only time I see this kind of sentiment is when far-right extremists are crying because a mass murderer isn't muslim or trans.

    • @michaelpipkin9942
      @michaelpipkin9942 10 วันที่ผ่านมา

      @@ecocodex4431 This is nothin. Is it really that unbelievable?? Hahaha. I've heard some wild shit from the kitchen.

  • @jazdragen
    @jazdragen 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +2

    I remember everyone being terrified of having to stop at gas stations to pump gas. Everyone was pumping ducked down behind the profile of their cars. Never seen an entire metropolis caught in such pervasive tension until the Covid era

  • @alexanderhikel2350
    @alexanderhikel2350 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +6

    You should do the Mandalay Bay shooting , that was absolutely devastating

    • @hapter437
      @hapter437 16 วันที่ผ่านมา

      the what now? the fbi closed the case for no reason. there is more evidence suggesting steven paddock wasnt the shooter than there is supporting it. it happened, it was a tragedy, but with the lack of evidence in the entire case plus the fbi closing the whole thing makes it impossible to cover

  • @mrterp04
    @mrterp04 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    I was in college near where this happened (University of Maryland), it was wild being told to cross the street “in a zigzag fashion”, having Charles Moose on tv every evening, and gas stations putting up tarps around their pumps to shield customers from view.

  • @petermielke5026
    @petermielke5026 14 วันที่ผ่านมา

    I live near where all this happened! My Grandpa also lived right down the road from four of the shootings. I was living in VA in NOVA when it happened. Though I was only six when it happened. If you go down the road from the former Shoppers (it's a Lidl now), there's a monument to the fallen at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, MD. I remember walking through Brookside when I didn't quite realize the significance of the monument. Then I watched this video and went "😳😳 Omg this happened right here!" I was like "Omg I know these places!" It definitely gives me a new perspective on the shootings. Hit close to home when I realized it.

  • @CasualKillZz
    @CasualKillZz 9 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    My mom was in the Michael’s parking lot 20 minutes before Caroline Seawell was shot. I still think about what my life would be like without her, absolutely terrifies me.

  • @Pr0toPoTaT0
    @Pr0toPoTaT0 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +2

    I live in Maryland and to this day its still a fear in some middle aged people. There's no way to really describe the peace this man took from people. Over two decades later.

    • @jacquelyn1784
      @jacquelyn1784 16 วันที่ผ่านมา

      Who can blame us, look at howbad it's gotten since. You can't even go to a parade or the library without thinking about the possibility of some ahole coming to ruin it

  • @afrikasmith1049
    @afrikasmith1049 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +3

    I remember learning about this as a teenager watching American Gangster.

  • @ian4846
    @ian4846 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    6:49 I live half a mile from here. The parking lot they fired from is this strange parking lot that’s always empty and has stayed undeveloped forever. I think it’s partially due to the legacy of what happened there. I was born in ‘03 so I wasn’t alive when this happened but it left a lasting mark on the community

  • @GoldenLegionHoney
    @GoldenLegionHoney 15 วันที่ผ่านมา +3

    I lived in Manassas, VA at the time. The gas station it happened in was right down the street from my house. I remember after it re-opened NOONE got gas there. So I did. People were hiding in their cars while getting gas or in the stores. I figured they would be really stupid to come back here. So i got gas and stood next to my car. people thought i was crazy im sure.

  • @Sammymc
    @Sammymc 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    I remember how terrifying this was. I was a teenager. And nowhere felt safe. Places you went everyday suddenly felt like traps. Every time I had to fill up my car I was shaking in fear.

  • @user-uq7io2os3r
    @user-uq7io2os3r 16 วันที่ผ่านมา

    Yet another interesting video of the interesting past👍 many thx to whole Simon team

  • @alrox1
    @alrox1 9 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    Crazy times! I remember the gas stations started putting tarps up on the sections facing the road so there wasn't a line of sight on people pumping gas. There were also volunteers who would pump the gas for you. My mom made us keep our curtains closed at home at all times so the snipers couldn't see us (our area didn't have any attacks). I also remember the jubilation when they caught them. I celebrated by going out to CompUSA since it was "safe" to shop again.

  • @bubbathedm
    @bubbathedm 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +3

    The post 9/11 era from 2001 to 2005 or so was fucking wild.

