Spot Historical Crime: The Beltway Sniper Shootings
In addition to providing the most accurate and up to date crime maps and reports daily, SpotCrime also features archived cases and reports on our maps pertaining to famous historical crimes. In this first addition of Spot Historical Crimes, we will investigate the Beltway Sniper Shootings of 2002. In October of 2002, Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia were terrorized by a series of sniper attacks. 17 people were murdered in the terror that ensued. The culprits, John Muhammad and Lee Malvo shot their victims at a distance from the trunk of their Blue 1990 Chevrolet Caprice with a .223 caliber rifle equipped with a red-dot sight at ranges of between 50 and over 100 yards. The culprits left tarot cards at some of their crime scenes, one of which can be seen below. The pair was arrested October 24, 2002, sleeping in their car at a Maryland rest stop. Malvo eventually testified against Muhammad and is serving life in prison. Muhammad is currently