Ohio Highway Shootings - A Question

[Moondancer]

(Moderators: if this should be in General instead of L&P, please move it. Thanks.)

A question asked in another thread, so far as I know, never was answered. It raised another question in my mind. So here they are.

In the Dayton area highway shootings, of which there's been what... 23 or 24 now, I have never heard what kind of gun is being used. The news reports state that the police have been able to match bullets recovered from the shootings well enough to decide that many of them came from the same weapon. And one fairly recent report seemed to indicate tha the shooter was using a handgun.

So... has anyone heard what caliber the shooter is using? And, based on what happened in Maryland with the "snipers", is Dayton area residents with particular caliber weapons receiving visits from LEOs asking for them to "lend" their guns for testing?

(Note: this next paragraph should perhaps only be read when wearing a tin-foil beanie! )

A cynical part of me thinks that it's remarkably coincidental that with the number of shootings only one person has been killed. Idle thoughts wonder if the shooter is exceptionally well-trained and deliberately not hitting any other people. (One killing was enough to elevate it to national attention.) Any bets that shortly before September 14th, an EEEEVIL black "assault weapon" will be found laying at the sight of another shooting? And that after a new, more stingent AWB is in place that the shootings will stop and no-one will ever be apprehended? Things that make ya go "hmmmmm".

Okay, ya can take off the tin-foil beanie and return to your normal conditions, whatever that may be!

 

[foghornl]

Moondancer:

If you are refering to the I-270 area shootings, those are around Columbus, OH, not Dayton.

Otherwise, though, I agree...

Things that make ya go "Hmmmmmmmmmmmm...."

I did ONCE hear something about 'handgun', but no specific calibre or type of weapon mentioned.

 

[Moondancer]

Sorry, I was mis-remembering and come up with Dayton.

And you are right, the ONE mention of a handgun was just that, one mention. Seems to me the cops are being uncommonly close-mouthed about this one. (Good thing, IMHO. They don't need to pull a "Moose" to be good cops.)

 

[Higgins]

Seems I recall a brief article on this very subject in the Columbus Dispatch. The gist of it was that the police had in fact informed the media of the type of bullet, but had asked the media not to report it. According to the article, the Dispatch and other media outlets were voluntarily complying with this request. It cited concerns that revealing the calibre might possibly hinder the investigation, although it didn't say specifically how.

At least one citizen expressed a contrary view that revealing the caliber and weapon might actually help. The police had asked hunters to keep an eye out for "unusual" individuals or weapons they may come across while hunting close to I-270. The person said it might be helpful in doing so if hunters knew what kind caliber or weapon was being used.

As for the handgun information, most of that comes fairly recently from the last 2 or 3 incidents where motorists whose vehicles were shot actually saw the shooter atop the overpasses from where he was shooting. They have reported that he was using a handgun. As for the shooter's skill, at least one driver whose car was hit said he didn't think the shooter was aiming at him with the purpose of killing him, so much as just aiming at the car. How he knows this, I can't venture.

Now, I'd be curious to know what caliber killed the only fatality so far. According to reports, the bullet traveled through the drivers side of the car, through the driver's winter coat and then hit the passenger killing her. Indicating a shot from the side of the highway. Reports indicated that the areas on either side of the highway in that incident were open ground for at least a hundred yards in either direction. This all suggests to me someone shooting with a rifle from a distance away, unless he was standing right by the side of the road on open ground with a handgun when he shot and no one on either side of a major highway in broad daylight on a heavy shopping weekend just before X-mas saw it.

Likewise, other incidents tied to the shooter indicate a rifle, i.e. bullets that have hit houses and penetrated the outside wall and into the interior walls. Similarly, these house sat across from the the shot's trajectory came from a large open field area.

 

[Cosmoline]

Assuming it's a high-powered rifle, my guess is the yahoo is shooting at objects rather than people. Cars, houses, etc. What concerns me is that the yahoo may move up to people in time.

 

[Greg L]

A T/C is an easy way to get a rifle cartridge out of a handgun sized package.

 

[Third_Rail]

Moondancer, you had better be wrong about how the AWB may be renewed magically.

