The D.C. sniper attacks, also known as the Beltway sniper attacks, were a series of coordinated shootings that occurred over three weeks in October 2002 in the Washington metropolitan area, including the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. These attacks were preceded by preliminary shootings, involving murders and robberies, in several states, spanning six months starting in February 2002. In the preliminary shootings, seven people were killed and seven others were injured. During the October shootings, ten people were killed and three others were critically wounded. Overall, the snipers killed 17 people and wounded 10 others over a 10-month period.
The perpetrators were John Allen Muhammad, 41, and Lee Boyd Malvo, 17, who traveled in a blue 1990 Chevrolet Caprice sedan. In 2003, Muhammad was sentenced to death and executed by lethal injection in 2009. Malvo, being a juvenile, received six life sentences in Maryland and three in Virginia. In 2017, his life sentences in Virginia were vacated without parole on appeal.
Preliminary Shootings
On February 16, 2002, 21-year-old Keenya Nicole Cook was shot and killed by Lee Malvo at her aunt's home in Tacoma, Washington. Cook's aunt, Isa Nichols, had encouraged John Allen Muhammad's ex-wife, Mildred, to seek a divorce.
On March 19, 2002, Jerry Taylor, 60, was killed by a single shot to the chest while practicing chip shots at a golf course in Tucson, Arizona. Muhammad was visiting his sister, who lived near the golf course at the time of the shooting.
Between March and July 2002, two more people were killed, and four others were injured in various states.
On August 1, 2002, 51-year-old John Gaeta was shot in the neck by Malvo while changing a tire in Hammond, Louisiana. Malvo had slashed the tire beforehand. Gaeta pretended to be dead, and Malvo stole his wallet. Gaeta later went to a hospital and was released within an hour. He received a letter of apology from Malvo on March 1, 2010.
On September 5, 2002, 55-year-old pizzeria owner Paul LaRuffa was shot six times at close range while locking up his restaurant in Clinton, Maryland. LaRuffa survived, and his laptop was later found in Muhammad's car upon their arrest.
On September 14, 2002, 22-year-old Rupinder "Benny" Oberoi, an employee at a liquor store in Silver Spring, Maryland, was shot in the back outside the store. Oberoi survived the attack, which was officially linked to Muhammad and Malvo by the Montgomery County Police Department.
On September 15, 2002, Muhammad Rashid was shot while closing his liquor store in Brandywine, Maryland. Rashid later identified Malvo as the shooter in court.
On September 21, 2002, at 12:15 a.m., 41-year-old Million A. Waldemariam was fatally shot in the head and back with a .22-caliber pistol in Atlanta, Georgia. Waldemariam was helping close a store when the shooting occurred.
Nineteen hours later, on the same day, 52-year-old Claudine Parker, a liquor store clerk in Montgomery, Alabama, was shot and killed during a robbery. Her coworker, 24-year-old Kellie Adams, was critically wounded but survived. Evidence from the crime scene later connected this shooting to the Beltway attacks, identifying Muhammad and Malvo as suspects, though this connection was not made until October 17.
On September 23, 2002, at 6:30 p.m., 45-year-old Hong Im Ballenger was shot in the head and killed with a Bushmaster rifle in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Muhammad and Malvo were later linked to this killing as well.
Attacks in the Washington, D.C. Area
DC and Montgomery County, Maryland
At 5:20 p.m. on Wednesday, October 2, 2002, a shot was fired through the window of a Michaels craft store in Aspen Hill, Maryland. The bullet narrowly missed Ann Chapman, a cashier at the store. Since no one was injured, the incident was assumed to be random, and no serious alarms were raised. However, about an hour later, at 6:30 p.m., James Martin, a 55-year-old program analyst at NOAA, was shot and killed in the parking lot of a Shoppers Food Warehouse grocery store located in Wheaton.
On the morning of October 3, four people were shot dead within a span of approximately two hours in Aspen Hill and other nearby areas in Montgomery County. Another person was killed that evening in the Takoma neighborhood of Washington, D.C.:
7:41 a.m.: James L. Buchanan, a 39-year-old landscaper known as "Sonny," was shot dead near Rockville, Maryland, while mowing the grass at Fitzgerald Auto Malls.
