Area shootings: Linked to sniper?

Prince William County police are not sure if the person who shot out a food truck window at about 1:15 p.m. Wednesday on the 234 bypass is the sniper that killed six people and wounded two others in the Washington area in the last week, said Sgt. Kim Chinn, police spokeswoman.

She said Wednesday that it does not appear the shooting is related to the recent series of assassination-style sniper attacks.

It appears the weapon that blew the driver’s side window out of a Schenck’s refrigerated food service truck Wednesday as it traveled north toward interstate 66 was a shotgun, said Chinn, while on scene. She said bird shot, a type of shotgun ammunition designed for killing birds, may have been used. Chinn said it is currently dove hunting season.

A high-powered rifle firing .223 caliber bullets were used in all the other shootings. Police were not sure Wednesday afternoon if a shotgun was used.

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents interviewed the driver, 42, whose name was not released by police, while other agents and police scoured the vehicle and surrounding area for clues.

It is not known whether the shot or shots came from a car next to the truck, or from an area off the side of the road.

He was driving along when all of a sudden his window shattered. As police searched the vehicle, which was pulled off on the right shoulder, the right turn signal was still on.

Chinn said the driver did not see anyone shoot, or any vehicle speed away afterward. She did not know whether further investigation would turn up any evidence linking the shooting to the recent sniper shootings.

One person was killed Oct. 2 and five were killed Oct. 3 in Montgomery County, Md. A mother of three was shot in the back Friday outside a Michaels Arts and Crafts store in Fredericksburg as she loaded bags into her van. She was released from the hospital Tuesday. A 13-year-old boy was shot as his aunt walked him into school Monday morning.

Chinn said Prince William police have received hundreds of calls in recent days reporting suspicious people in white box trucks.

One witness saw a white box truck speeding away from the scene of one of the Maryland shootings, although Montgomery County police are not sure what kind of vehicle the killer drives.

Staff writer Daniel Drew can be reached at (703) 878-8065.