Five Years

Today marks the 5-year anniversary of the first "DC Sniper" killing in Maryland. I can't believe how the time has gone...but at the same time, that feels like a whole different era.

I had just moved to DC in late August, so I was still getting to know this area. I lived in Silver Spring at the time, and I remember when the news hit of that first killing in Montgomery County, Scotte and Dancer didn't want me to go home and offered that I could stay at their place. My parents were not so sure about my decision to move to the big scary city, but at the same time I think it made them kinda famous among their new gated golf community neighbors.

As time went on, we all grew scared - learning to "zigzag" in parking lots, avoiding gas stations and Michael's and Home Depot, ducking in fear whenever we saw white box trucks, and getting used to even more horrendous traffic and road blocks throughout the region. In retrospect, the white box truck paranoia is a pretty perfect example of how a media frenzy can affect reality.

I had experienced my own paranoia and anxiety before, particularly the summer that Pittsburgh was stalked by the East End Rapist, who broke into apartment homes in my neighborhood and attacked women in their sleep.

But that fall of 2002 was the first time I've really felt part of a community of fear. It's not a good feeling, but it's pervasive. Everyone was on edge, constantly looking over their shoulders and making decisions about whether or not to risk their lives simply by going out. To me, that's the definition of terrorism. After the snipers were caught, you could almost feel the entire region giving a sigh of relief and beginning to go about their lives normally again.

Thankfully, those five years feel like a lifetime, because that feeling of fear now seems so foreign. I think that's a good thing....