8:12 a.m.: Prem Kumar Walekar, a 54-year-old part-time taxi driver, was killed in Aspen Hill while pumping gasoline into his taxi at a Mobil station.
8:37 a.m.: Sarah Ramos, a 34-year-old babysitter and housekeeper, was killed at the Leisure World Shopping Center in Norbeck while seated on a bench reading a book.
9:58 a.m.: Lori Ann Lewis-Rivera, a 25-year-old, was killed while vacuuming her Plymouth Grand Voyager at a Shell station in Kensington, Maryland.
At 9:20 p.m., the snipers shot Pascal Charlot, a 72-year-old retired carpenter, while he was walking on Georgia Avenue at Kalmia Road in Washington, D.C. Charlot died less than an hour later.
In each shooting, the victims were killed by a single bullet fired from some distance, and the killers struck and vanished quickly. This pattern was not detected until after the October 3 shootings.
Fear spread rapidly throughout the region as news of the shootings emerged. At a press conference, Charles Moose, Chief of Police for Montgomery County, informed parents that schools were on a code blue alert, keeping children indoors. He reassured parents that the schools were safe, but many parents chose to pick up their children early, avoiding school buses or walking. Montgomery County Public Schools, District of Columbia Public Schools, and private schools went into lockdown, suspending outdoor activities. Other school districts in the area also took precautionary measures.
Police had few pieces of evidence to work with initially. After the Silver Spring attack, someone reported hearing a popping noise and seeing a white box truck leaving the scene hurriedly. Following the Washington, D.C., murder, witnesses began reporting sightings of a blue Chevrolet Caprice rather than a white box truck. Police initially believed all the murders were carried out with a .223 caliber rifle.
Virginia and Other Areas
Malvo and Muhammad began covering a wider area and taking two to three days between shootings:
October 4: At 2:30 p.m., 43-year-old homemaker Caroline Seawell was shot and wounded in the chest while loading purchases into her minivan in the parking lot of a Michaels store at Spotsylvania Mall in Spotsylvania, Virginia. By this point, hundreds of journalists had converged to cover the unfolding events. School officials reassured the public that they were taking every measure possible to protect children, tightening security and canceling all outdoor activities.
October 7: At 8:09 a.m., 13-year-old student Iran Brown was shot in the chest and critically wounded as he arrived at Benjamin Tasker Middle School in Bowie, Maryland. His aunt, Tanya Brown, a nurse, rushed him to a hospital emergency room. Despite serious injuries, including damage to several major organs, Brown survived and later testified at Muhammad's trial. Authorities found a shell casing and a Tarot card (the Death card) inscribed with "Call me God" at the crime scene. Despite police efforts to keep this information from the press, details were leaked and reported by WUSA-TV and The Washington Post the next day.
October 9: At 8:18 p.m., 53-year-old civil engineer Dean Harold Meyers was shot dead while pumping gasoline at a Sunoco gas station in Prince William County, Virginia, near Manassas.
October 11: At 9:30 a.m., 53-year-old businessman Kenneth Bridges was shot dead while pumping fuel at an Exxon station off Interstate 95 in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, near Fredericksburg.
October 14: At 9:15 p.m., 47-year-old FBI intelligence analyst Linda Franklin was shot dead in a covered parking lot at a Home Depot in Fairfax County, Virginia. A witness provided a seemingly good lead after this shooting, but it was later determined that the witness was lying. The witness, Matthew Dowdy, was subsequently convicted of interfering with the investigation.
Due to public safety concerns, gas stations began to put up tarps to conceal their customers, and some people crouched over to pump gas, while others waited in their cars. Malvo and Muhammad did not commit any more shootings for five days before striking again.
October 19: At 8:00 p.m., 37-year-old Jeffrey Hopper was shot in a parking lot near the Ponderosa Steakhouse in Ashland, Virginia, about 90 miles south of Washington, near Interstate 95. His wife Stephanie called for help, enabling Hopper to survive his injuries. Authorities discovered a four-page letter from the shooter in the woods, demanding $10 million and threatening children.
October 21: Richmond-area police arrested two men with a white van outside a gas station. The men turned out to be illegal immigrants with no connection to the shooter. They were subjected to cavity searches and remanded into federal custody, eventually being deported.
