Five shot to death in 16-hour suburban chaos

SILVER SPRING, Md. -- Five people were slain within a few miles, gunned down one by one over 16 hours in public places in Washington's suburbs, authorities said Thursday. They said there was a "strong possibility" the killings were related.\nOne of the victims was shot to death while riding a lawnmower, another while cleaning her car at a gas station.\nInvestigators had not found any indication that the five victims, killed between 6 p.m. Wednesday and 10 a.m. Thursday, were related in any way or had any conflict with anyone, Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose said.\nStill, given the timing and location, "there's a strong possibility that they are all connected," police spokeswoman Joyce Utter said.\nPolice were looking for two people in a white cargo van, possibly with damage at the back. Several witnesses told police they saw such a vehicle leaving some of the shooting scenes.\nThe first slaying happened shortly after 6 p.m. Wednesday when a 55-year-old man shot in the parking lot of a Wheaton grocery store, police spokeswoman Nancy Demme said.\nThe man on the lawnmower was killed about 7:45 a.m. Thursday in the White Flint area, and another man, a cab driver, was shot around 8:15 a.m. while pumping gas at a Mobil station in the Aspen Hill area. He died at the scene.\nAbout a half-hour later, a woman died at a post office next to the Leisure World retirement community in Silver Spring.\nDolores Wallgren, who was going to a beauty shop near the post office, said she saw the victim, slumped over on a bench, bleeding from the head.\n"She was sitting on the bench, just sitting there," Wallgren said.\n"It's scary," said Lillian Ansell, another beauty shop customer. "This is a safe neighborhood. For this to happen is unusual."\nAnother woman was then shot about 10 a.m. at a Shell gas station in Kensington. Mechanics at the gas station said they heard the shots but didn't see the person or persons who killed the woman, who was vacuuming her van.\n"We didn't see any confrontation or anybody around her," mechanic John Mistery said.\nIn each case, the victim was felled by a single shot, Demme said. Ballistics tests to determine whether the same gun was used were pending, she said.\nAbout a half hour before the first shooting Wednesday, the windows of a store at a shopping center were shot at, but no one was injured, police said. The shooting may be related the fatal shootings, Demme said.\nAs of early afternoon, no new shootings had been reported after the one around 10 a.m., Demme said.\nAs a precaution, Montgomery County schools canceled all outdoor activities and locked down school buildings. No one was being allowed to leave or enter school buildings unless a parent called ahead to retrieve their children. The lockdown would remain in effect until police said it was safe to lift the restrictions, schools spokeswoman Kate Harrison said.\nMoose asked residents not to panic, especially parents, whom he urged not to rush to schools to get their children.\nSchools in Frederick County and in Fairfax County, Va., were also locked down. In Washington, a public schools spokeswoman said all outdoor activities were canceled.\nIn Fairfax County, officers were posted at the American Legion Bridge on the Capital Beltway, in case the van tries to cross into Virginia, police said.