Message From the Shooter Is Taken to the Public

This is the text of a statement made by Montgomery County Police Chief Charles A. Moose in which he said the sniper terrorizing the Washington area made a threat against children:

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We have received a communication. We will be responding soon. Secondly there continues to be a great deal of speculation as to a reference, a threat in the message previously received. As stated earlier, everyone knows that all of our citizens are and have been at risk. The person or people have demonstrated a willingness and ability to shoot people of all ages, all races, all genders and they’ve struck at different times of the day, different days at different locations.

We recognize the concerns of the community and therefore are going to provide the exact language in the message that pertains to the threat. It is in form of postscript: “Your children are not safe anywhere at any time.”

We feel it’s important to provide this information to the public. We are not providing the remaining content of the message. It does not communicate to the public. However, to share that at this point would be detrimental to an investigation and will not be released.

Please understand that this exact language has previously been shared with the leadership, the law enforcement community leadership, people who needed to make decisions. As a result of numerous inquiries, and reporting of incorrect versions, different versions, we felt it was important to come out and give the exact version so that people could have it ....