KENSINGTON, MD. — Five people were killed apparently at random in the Washington suburb of Montgomery County during a 16-hour shooting spree Wednesday and Thursday.
Police are looking for a white delivery truck that a witness saw leaving one of the crime scenes.
The murders did not appear to be an act of terrorism, gang violence or a hate crime, law enforcement officials said. But police also said that they “are not closing any avenue” in the investigation and that the culprit is probably “a skilled shooter.”
Three of the victims were shot while running daily errands — one buying groceries, another pumping gas and a third vacuuming her minivan at a service station.
A fourth person was killed while riding a lawn mower near a sidewalk and a fifth while sitting on a bench, waiting for a ride.
The victims, all adults, were each shot with one bullet, in different locations, and appeared to have nothing in common, police said. The random nature of the crimes created a frightening situation for surrounding neighborhoods in the county just north of Washington.
About 190 schools were placed on “Code Blue” alert Thursday, which calls for a lockdown of school buildings and cancellation of outside recess and after-school activities. But children were allowed to leave at the end of the school day, with police officers patrolling nearby.
In addition, police officials offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to arrests and indictments in the case.
“Nothing like this has ever happened in Montgomery County,” said the county’s police chief Charles Moose. “This is a very safe community. Our homicide rate just increased 25 percent in one day.”
A witness at one of the shootings described two men fleeing the scene in a white box van, possibly an Isuzu or Mitsubishi with black letters on it and a damaged rear bumper, police officials said.
As a result, law enforcement agencies searched aggressively in Maryland, Washington and Virginia for vehicles that fit the description. Several nearby police departments were called in to help, as well as the Secret Service, the U.S. Marshals, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF).
FBI officials said that the shootings did not appear to be an act of terrorism and Montgomery County Police discounted the possibility of a “hate crime” because the victims were white, Indian and Hispanic.
“We’re across the board in genders and ethnic backgrounds,” said Capt. Nancy Demme, spokesperson for the Montgomery County Police Department.
In addition, Demme said that “no words were spoken by anyone” prior to the shootings and that there appears to be no political motivation for the crimes.