Endgame

So it appears that the sniper has been caught. A sudden and almost boring end to what was once indistinguishable from a bad movie.

What really astounds me is how the whole thing ended. I mentioned a week ago (not in this space) that the sniper was in a position to go down in history as one of the great criminal masterminds of all time. I posited that he could pack up, leave town, and they'd probably never discover who was behind the whole mess. If his goal was immortality, it was within his grasp. Hell, he could even have popped up every once and again down the road in other cities and scare the crap out of even more people. "Is the sniper back? Has he come to our town? Whatever will we do?" Rinse and repeat. Immortality.

Instead, he started leaving notes. He started making outlandish demands. Then, he went and said something stupid like "Oh, you think I'm kidding, huh? Check with xyz police department! Then you'll see!"

So xyz police department really did have some information on a psycho with a rifle and decent training, including a car make/model and a license plate. Within 24 hours, the guy is caught.

The whole scenario only goes to demonstrate the inherent stupidity of 998 out of 1000 criminals. Toward the end, it may have just been hubris, but still--what a fucking idiot! It's like he gave away his whole plan like some real-life Dr. Evil in the nick of time for the Good Guys to foil him. "I'll get you next time, Gadget. Next time!"

Crime doesn't pay. McGruff has always said so. And as Dan said, you should pay attention when a giant cartoon dog offers life advice. I know I did. And I'm not in jail.

October 24, 2002 - 11:49 PM