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ROCKVILLE, Maryland (CNN) -- With no suspect identified in a string of seemingly random shootings in the Washington area, police Sunday urged residents to be vigilant, as the first funeral was held for one of the victims.
"We remain convinced that someone in our community knows who's engaged in this," Montgomery County, Maryland Police Chief Charles Moose told reporters.
He urged residents to heighten their suspicions of people who appear unusual.
"[Someone] is aware that they haven't been around, is aware that they have been acting differently, that they have altered their schedule, that they may be gloating," he said.
Five people were shot and killed in Montgomery County during a 16-hour period from Wednesday night into Thursday morning. A sixth victim was shot dead Thursday night on a Washington street.
Friday afternoon, a 43-year-old woman, who had been loading purchases from Michaels Crafts store in Fredericksburg, Virginia, was hit by a bullet that pierced her lower back, exited her chest and came to rest inside her Toyota minivan. She was in stable condition in a Fairfax hospital.
Maj. Howard Smith of the Spotsylvania County, Virginia sheriff's Office said testing done by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms concluded that the .223-caliber slug collected from the van of the Virginia victim matches rounds taken from three of the five people killed in Maryland, and the man killed in Washington.
Authorities said bullet fragments from the other two Maryland shootings are presumed to have been fired by the same weapon, but were too damaged to be conclusively linked.
Mourners attended a funeral Sunday for one of Thursday's victims, Prenkumar Walekar, 54, a taxi driver from Olney, Maryland, who was killed while filling his minivan with gas at a mobile station in nearby Aspen Hill.
The shootings began late Wednesday afternoon when someone fired a shot through a window at another Michaels crafts store, this one in Wheaton, Maryland, but no one was hit. A spokesman said there is no indication the chain had been targeted.
At 6:05 p.m. Wednesday, the first killing took place when 55-year-old James D. Martin was shot in the parking lot of Shoppers Food Warehouse in Wheaton.
At 7:41 a.m. Thursday, police were called to a crime scene and found James L. Buchanan, a 39-year-old landscaper who had been shot while mowing a lawn at a commercial establishment near Rockville. Buchanan was identified as the son of a retired Montgomery County police officer.
At 8:12 a.m. Thursday, a caller reported the shooting death of Walekar.
At 8:37 a.m. Thursday, Sarah Ramos, 34, of Silver Spring was killed at a post office near Leisure World, a retirement community. Immediately after the shooting, a witness reporting seeing a white van or truck speed from the post office parking lot.
At 9:58 a.m. Thursday, Lori Ann Lewis-Rivera, 25, of Silver Spring was reported shot at a Shell gas station in Kensington where she was vacuuming her van.
At about 9:15 p.m. Thursday, in the only killing in Washington and the only one to occur at night, Pascal Charlot, 72, was shot in the chest as he walked along Georgia Avenue. He was taken to a hospital, where he died less than an hour later.
Hundreds of tips
Authorities said each victim was shot once and that the victims appeared to have been chosen at random.
Moose said the FBI was trying to develop a psychological profile of the killer or killers, and a geographical profiler also was aiding the probe. He said police are working under the assumption that those responsible for the shootings are still in the area.
"We are still on task, moving forward and very optimistic," he said.
Six candles -- one for each of those killed -- burn during a Mass at St. Mary's Church in Rockville, Maryland.
Assisted by 50 federal investigators, 100 police investigators are pursuing about 600 "credible tips" culled from more than 2,500 calls to a hotline, Moose said.
Police continued searching for the white van, which the witness described as a six-wheeled boxy vehicle with its rear passenger side black bumper bent and two lines of dark purple or faded black block lettering on its front and sides.
The witness told police two people who "appeared to be males" were in the truck, Moose said.
There is no indication more than one weapon was used in the shootings, and Moose said it was likely one of the men in the van was the sniper in all the killings. "My experience would say you got a driver, you got a shooter," he said.
Authorities have offered up to $50,000 for information leading to the killer's arrest and indictment.
"We remain convinced that someone in our community knows who's engaged in this," Montgomery County, Maryland Police Chief Charles Moose told reporters.
He urged residents to heighten their suspicions of people who appear unusual.
"[Someone] is aware that they haven't been around, is aware that they have been acting differently, that they have altered their schedule, that they may be gloating," he said.
Five people were shot and killed in Montgomery County during a 16-hour period from Wednesday night into Thursday morning. A sixth victim was shot dead Thursday night on a Washington street.
Friday afternoon, a 43-year-old woman, who had been loading purchases from Michaels Crafts store in Fredericksburg, Virginia, was hit by a bullet that pierced her lower back, exited her chest and came to rest inside her Toyota minivan. She was in stable condition in a Fairfax hospital.
Maj. Howard Smith of the Spotsylvania County, Virginia sheriff's Office said testing done by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms concluded that the .223-caliber slug collected from the van of the Virginia victim matches rounds taken from three of the five people killed in Maryland, and the man killed in Washington.
Authorities said bullet fragments from the other two Maryland shootings are presumed to have been fired by the same weapon, but were too damaged to be conclusively linked.
Mourners attended a funeral Sunday for one of Thursday's victims, Prenkumar Walekar, 54, a taxi driver from Olney, Maryland, who was killed while filling his minivan with gas at a mobile station in nearby Aspen Hill.
The shootings began late Wednesday afternoon when someone fired a shot through a window at another Michaels crafts store, this one in Wheaton, Maryland, but no one was hit. A spokesman said there is no indication the chain had been targeted.
At 6:05 p.m. Wednesday, the first killing took place when 55-year-old James D. Martin was shot in the parking lot of Shoppers Food Warehouse in Wheaton.
At 7:41 a.m. Thursday, police were called to a crime scene and found James L. Buchanan, a 39-year-old landscaper who had been shot while mowing a lawn at a commercial establishment near Rockville. Buchanan was identified as the son of a retired Montgomery County police officer.
At 8:12 a.m. Thursday, a caller reported the shooting death of Walekar.
At 8:37 a.m. Thursday, Sarah Ramos, 34, of Silver Spring was killed at a post office near Leisure World, a retirement community. Immediately after the shooting, a witness reporting seeing a white van or truck speed from the post office parking lot.
At 9:58 a.m. Thursday, Lori Ann Lewis-Rivera, 25, of Silver Spring was reported shot at a Shell gas station in Kensington where she was vacuuming her van.
At about 9:15 p.m. Thursday, in the only killing in Washington and the only one to occur at night, Pascal Charlot, 72, was shot in the chest as he walked along Georgia Avenue. He was taken to a hospital, where he died less than an hour later.
Hundreds of tips
Authorities said each victim was shot once and that the victims appeared to have been chosen at random.
Moose said the FBI was trying to develop a psychological profile of the killer or killers, and a geographical profiler also was aiding the probe. He said police are working under the assumption that those responsible for the shootings are still in the area.
"We are still on task, moving forward and very optimistic," he said.
Six candles -- one for each of those killed -- burn during a Mass at St. Mary's Church in Rockville, Maryland.
Assisted by 50 federal investigators, 100 police investigators are pursuing about 600 "credible tips" culled from more than 2,500 calls to a hotline, Moose said.
Police continued searching for the white van, which the witness described as a six-wheeled boxy vehicle with its rear passenger side black bumper bent and two lines of dark purple or faded black block lettering on its front and sides.
The witness told police two people who "appeared to be males" were in the truck, Moose said.
There is no indication more than one weapon was used in the shootings, and Moose said it was likely one of the men in the van was the sniper in all the killings. "My experience would say you got a driver, you got a shooter," he said.
Authorities have offered up to $50,000 for information leading to the killer's arrest and indictment.