October 22: At 5:56 a.m., Ride On bus driver Conrad Johnson, 35, was shot while standing on the steps at the 14100 block of Grand Pre Road in Aspen Hill, Maryland. Johnson died of his injuries. On the same day, Chief Moose released part of the content of one of the shooter's letters, which declared, "Your children are not safe, anywhere, at any time."
While no shootings occurred on October 23, the day was significant for two reasons. First, ballistics experts confirmed Johnson as the 10th fatality in the Beltway shootings. Second, police searched a yard in Takoma Park, Maryland, with metal detectors, looking for bullets, shell casings, or other evidence that might link to the shooters. They seized a tree stump believed to have been used for target practice.
Public Reaction
With seven shooting victims, including six deaths, in the first 15 hours of the D.C. area spree, the North American media soon dedicated extensive coverage to the events. By mid-October 2002, all major news television networks were providing live coverage of each attack's aftermath, often lasting for hours. The Fox show "America's Most Wanted" devoted an entire episode to the shooters to aid in their capture. Coverage in The New York Times by Jayson Blair was later found to be fabricated, leading to the resignations of the newspaper's top editors, Howell Raines and Gerald Boyd.
As the attacks continued, public fear grew, particularly around service stations and parking lots where many shootings occurred. People pumping gas kept moving to present a smaller target. Lisa Notgrass from Lake Jackson, Texas, suggested to the media that gas stations put up tarps around fuel pumps for safety. Many people fueled their vehicles at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, feeling safer within the guarded fence. Government buildings and tourist sites in Washington, D.C., received heightened security. Senate pages received police escorts to and from the Capitol and were restricted from leaving their residence hall except for work. Drivers of white vans and box trucks were viewed with suspicion due to initial reports that the suspect might be driving such a vehicle.
After a specific threat against children, many schools curtailed field trips and outdoor activities. At the height of public fear, some school districts, such as Henrico County Public Schools and Hanover County Public Schools, closed for the day. Other schools canceled outdoor activities and changed after-school procedures to minimize the time children spent outside. Extra police officers were placed in schools due to the fear. Joel Schumacher's film "Phone Booth" was delayed until April 2003 because it was deemed potentially upsetting.
Investigation
The investigation was publicly led by the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) and its chief, Charles Moose, with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the FBI, the U.S. Secret Service, the Virginia Department of Transportation, and police departments in other affected jurisdictions.
During the three weeks of sniper attacks, police responded quickly to reports, cordoning off roads and inspecting drivers, causing significant traffic delays. They canvassed areas, talked to people, and collected surveillance tapes. By Friday night, October 4, the shootings from October 2 and 3 were forensically linked to the same gun.
Eyewitness accounts were mostly confused and spotty, and hotlines were flooded with tips. Early tips included reports of a white box truck with dark lettering and two men inside speeding away from the Leisure World shopping center. Police across Maryland were pulling over white vans and trucks. A gray car was reported speeding away after the October 4 shooting in Spotsylvania.
The shooter attempted to engage the police, prompting Moose to deliver cryptic messages through the media intended for the sniper. Tarot cards were left at several crime scenes, including a Death card with the message "Call me God." Later, handwritten notes demanding $10 million and threatening children's lives were found at crime scenes.
A telephone call from the shooter was traced to a pay phone at a gas station in Henrico County, Virginia. Police missed the suspects by a few minutes and detained occupants of a van at another pay phone at the same intersection.
The sniper boasted of his cleverness and mentioned a previous unsolved murder in "Montgomery," identified as the September 21 shooting at a liquor store in Montgomery, Alabama. On October 17, authorities matched Malvo's fingerprint found at the Benjamin Tasker Middle School site with one from the Montgomery liquor store scene. This link led to identifying Malvo's background and his close ties to John Allen Muhammad.
Difficult Progress
Despite an apparent lack of public progress, federal authorities were making significant headway in their investigation, developing leads in Washington state, Alabama, and New Jersey. They discovered that Muhammad's ex-wife, who had obtained a protective order against him, lived near the Capital Beltway in Clinton, a suburban community in Prince George's County, Maryland, adjacent to Montgomery County. Additionally, they obtained information about a car Muhammad had purchased in New Jersey.
The police found that the New Jersey license plate issued for Muhammad's 1990 Chevrolet Caprice had been checked by patrol cars near shooting locations in various states. However, the car had not been stopped because law enforcement databases did not link it to any criminal activity, and authorities were still focused on the "white van."
