STRANGENESS:

Police Won't Confirm Missing Man Has Shooting Connections: Man Is Reportedly Affiliated With White Supremacist Groups (NBC4, October 5, 2002)

State police in North Carolina said that they're looking for a former resident -- but won't confirm or deny a connection to a string of killings in Maryland and Washington, D.C.

A Raleigh newspaper, The News and Observer, reports that a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has issued a bulletin for Robert Gene Baker III. [...]

He is white, 5-feet-9 and 195 pounds, with brown eyes, brown hair and tattoos on both arms and back.

He was said to be traveling south in a white 2000 GMC van with dark lettering. The vehicle has a Maryland registration.

The ATF said that Baker is armed with a handgun and high-powered rifle and should be considered armed and extremely dangerous.

The only places we've seen this reported are at this TV station and in the Independent (uk) which says Baker is a white supremacist, White racist hunted after sniper attacks (Andrew Gumbel, 06 October 2002):

Police across three US states were searching yesterday for a 33-year-old white supremacist from North Carolina who they believe may be linked to the shocking series of random killings that have terrorised the Washington area over the past few days.

According to a bulletin from the North Carolina office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, a man named Robert Gene Baker III was believed to be around the American capital armed with a handgun and a high-powered rifle, and should be considered extremely dangerous. The ATF said he was driving a white GMC truck with Maryland registration plates and heading south towards North Carolina.

What gives?
Posted by Orrin Judd at October 6, 2002 12:06 PM