http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...-2002Oct3.html
Five Killed in Maryland County
By Stephen Manning
Associated Press Writer
Thursday, October 3, 2002; 11:58 AM
SILVER SPRING, Md. ?? Five people were slain within a mile radius, gunned down one by one within 24 hours in public places in Washington's suburbs, authorities said Thursday.
One of the victims was shot to death while riding a lawnmower.
Authorities were attempting to determine whether the shootings late Wednesday and early Thursday were related. Investigators had not found any indication that the five victims were related in any way or had any conflict with anyone, Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose said.
Police were looking for two pepole in a white cargo van, possibly with damage at the back. Several witnesses told police they saw such a vehicle leaving some of the shooting scenes.
The first slaying happened Wednesday night when a 55-year-old man shot in the parking lot of a Wheaton grocery store, police spokeswoman Nancy Demme said.
The man on the lawnmower was killed about 7:45 a.m. Thursday in the White Flint area, and another man was shot at 8:15 a.m. while pumping gas at a Mobil station in the Aspen Hill area. He died at the scene.
About a half-hour later, a woman died at a post office next to the Leisure World retirement community in Silver Spring. The woman was shot in the head, according to a spokesman for the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Department.
A woman was then shot about 10 a.m. at a Shell gas station in Kensington. Mechanics at the gas station said they heard the shots but didn't see the person or persons who killed the woman, who was vacuuming her van.
"We didn't see any confrontation or anybody around her," mechanic John Mistery said.
As a precaution, Montgomery County schools canceled all outdoor activities and locked down school buildings. No one was being allowed to leave or enter school buildings unless a parent called ahead to retrieve their children. The lockdown would remain in effect until police said it was safe to lift the restrictions, schools spokeswoman Kate Harrison said.
Moose asked residents not to panic, especially parents, whom he urged not to rush to schools to get their children.
Schools in the District of Columbia also canceled outdoor activities.