On October 3, 2002, Washington, D.C., police stopped the Caprice for a "minor traffic infraction" two hours before the shooting of Pascal Charlot. Witnesses later reported seeing a Caprice near the scene of his shooting.
On October 8, 2002, Baltimore police investigated a dark blue Chevrolet Caprice parked near the Jones Falls Expressway in Baltimore, with someone sleeping inside. The officers noted that the driver's license was from Washington state while the vehicle was registered in New Jersey. Despite the vehicle's suspicious nature and its fit with the description of a vehicle linked to the Washington, D.C., shooting five days earlier, the officers did not question the occupants extensively or search the vehicle.
Authorities quickly issued a media alert for the public to look out for a dark blue Chevrolet Caprice sedan, marking a major shift from the earlier focus on the "white box truck."
The Chevrolet Caprice was later found to have been used as an undercover police car in Bordentown, New Jersey.
Arrest
The crime spree ended at 3:15 a.m. on October 24, 2002, when Muhammad and Malvo were found sleeping in their car at a rest stop off Interstate 70 near Myersville, Maryland, and were arrested on federal weapons charges. Police were tipped off by two 911 calls from refrigerator mechanic Whitney Donahue at the rest stop. Four hours earlier, Montgomery County police chief Charles Moose had relayed this cryptic message to the sniper: "You have indicated that you want us to do and say certain things. You have asked us to say, 'We have caught the sniper like a duck in a noose.' We understand that hearing us say this is important to you." Moose asked the media "to carry the message accurately and often." This statement may refer to a Cherokee fable.
Trooper First Class D. Wayne Smith of the Maryland State Police was the first to arrive at the scene, using his unmarked police vehicle to block the exit by positioning the car between two parked tractor-trailers. As more troopers arrived, they sealed off the rest area at both the entrance and exit ramps without the suspects being aware of the growing police presence. Later, truck driver Ron Lantz's tractor-trailer was commandeered by troopers to complete the roadblock at the exit. With the suspects' escape route sealed off, SWAT officers moved in to arrest them.
A stolen Bushmaster .223-caliber weapon and bipod were found in a bag in Muhammad's car. Ballistics tests later conclusively linked the rifle to 11 of the 14 shootings, including one in which no one was hurt.
Conclusions of Investigations
Logistics and Tactics
The attacks were carried out using a stolen Bushmaster XM-15 semi-automatic .223 caliber rifle equipped with a Bushnell holographic weapon sight, effective at ranges of up to 300 meters (1,000 feet). This rifle was later found in the vehicle. The trunk of the Chevrolet Caprice was modified to serve as a "rolling sniper's nest," with the back seat altered to allow access to the trunk. Inside, the sniper could lie prone and take shots through a small hole near the license plate.
Motive
Investigators and the prosecution suggested during pre-trial motions that Muhammad intended to kill his second ex-wife, Mildred, who he felt had estranged him from his children. According to this hypothesis, the other shootings were meant to cover up the motive for the crime. Muhammad believed the police would not focus on an estranged ex-husband if Mildred appeared to be a random victim of a serial killer. During the attacks, Muhammad frequented the neighborhood where she lived, and some incidents occurred nearby. He had also made threats against her. Mildred claimed that when the police first approached her, one officer said, "Ms. Muhammad, didn't you know you were the target?" However, Judge LeRoy F. Millette Jr. prevented prosecutors from presenting this theory during the trial, stating that a link had not been firmly established.
While imprisoned, Malvo wrote a number of erratic diatribes about what he termed "jihad" against the United States. He wrote, "I have been accused on my mission. Allah knows I'm gonna suffer now." Because his rants and drawings included not only figures like Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein but also characters from the film series The Matrix, these musings were dismissed as immaterial. Some investigators reportedly said they had almost completely eliminated terrorist ties or political ideologies as motives. Nonetheless, in at least one of the ensuing murder trials, a Virginia court found Muhammad guilty of killing "pursuant to the direction or order" of terrorism.
