The 71 Gauntlet

Well, I'm back from the weekend. For those of you unaware of my travels, I usually go up to Columbus every weekend to visit my fiancee. We're waiting to get married until she finishes up with law school which will be this May. You can check in with her progress in this and with the wedding by going to Down the Aisle.

Naturally, all this travel gives me great time to think about things like the Columbus sniper. The first 20 or so shootings didn't really even register, but when he moved on to I-71, then I sat up a little more than normal. Actually, I even saw his work one afternoon. It was his first venture onto I-71. There is a point, about mile marker 70 or so, where there are two bridges from country roads that cross the interstate. This is all just north of an area where a lot of highway construction is happening. Anyway, while I was driving back to Cincinnati I saw a bunch of cop cars with their lights flashing. I slowed down a bit but didn't pay much attention because as its just north of construction, I assumed someone had been speeding in the zone. It was then that I saw the news van and someone setting up the big camera. I didn't fully put it together until I saw it on the news that evening. It certainly has made me look at the overpasses a little more. You also see more cops patrolling the area (and handing out lots of speeding tickets along with it). I even saw one squad car over an overpass and drive very slowly over it. I suspect, he had his radar gun out and was radioing ahead to anyone in waiting. Fortunately, I usually hold it around 70 on the highway.

Will he be caught? Eventually. But only after doing more damage. The talk at work has him moving from I-71 on the south side, out to I-70 on either the west or east side. I lean towards the East side as traffic is heavier there. I also believe that this guy is really dangerous because he's not a real marksman. If he were a real marksman, he would have killed more than one person by now. In each of his hits, he's been about a second early and hitting the hoods, rather than through the windshield. So he's reckless and that is even more dangerous. But for now we must wait on the courage and intelligence of the Columbus Police Department.

God help us all.