    • @tylercouture216
      @tylercouture216 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

      Very

    • @bubbathedm
      @bubbathedm 16 วันที่ผ่านมา

      @@tylercouture216 Simon should do the anthrax scare next

  • @sbcee2220
    @sbcee2220 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    I was wondering when you would get to this, though I'd guessed it would be on CC. Regardless, cool so far. Ty, Simon!

  • @matthew.datcher
    @matthew.datcher 16 วันที่ผ่านมา

    I remember this well. I was applying for jobs in DC during the aftermath of the snipers. Thankfully, the snipers were caught before I started working in the region. My family thought I was crazy for taking a job here after all of that. But, back then I didn't live in the region. And, before I finally moved down here, I always filled up my gas tank on the home side of my commute.
    It's also interesting to hear Simon's accent on the place names I know so well.

  • @terpman
    @terpman 13 วันที่ผ่านมา

    I was in high school in Montgomery County at the time. My girlfriend's mom's coworker was one of the people fatally shot, as was my friend's uncle. Many hours were spent listening to the news and watching Chief Moose's press conferences. At school, they literally told us to run from the bus to our house in a zig-zag if we didn't have someone to pick us up. My father had a white box truck for his business and I remember stopping at a gas station with him to fill it up one day. People quickly moved away from us and I could sense the suspicion. It was definitely a surreal time.

  • @Oldschooldan1
    @Oldschooldan1 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    I remember traveling from New Jersey to Virginia right after the shooting in Ashland. I had my newborn daughter with me and whenever I had to stop for gas or to change her diaper, you could see the tension in everyone's face. We were all looking over our shoulders.

  • @JJERSE
    @JJERSE 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +4

    “4 people were shot dead with a fifth fatally” ??? So 5 shot dead.

    • @vrts
      @vrts 16 วันที่ผ่านมา

      I replayed that a few times. Didn't make any sense.

  • @d0ublestr0ker0ll
    @d0ublestr0ker0ll 15 วันที่ผ่านมา +4

    The sniper threw a drink at me while I was walking down the street. It was around noon in Rockville, Maryland. They were taking a right turn at a red light, and I saw him throw it from the passenger seat out of the periphery of my eye. I watched as this fast food cup flew thru the air and landed about 5 feet in front of me. I stopped, and we made eye contact for about 2 seconds as they turned the corner and went down the street. I figured it was just some douche kid and didn't think much of it. A week or so later, I saw the same car and the same kid on the news. Still freaks me out. My friend's (uncle IIRC) was one of the victims, James Buchanan. I also went to one of John Muhammad's hearings at the Rockville courthouse. He was boisterous and trying to crack jokes. Absolute sociopath.

  • @Jayjay-qe6um
    @Jayjay-qe6um 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +2

    A memorial to the victims of the D.C. area sniper attacks is located at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, Maryland. An additional memorial was constructed in 2014 in the government plaza of Rockville, Maryland.

  • @hermitcrabs
    @hermitcrabs 16 วันที่ผ่านมา

    Makes me feel old remembering this on the news like it was a few years ago... it was already over 20 man how time flies.

  • @Psycheitout
    @Psycheitout 15 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    The media coverage for this story was insane! When this video first popped up in my feed I was shocked that it was only 12 minutes, but honestly yeah that's all there really is to the story. It just felt like there was more to it, cuz that's all everyone in America was hearing about for a solid month.

    • @MandaMalice
      @MandaMalice 14 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

      My thoughts too! It was such big news everywhere in the US.

  • @Tirani2
    @Tirani2 13 วันที่ผ่านมา

    I do not have adequate words to describe what a terrifying that time was in the DC Metro area. I worked down the street from one of the gas stations where there was a shooting. Friends lived near locations that were targeted. You couldn't turn anywhere without feeling like you were safe.

  • @Necronius94
    @Necronius94 13 วันที่ผ่านมา

    I remember this rather well. My family had moved to Montgomery county the summer before, and I was in elementary school. The teachers almost panicked because we’d had a code blue drill a month before, and nobody knew why until everyone went home. A few kids just didn’t come in the next day since their parents were too nervous to let them go back.

  • @jennyng2994
    @jennyng2994 14 วันที่ผ่านมา

    I was in school during that time when 6 of the shootings happened within a 2.5 mile radius. The school asked parents to pick up their children at the front doors so that we didn’t have to be outside for long periods. It’s interesting how I remembered the chaos, but not understanding why it was happening. I sincerely feel bad for the victims and their families of this senseless tragedy

  • @bclr6843
    @bclr6843 14 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    I was living there at the time. It was crazy. My dad wouldn’t let us leave home for any reason. We weren’t allowed to even ride with him to the gas station. To be fair to my dad they shot someone at a Home Depot we lived right behind

  • @williammurray1341
    @williammurray1341 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +4

    Profilers were so confident that the suspect was a white, middle-aged loner that the sniper passed through several checkpoints without the car being checked.

