Retired Hagerstown Police Officer recalls fearing for his family's safety during the Beltway Sniper's killing spree while he was away from home serving overseas.

  I remember that situation SO well!  I had only been in Kosovo just under a month when it was going on.  As I learned more and more from the news I called home 1 night and told my wife to STAY out of the shopping centers EVERYWHERE! "This nit-wit is using the Interstates and he could be ANYWHERE!"  Of course most people thought that there was only one - who would've dreamt that there were TWO?  Scared the crap out of me as I'm sure it did many others!  I think it was determined later that they were 'in the area' and they had a drawing of (I believe!) Bobs' Big Boy out at Valley Mall.  My daughter's boy friend at the time used a white van for his work w/no logo or signs on the side.  He got stopped several times before the Police learned they were in a different vehicle!  He was upset the first time but after a while he kind of laughed about it.  I ran in to my nephew and he traveled in that area a good bit.  He told me that he was about half afraid if he stopped for gas so he'd put the pump in and start walking around the car trying NOT to stand still!  Funny but not really, you know? The 'Sniper' news was all over the news that I saw.  I knew the area that he was doing his work and I guessed that he HAD to be using the Interstate System to move around.  YUP - really made me think as the wife told me that they were going to this mall or that mall to get a 'jump' on Christmas shopping in an email.  I answered her email but headed for a telephone to tell her in person! ~Ernie Stoner, Hagerstown Police Retired

A Note tacked to a tree by the beltway snipers, left behind to taunt the police that they were God and could decide who lives and who dies.