More on the DC Snipers and their victims from 9NEWS NOW and WUSA9.com

Even though convicted killers John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo had been wounding and killing people around the country for at least eight months, it wasn’t until their shooting spree that took the lives of five people on October 2 and 3, 2002 that anyone realized something very unusual was going on. In fact, it wasn’t until midway through that violent 14 hours in Montgomery County, Maryland that this all starting coming together and everyone went on high alert for the next 20 days.

It was a terrifying time in and around the Washington, DC area. It showed how vulnerable we really are. It didn’t take some vast, costly, years in the making plot to strike terror in our hearts and minds. All it took was a beat up car, some fuel,  a rifle and a few bullets to alter our way of life and impact how we view our own safety and the safety of our family.

The video above was put together by 9NEWS NOW’s Samara Martin Ewing. On the eve of the scheduled execution, in Virginia, of Muhammad, it shows how firefighters and paramedics with the Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service dealt with the killings that put the spotlight on the snipers. It combines interviews Sam conducted in 2003 with 911 recordings and news footage.

If you want to learn more about this case click here for a variety of articles and video that Sam put together.

Also, I suggest the 2003 book Sniper by Sari Horwitz and Michael Ruane. The two Washington Post reporters provide an inside look at the massive investigation involving federal, state and local law enforcement. I think it is a must read for any of you might some day find themselves involved in a large interagency task force.

Also on STATter911 …

• Quick Takes – November 10, 2009
• Fireground audio roundup from the National Capital area. Listen in on the District of Columbia, Fairfax County and Montgomery County – January 20, 2010
• Investigation into Montgomery County, Maryland firehouse sleepover. Burtonsville VFD member’s Saturday night date discovered after she uses another firefighter’s bed as a toilet. – December 1, 2009
• Quick Takes – December 11, 2009