  • @missshooks
    @missshooks 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +2

    I still remember being a kid when this happened.

  • @EmilyJelassi
    @EmilyJelassi 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +2

    I remember this!! I was in high school during all of this .... scary

  • @luv2sail66
    @luv2sail66 13 วันที่ผ่านมา

    I remember this like it was yesterday. At one point the media emphasized the threat may be greater in areas close to major highways. I was practicing medicine in an office less than a mile from the intersection of 2 major highways. My staff and I hurried from our cars to the building ducking behind other vehicles when we could. We closed the blinds in all rooms facing the exterior of the building. One day as I arrived I saw a white van parked at a bank building next to my office building. I stupidly decided to take a look then thought better of it. I called the authorities but nothing obviously came of it. It was a scary time and we all were relieved when the culprits were apprehended.

  • @stephen3164
    @stephen3164 13 วันที่ผ่านมา

    Lived in MD during this time. They actually found the killers not far from my area. People were instructed to hide behind columns when filling up at gas stations, and walking zig zag when crossing parking lots. For over 3 weeks, we lived in fear. A white van was seen at every shooting - so every white van was sus. In the end, the killers turned out to be using a blue car. The white van thing was bc there’s just so many white vans around all the time.

  • @898792
    @898792 15 วันที่ผ่านมา

    I grew up in northern virginia, and I can tell you that the paranoia at the time was immense. My grandparents lived in leisure world and I had been to that grocery store with them. People were glued to their TVs waiting for any updates or for another shooting to occur.

  • @unhaix707
    @unhaix707 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +2

    Was in middle school at the time. My dad would not let us ride the bus and drove us to school every day.

  • @clubjed6276
    @clubjed6276 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +12

    Do eric frein!? From pa. He shot 2 state troopers and hid from the cops for at least a month in the Pennsylvania wilderness.

    • @stephenhood2948
      @stephenhood2948 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +5

      Him and the cop in LA that hid in the woods, Christopher Dorner, both are very crazy stories.

  • @neighborhoodcatlady6094
    @neighborhoodcatlady6094 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +2

    I live in N Virginia. Remember when this happened and thinking that that sniper screwed up when they attacked someone in Virginia. Like it or not, Virginia was serious about the death penalty at the time. That isn’t the case in Maryland or DC.

  • @rogaineablar5608
    @rogaineablar5608 15 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    I remember those days very well. Our company's annual picnic was cancelled because of the sniper.

  • @leholen381
    @leholen381 15 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    I was 10 years old when this was happening. I remember my mom being worried about it because she had 3 young kids and my dad was out to sea for 6 months. She was nervous every time she had to stop for gas.

  • @jmanj3917
    @jmanj3917 15 วันที่ผ่านมา +2

    3:57 "BOLO for a white box truck!!"
    Every. Single. Time.
    It was ridiculous.
    😡

  • @kfeltenberger
    @kfeltenberger 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    I lived an hour north of Baltimore when this took place. I remember several friends who frequently traveled for business made it a point to avoid the DC metro area after this started until the killers were caught. Even up here we slipped into a hyper-vigilant awareness level.

  • @PinkyJujubean
    @PinkyJujubean 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    I remember when this happened. My aunt called me out of the blue one morning "can I come stay at your house? There's a madman loose in my neighborhood". I convinced her to stay there and just stay inside. I love my aunt but she's prone to knee jerk paranoia

  • @lisapop5219
    @lisapop5219 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    I definitely remember this. I was living in California, and it was huge news, mainly because it was post 9/11, anthrax attacks, etc.

