SNIPER INVESTIGATION Officials seek answers for why shootings took place

One criminologist said the shooter may have been trying to make police look incompetent.
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
WASHINGTON -- Legions of investigators are combing the country, as well as the Caribbean isles, to discover what may have motivated John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo, suspects in the killing of 10 people and wounding of three others in one of the nation's most notorious shooting sprees.
What is emerging so far is a dark narrative of two troubled lives -- of failed marriages and businesses, of a youth's slavish devotion to a charming but malevolent faux father, of lives lived small, and schemes that were, seemingly, grandiose.
Still, whether the sniper shootings were the outgrowth of a disturbed personality, or some philosophical pique, or even part of a larger international conspiracy remains uncertain.
Were the suspects sympathetic with Al-Qaida terrorists bent on anti-American treachery? Were they possibly associated with militant anti-American groups at home?
More deeply, is it even possible to separate terrorism from "regular" criminality at a time when indiscriminate rifle fire or targeted anthrax attacks cause widespread fear?
One possibility
And perhaps the most frightening question: In the "new normal" atmosphere following last year's 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States, will others -- either for philosophical reasons or because they are mentally disturbed -- be emboldened to become lone terrorists?
"Certainly at the very least it can influence some individuals who already are inclined to maybe favor a certain ideology, like maybe anti-Americanism," said Candice Skrapec, professor of criminology at California State University in Fresno.
"The fuel takes the form of essentially affirming their own feelings of anger and their need to retaliate, and also maybe giving them ... specific direction about how to do that," said Skrapec, who has studied serial killers.
"Indeed, if your anti-American sentiments or your anti-authority sentiments are affirmed by the actions of another, that can give you the impetus or the courage to proceed with your own campaign because you feel much more justified."
While intelligence and law-enforcement officials are not ready to predict that more criminal-terrorist actions are in store as a result of 9/11 and its aftermath, they would not be surprised if that were the case.
"I think it's a psychological and historical given than when times are uncertain, or when the fabrics of society and civilization are perceived as fraying, acts of violence, terror and lawlessness become much more common," said Stacie Dotson, a senior analyst with Hawkeye Systems, a defense contractor in Alexandria, Va., specializing in counterterrorism.
"I do not think the true measure has yet been taken of the psychological impact of 9/11," said Dotson, a lawyer who has worked in naval intelligence and criminal investigations.
"Those of us who have been in the military, or in law enforcement, or otherwise on the front lines of life where bad things happen, probably were not as surprised and shocked as the rest of the country."
'Lone wolf' theory
Although Muhammad had converted to Islam some years ago, and more recently changed his name to reflect that, there is no evidence so far to connect him to any radical Islamic group -- even though witnesses have said he expressed support for the Middle Eastern terrorists who attacked American targets last year.
In this sense, Muhammad -- if he proves to be the Washington-area sniper -- has acted in a pattern similar to Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. McVeigh sympathized with anti-government radicals in this country, although apparently he had very little direct contact with such groups.
Instead, he acted as a "lone wolf" or individual domestic terrorist cell whose aim was to cause such social and political disruption that it would undermine the government.
In Muhammad's case, says criminologist Skrapec, his true target may not have been the individual victims but the agents of government authority -- in this case, law-enforcement officers.
"What he was doing is killing their reputation ... showing up their incompetence," she said. "And when you show someone how stupid they are, in effect, what you are really doing is showing that you are smarter, you are superior. I've seen that with some serial murderers."
While Muhammad's motivations seem (at this early stage in the investigation, anyway) to have been more personal than philosophical, political or religious, experts say his conversion to Islam coupled with his alleged support of the 9/11 attacks should not be ignored.
"Converts to a religion sometimes feel the need to prove themselves through aggressive action to show their devotion and the seriousness of their intent," said Chip Berlet, an authority on right-wing extremists with Political Research Associates of Somerville, Mass.
"If so, there may be a tendency to pursue the most dogmatic and zealous aspect of a particular religion. Then those militant Muslims that praised the 9/11attacks would be pointing at actions deemed praiseworthy.
"It is possible that some people who are suffering from some forms of mental illness become caught up in political or religious subcultures where apocalyptic thinking and demonization are commonplace," said Berlet.
Religious fanaticism
"They then lack the psychological restraints that keep other similarly situated people from acting out on their beliefs in a violent manner.
"At the same time," he added, "relatively sane people in political or religious subcultures where apocalyptic thinking and demonization are commonplace can become so angry and frustrated that the barriers to violence are simply breached by arguments that the violence prevents a greater moral harm."
Whether or not that happens with greater frequency now remains a troubling unknown. So far, Muhammad and John Lee Malvo -- the perhaps impressionable young man who lived until their arrest as a kind of surrogate son to Muhammad -- have said nothing to indicate what might have been their motives in the case. Family members and acquaintances seem baffled as well.
Muhammad and Malvo reportedly aren't saying anything. In fact, published reports have suggested that Malvo, while being left alone for a few minutes in an interrogation room while chained to a table, broke the table and tried to escape through a ceiling duct.
Still, investigators have a considerable number of people coming forward and have arrested Nathaniel Osborne, a material witness in the case, who apparently helped Muhammad purchase the now-infamous 1990 Chevrolet Caprice.
Moreover, in addition to the Bushman .223 rifle removed from the car, investigators retrieved a handgun and a laptop computer that are now being evaluated.