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Gregg McCrary wasn't at all surprised to hear that the bullet that wounded a Spotsylvania County woman Friday came from the same gun used in six fatal sniper attacks in Washington and Maryland earlier in the week.
"This is an extremely rare type of killer we're dealing with," the retired FBI profiler said yesterday. "The odds that we were dealing with a copycat here were slim."
The person--or persons--terrorizing localities from Maryland to the Fredericksburg area over the past five days is what profilers label a "spree killer," McCrary said.
The spree killer differs from a serial killer in that he "works at warp speed and doesn't have long cooling-off periods like typical serial killers," he said.
McCrary said spree killers emerge much less often than serial killers.
One of the last widely publicized cases involving a spree killer was that of Andrew Cunanan in 1997. Cunanan, whose spree ended with his suicide, was blamed for the killings of five men, including Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace.
Based on interviews with spree killers, McCrary said they are motivated equally by the thrill of the kill and by that of eluding law enforcement.
"This guy is probably on a major high right now," McCrary said. "He's proven to himself how smart he is and how skillful a predator he is."
The national news coverage surrounding the shooting spree is adding to the killer's excitement, McCrary said. He said the shootings were done in very public places so that the killer's feats would be instantly recognized.
"The risk is part of the thrill," McCrary said. "If you shoot someone in a more rural area, it might be a while before someone finds them. He needs the immediate feedback."
There's no way of knowing where the killer might strike next, McCrary said, but chances are he will strike again soon. Such killers don't normally stop on their own, he said.
McCrary agrees with investigators that the public is going to have to provide the information that breaks the case.
He urged citizens not to get "tunnel vision" about the suspect. For example, there have been reports of a white van or truck in the area of at least some of the shootings.
He said the presence of the white vehicle might have been just a coincidence, while the killer was driving another vehicle.
"If in fact the white truck has nothing to do with it, the suspect is laughing about how smart he is and how stupid the rest of us are while he drives around in his blue Volvo or something."
McCrary said the shooter could well be working in concert with another deranged individual. He said spree killers sometimes work in pairs, but there's almost no chance there would be more than two.
McCrary said his best guess is that the suspect either lives or works in the Montgomery County, Md., area--where five of the shootings have taken place.
The intensity of the investigation there and the public scrutiny may have pushed him south.
"If there is another victim, he or she will be just like the others--someone unfortunate enough to cross paths with this sick individual."