  • @DeaconBlu
    @DeaconBlu 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    I remember these shootings vividly.
    I had family living in the area at the time.
    What these 2 people did was beyond insane.
    This was a real wake up call in my life.
    Thankfully nobody has echoed the tactic and done something similar.
    Tbh, it wouldn’t be hard to do.
    Sadly…

  • @user-rk3qk5rm2g
    @user-rk3qk5rm2g 16 วันที่ผ่านมา

    I remember when this happened, I lived in VA. When the kid got shot, my school was immediately shut down and there were cops in the county sent to every single school in the county and set up outside. Then the buses came around mid morning to pick up the kids, with police cars and cops all on the other side of the buses. They would only load like 10 buses at a time and then send them off, and then bring up the next group of buses. I remember getting home and all the parents were at the bus stops in their cars or standing there if the house was close enough, to rush the kids home

  • @jaybower1320
    @jaybower1320 14 วันที่ผ่านมา

    I was in middle school, living in Alexandria, when these attacks happened. I remember the highway checkpoints and the school lock-downs. The white astro-van they searched for.. wild couple weeks

  • @Hunting4knowledge
    @Hunting4knowledge 15 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    I remember when this happened. I lived right next to 7 corners shopping center that was shot up. I remembered being instructed to walk home from schools in a zig zag pattern as police cleared the woods surrounding our school. America.

  • @theemissary1313
    @theemissary1313 16 วันที่ผ่านมา

    I remember this vividly. Quite surprised it's such a relatively short video...

  • @jimkatzaman5485
    @jimkatzaman5485 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    During the spree, those of us in the area were told to be on the lookout for white box trucks. Plus, people were shot at gas stations. You have no idea how many white box trucks there are until you're on alert for them. One day, I was pumping gas about 10 miles up the road from one of the shooting victims. I tried to keep a low profile at the gas pump. Then, a truck or car backfired, which you hardly ever hear. I couldn't finish pumping and get back home fast enough.

  • @jasa4079
    @jasa4079 16 วันที่ผ่านมา

    I was in DC for a wedding as a kid and had no idea why my parents told us we weren't allowed to go outside the hotel and when we were in the car, we weren't (my sister and I) allowed to wear out seatbelts, we were told to lay down on the floor of the car. I don't remember if we were ever close to any of the shootings, and I don't remember much of the events, but I remember the fear of my parents and being on the floor of the car when we were out of the hotel. I think it was like 12-15 years before I understood why the week was so weird.

  • @andykjer8128
    @andykjer8128 16 วันที่ผ่านมา

    2002 I was in elementary school. I lived in Woodbridge Virginia which is a subarb of DC, it was such a terrifying time. School is we cancelled, and we weren't allowed outside.

  • @b1646717
    @b1646717 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +2

    I remember when this. The 24-hour news cycle hype was real. Even in NM, it was all over the news and radio.

  • @blaznskais2048
    @blaznskais2048 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +2

    I was about 6 when this happened and have very vague memories of it on the news. More so about the trial. But I was so young my parents didn’t really discuss it with me.

  • @twiggyjali
    @twiggyjali 13 วันที่ผ่านมา

    definitely make this a casual criminalist ep, i gotta know more!

  • @brantonzhang
    @brantonzhang 13 วันที่ผ่านมา

    This was a crazy story. My uncle was almost shot by the snipers at the same Home Depot where the woman was killed in Falls Church, Virginia. My uncle was living in DC at that time and just bought a new house. Everything was under renovations at that time so everything was breaking. That night one of the pipes broke and he had to drive out to Home Depot real quick to repair it so he was running in and out of the store. He left 5 mins before the woman in the parking lot was shot that night. He still has the receipt to prove it, I’ll try to post it somewhere.

  • @duncancurtis5108
    @duncancurtis5108 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +3

    It echoed Charles Starkweather Austin Texas 1966.

    • @stephenhood2948
      @stephenhood2948 16 วันที่ผ่านมา

      Charles Whitman?? Charles Starkweather was a spree killer who murdered a bunch of people in and around Nebraska and Wyoming in 1958.

    • @stephenmcalister7228
      @stephenmcalister7228 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

      Starkweather was Nebraska and Wyoming 1958. Executed 1959.

    • @duncancurtis5108
      @duncancurtis5108 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +3

      @@stephenmcalister7228 I stand corrected I meant Charles Whitman.

  • @RuntzAHK
    @RuntzAHK 15 วันที่ผ่านมา +2

    From manassas Virginia here I remember this shit vividly during elementary school bro they basically just told us if we had to be out in public “ run in a zig zag “ 🤣 not gon lie it was some crazy times my grandma was paranoid like no other

  • @joshuabrooks4941
    @joshuabrooks4941 15 วันที่ผ่านมา +2

    This needs to be covered on the casual criminalist. I’m far better able to retain information from simons cold read channels or as I think of them, simons good channels.

  • @ARIXANDRE
    @ARIXANDRE 16 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    This was so terrifying and cowardly that it had me checking over my shoulder every time I was outside.