THE US: Another fatal shooting yesterday at a petrol station near Washington heightened public fears stemming from seven sniper killings in the past nine days.
A black man was shot at an Exxon station in Massaponax, Virginia, 80 km south of Washington, at around 9.40 a.m., police said. He died later at a nearby hospital.
Police did not immediately link the killing to the previous sniper attacks, but they launched a major security operation in Virginia.
Huge traffic jams built up on Interstate 95, the main highway down the US east coast, as police checked scores of vehicles in their search for a white Chevrolet Astro-type van seen in the area.
All exits in Northern Virginia were temporarily closed, according to police.
Major Howard Smith, a Spotsylvania County sheriff's department spokesman, said police and federal investigators were looking at evidence linking the killing and the sniper attacks and had turned it over to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
He said the attack fitted the pattern of the sniper attacks, adding that a Virginia state trooper was "directly across the street", working at the scene of a traffic accident, when he heard one shot and rushed over to the stricken man.
Major Smith said it was evident, since a trooper was across the street at the time, that the killer was "extremely violent and obviously doesn't care".
The spokesman said, however, that no one had been detained, and cautioned that officials were not certain the white vehicle was involved in the latest gas station shooting. Three of the sniper's victims have been killed at petrol stations. Two people have also been wounded since the attacks started on October 2nd.
Police in Maryland, meanwhile, said the FBI was to release a "graphic aid" on the sniper case later in the day.
Montgomery County, Maryland police chief Charles Moose also made a renewed appeal for anyone in the vicinity of any of the nine attacks to call a central tip line. "We certainly would like to talk to you," Mr Moose said.
Schools near the shooting sites have stopped children from going outside and have cancelled sports activities, while many stores shops have reported slower business.
Major Smith acknowledged that people must be afraid, but urged them to proceed with their normal lives.
All of the victims were carrying out everyday activities in the Washington area, such as going to the supermarket or putting petrol in their cars, when they were shot.
Five people were killed within a 16-hour period from late October 2nd to October 3rd in Montgomery County, which borders Washington.
A sixth person was killed late on October 3rd while standing on a Washington street corner.
On October 4th, a woman was shot in the back in the parking lot of a shopping mall in Fredericksburg, Virginia, but survived.
A 13-year-old boy was shot in Bowie, Maryland, after being dropped off at school and remains hospitalised, while a 53-year-old man was shot and killed late on Wednesday while getting petrol in Manassas, Virginia.
The reward for information leading to the killer's capture and conviction has increased to more than $350,000. - (AFP)