At Muhammad's 2006 trial, Malvo testified that the aim of the killing spree was to kidnap children to extort money from the government and to "set up a camp to train children how to terrorize cities," with the ultimate goal being to "shut things down" across the United States. Malvo also stated that Muhammad was driven by his hatred for white people and his belief that "the white man is the devil." Muhammad's plan was to kill six white people per day for thirty days, and he told Malvo he wanted him to shoot pregnant white women.
Aftermath
Criminal Prosecutions
Virginia Trials
Before the trial, Chief Moose engaged in a publicity tour for his book on the sniper investigation, appearing on shows such as Dateline NBC, The Today Show, and The Tonight Show. Assistant Prince William County Commonwealth's Attorney James Willett told The Washington Post, "Personally, I don't understand why someone who's been in law enforcement his whole life would potentially damage our case or compromise a jury pool by doing this."
Requests for a change of venue by defense attorneys were granted, and the first trials were held in the independent cities of Chesapeake and Virginia Beach, southeastern Virginia, over 100 miles from the closest alleged attack in Ashland, Virginia.
During their trials in the fall of 2003, involving two of the victims in Virginia, Muhammad and Malvo were each found guilty of murder and weapons charges. Muhammad's jury recommended the death penalty, while Malvo's jury recommended life in prison without parole. The judges concurred in both cases. Alabama law enforcement authorities alleged that the snipers engaged in a series of previously unconnected attacks before October 2 in Montgomery, Alabama.
After the initial convictions and sentencing, Will Jarvis, the Assistant Prince William County prosecutor, stated he would wait to decide whether to try Malvo on capital charges in his jurisdiction until the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on whether juveniles could be subject to the death penalty. While the decision in an unrelated case was still pending before the high court, in October 2004, under a plea agreement, Malvo pleaded guilty in another case in Spotsylvania County for another murder to avoid a possible death penalty sentence and agreed to additional sentencing of life imprisonment without parole.
In March 2005, the Supreme Court ruled in Roper v. Simmons that the Eighth Amendment prohibits execution for crimes committed by juveniles. In light of this decision, the prosecutors in Prince William County decided not to pursue charges against Malvo. However, prosecutors in Maryland, Louisiana, and Alabama were still interested in putting both Malvo and Muhammad on trial. While Malvo could no longer face the death penalty, he could still be extradited to other states for prosecution. At the time of the Roper v. Simmons ruling, Malvo was 20 years old and was held at Virginia's maximum security Red Onion State Prison in Pound, Wise County.
Virginia Supreme Court Justice Donald Lemons wrote in the decision, "Muhammad, with his sniper team partner, Malvo, randomly selected innocent victims. With calculation, extensive planning, premeditation, and ruthless disregard for life, Muhammad carried out his cruel scheme of terror."
Muhammad's death penalty was affirmed by the Virginia Supreme Court on April 22, 2005. The court ruled that he could be sentenced to death because the murder was part of an act of terrorism, based on the handwritten note demanding $10 million. The court rejected the defense's argument that Muhammad could not be sentenced to death because he was not the triggerman in the killings linked to him and Malvo.
Execution of Muhammad
On September 16, 2009, Circuit Court Judge Mary Grace O'Brien set an execution date of November 10, 2009, for John Allen Muhammad by lethal injection. Muhammad's attorneys petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to stay the execution, but the request was denied. They also sought clemency from Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, which was also denied.
Muhammad was executed by lethal injection at the Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt, Virginia, on November 10, 2009. The execution procedure began at 9:06 p.m. EST, and Muhammad was pronounced dead five minutes later. When asked if he had any last words, Muhammad made no reply. Twenty-seven people, including victims' family members, witnessed his execution.
Maryland Trials
In May 2005, Virginia and Maryland reached agreements allowing Maryland to proceed with prosecuting charges where most shootings occurred. Malvo and his legal team were willing to negotiate his cooperation, and he waived extradition to Maryland. In contrast, Muhammad fought extradition, but a Virginia judge ordered it in August 2005.
Maryland agreed to transfer Muhammad and Malvo back to Virginia after their trials. Malvo pleaded guilty to six murders and confessed to others in different states. He was sentenced to six consecutive life terms without parole, but in 2017, his sentence in Virginia was overturned after an appeal.
On May 30, 2006, a Maryland jury found John Allen Muhammad guilty of six counts of murder. He was sentenced to six consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole on June 1, 2006.