 

[Ktulu]

I don't buy the theory that the shooter is deliberately trying not to hurt people. If that was the case, a logical person would have stopped after killing someone. Just walk away and never speak a word about it. Continuing to shoot tells me the person either wants to get caught or doesn't think they can get caught. Shooting at people shows a huge disregard for safety. To assume you're not going to kill someone and when you do, continue is if it wont happen again is, to me, beyond rational reasoning. Besides, if you want to get guns banned people have to die, lots of um.

 

[Henry Bowman]

In the beginning he was shooting at the side of vehicles moving at highway speed. Who knows how manys misses for each hit. Recently, it is reported that he has been shooting at oncoming traffic from overpasses (southward on I-71). Much easier to hit and to injure/kill. Also more likely to get caught. He will eventually mess up and leave more clues. If he had the mental stability to avoid detection, he probably could indefinately. of course, if he had mental stability he wouldn't be doing what he's doing.

 

[AJ Dual]

I would bet $100 if it was .223 caliber, the media would have ignored the wishes of Law Enforcment and someone would have chanced thier ire, to be first in print with full page AR-15/M-16/M-4 graphics.

When the crimes are comitted (often with more range, power, and accuracy, as we all know) with a plain 'ol "Deer Rifle", the description never makes the papers.

 

[Third_Rail]

I've noticed that as well, how strange.

 

[standingbear]

I think the reason for the hush hush is that the federales dont want to be flooded with a bunch of dead end leads(like the infamous white van) and also bring more(there are some copy cats already getting caught) copy cat types out of the woodwork.the "shooter" is going to slip up,no doubt about it...theres quite a few people looking now.

 

[Mark Tyson]

When the crimes are comitted (often with more range, power, and accuracy, as we all know) with a plain 'ol "Deer Rifle", the description never makes the papers

Only because they don't want to alarm the hunters at the moment. If they can ram an AWB renewal down our throats, those will be next, you mark my words.

 

[Atticus]

It's a LARGE caliber handgun... if it's a handgun. I would guess a .44 , .45, .480, or .454. The bullet holes in the cars are huge. My first thought was shotgun slug. They are keeping all information closely guarded. Reports so far (for what they are worth) are: 30-40 year old white male - dark sports car- big handgun. One news report indicated thta a security system may have caught him on tape, but I never heard another word about that.
I think the one killing was unintentional , but he obviously didn't care. That shot, hit in front of the drivers door and passed over the drivers legs, striking the passenger. Several of the others have hit the center of car hoods. Assuming the same guy has been doing this, he has shot (mostly unoccupied) tractor-trailer rigs, buildings, houses and school buses. I think he would have killed more people if he was trying to....either that, or the people of Franklin Co. are tremendously lucky. From what I hear, the BATF is doing a lot of FFL audits in the area - so they are looking for something specific. Hopefully it will end soon. I'd love to see a newly licensed CCW holder return fire and smoke him.

 

[Mark Tyson]

Large caliber? I saw some footage on the news of police collecting a casing from the overpass, and it looked like a 9mm.

 

[Atticus]

9mm doesn't jive with the bullet holes they've shown...unless it's some kind of optical illusion. Could be though.

 

[Politically Incorrect]

I agree with you Atticus, from the video I've seen, it does appear to be a large caliber such as a .44 Magnum.

 

[NoHarmNoFAL]

I'm fairly sure it's a 9mm the holes that you have seen are oblique angle shots and the shattered paint tends to make the hole look bigger. For those of you who have not shot up junk cars a rifle just tends to poke holes not tear metal a pistol bullet will tear the metal.

Here is my reasoning it is not a rifle bullet.
1. At first he was shooting from a car either along side or going in opposite directions or even just sitting along side the road.
2. A 9mm fmj will penetrate a car door and the bullet was recovered from the victim. If this were a .308 it would have passed on through out the other sided of the car. If it were a .223 she would have most likely survived due to fragmentation.
3. He has been seen with a handgun.
4. not unlike blue Accords and tan Camrys 9mm is very non-descript.

I can't tell yet if this guy is smart or really stupid. He could just stop and I don't think he would ever be caught. Yet when he does shoot, at least the last two, he shoots from overpasses that have no access to or from the highway so this leads me to think that he is at least thinking this out.

As bad as all this is and I do think that it is really bad, this just goes to show people that you are your only form of protection out there. Law enforcement is really only going to be able to clean up the messes and fill out the paperwork they cannot protect anyone, not really their job.