On May 6, 2008, it was revealed that Muhammad had asked prosecutors in a letter to help him end legal appeals of his conviction and death sentence, stating, "so that you can murder this innocent black man." An appeal filed by Muhammad's defense lawyers in April 2008 cited evidence of brain damage that might render Muhammad incompetent to make legal decisions and argued he should not have been allowed to represent himself at his Virginia trial.
Malvo's Testimony
In John Allen Muhammad's May 2006 trial in Montgomery County, Maryland, Lee Boyd Malvo confessed to the 17 murders and gave a more detailed account of their plans. Malvo, after extensive psychological counseling, admitted he had lied at the earlier Virginia trial by claiming to be the trigger man for every shooting to protect Muhammad from a potential death sentence.
Malvo outlined Muhammad's multiphase plan. Phase One involved meticulous planning and practice around the D.C. area, with the goal of killing six white people a day for 30 days. This phase was disrupted by heavy traffic and lack of clear shots.
Phase Two was to take place in Baltimore, Maryland, beginning with the shooting of a pregnant woman and a Baltimore police officer, followed by detonating explosive devices at the officer's funeral to kill numerous police officers.
The final phase involved extorting several million dollars from the U.S. government to finance travel to Canada. Along the way, Muhammad planned to recruit impressionable young black boys from YMCAs and orphanages, acting as their father figure. Once in Canada, Muhammad intended to train these boys in weapons and stealth before sending them across the United States to carry out mass shootings, aiming to plunge the country into chaos.
Civil and Regulatory Actions
According to an April 20, 2003, story in The Seattle Times, John Allen Muhammad honed his marksmanship at Bull's Eye Shooter Supply's firing range. The newspaper also reported that Lee Boyd Malvo told investigators he had shoplifted the 35-inch-long (89 cm) carbine from the supposedly secure store.
U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) officials noted that the store and its owners had a long history of firearms sales and records violations, with a file 283 pages thick. In July 2003, the ATF revoked the federal firearms license of Brian Borgelt, a former staff sergeant with the U.S. Army Rangers and owner of Bull's Eye Shooter Supply. That same month, Borgelt transferred ownership of the store to a friend while continuing to own the building and operate the adjacent shooting gallery.
On January 16, 2003, the Legal Action Project of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence filed a civil lawsuit on behalf of the families of several sniper attack victims—both deceased (including Hong Im Ballenger, "Sonny" Buchanan Jr., Linda Franklin, Conrad Johnson, Sarah Ramos, and James L. Premkumar Walekar) and survivors (Rupinder "Benny" Oberoi and 13-year-old Iran Brown). The lawsuit targeted Bull's Eye Shooter Supply, Bushmaster Firearms, Inc. (the gun distributor and manufacturer of the rifle used in the crimes), Borgelt, Muhammad, and Malvo. Muhammad and Malvo were legally prohibited from purchasing firearms due to Muhammad's criminal record of domestic battery and Malvo's minor status.
The suit alleged that Bull's Eye Shooter Supply operated its Tacoma, Washington, gun store so negligently that many guns routinely "disappeared" from the store, and its records were so poorly maintained that it could not account for the Bushmaster rifle used in the sniper shootings when federal agents requested sale records. The dealer reportedly could not account for hundreds of guns received from manufacturers in the years before the attacks and continued selling guns irresponsibly even after Muhammad and Malvo were caught. Bushmaster was included in the lawsuit for allegedly continuing to sell guns to Bull's Eye despite knowing its record-keeping violations.
Although the case was set for trial in April 2005, the parties settled beforehand. Bushmaster cited escalating legal fees and dwindling insurance funds as reasons for the settlement. Bull's Eye contributed $2 million, and Bushmaster contributed $500,000 to an out-of-court settlement. Additionally, Bushmaster agreed to educate its dealers on safer business practices.
After the settlement, WTOP radio in Washington, D.C., reported that Sonia Wills, mother of victim Conrad Johnson, said her family participated in the lawsuit more to send a message than to collect money. "I think a message was delivered that you should be responsible and accountable for the actions of irresponsible people when you make these guns and put them in their hands," she stated.
Memorials
A memorial to the victims of the D.C. area sniper attacks is located at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, Maryland. Additionally, a memorial was constructed in 2014 in the government plaza of Rockville, Maryland.
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