Shootings too close to home for two IU professors, fathers

For sophomore Karli Penders seeing her hometown on television is not a common occurrence. Penders is originally from Potomac, Md. and has recently been glued to television reports about the sniper attacks that have been terrorizing the Washington D.C. area since Oct. 2. \n"Obviously it's shocking; stuff like that doesn't happen in my town," Penders said. "It's surreal to look at the TV and see a gas station where someone was killed and think 'I've been there before. I've pumped gas at that station.' It's terrifying."\nPolice say they have very few leads in the case that has left nine people dead and two seriously injured. Police do know the sniper has been indiscriminate in his victims, targeting any age of person from a 13-year-old middle schooler to a 72-year-old man killed in the street last week. The timing of the attacks has been even more random. Shootings have occurred between 7:41 a.m. and 9:15 p.m. For dean of the journalism school,Trevor Brown, whose daughter Leigh lives and works in Silver Spring, Md., the randomness of the crime is what has his family on edge. \n"There's a fear of the unknown," Brown said. "It's not someone who comes up and confronts you, there's only one shot. There's an added dimension of fear because of the vulnerability of the situation. All you're hearing is this shot killed this person today and all you know is the next shot could kill my person tomorrow."\nFor those living in the D.C.-area, Brown's concern seems completely rational. The sniper has kept to suburban areas, killing four at gas stations and four at area malls. The middle schooler, who was critically injured, was shot while walking into school. \n"I talk to my mom a couple times a week, and she tells me she's afraid to leave the house. She's afraid to go to the grocery store," Penders said. "He's shooting people who are running errands, so if you do something so common, you run a risk." \nWitnesses have identified a white van at multiple shooting scenes, but leads on the van have not given police much help. Authorities announced Thursday that a key witness in the Monday shooting that killed a 47-year-old woman outside of a Home Depot store actually falsified his account and had not seen a shooter or a white van. The hunt has become so intense that earlier in the week Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld signed a deployment order that allows Army airborne surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft to be used in the search.\nFor journalism professor Steve Raymer the latest attack really hit home. D.C. was Raymer's home for 25 years before coming to IU and both of his daughters still live in the area.\n"I'm definitely anxious," Raymer said. "Monday night after the shooting at Home Depot, my daughter called and said 'Dad, that's our Home Depot, that's the one we go to.' It all becomes pretty personal when they get to your Home Depot."\nRaymer's oldest daughter, Kate, lives in Bethesda, Md. and his younger daughter, Susana, is a senior at the Catholic University of America and works at the White House.\n"Both my kids are pretty upset. Kate used to walk to the metro, but now she drives the six blocks. They've had to change habits," Raymer said. "We e-mail all day long and talk on the phone all day long. I didn't used to call them at work, but now I do. I worry about them."\nWhile Raymer, Brown, Penders and the rest of the nation wait to hear of a break in the case and a return to normalcy, IU students agree that the recent attacks again call into question the nation's safety.\n"Until they find this person we're all just very vulnerable; we're not safe," said freshman Kate Ebert. "I've been to D.C., and it's sad to know that all people want to do is go on with their lives and they can't because of this crazy guy out there."\nPenders is hearing more and more stories about how not normal life has been for her family and friends since the attacks began. \n"My old high school was shut down when the middle schooler was shot," Penders said. "They canceled our homecoming game. My best friend's little sister plays soccer for the high school, and they've canceled all of her practices and games. They've stopped everything normal." \nFor Raymer, these newest attacks bring back bad memories of the terror that hit Washington last Sept. 11.\n"I hate to say it, but with it coming after Sept. 11, it's even worse," Raymer said. "It's the second time in two years I've been worried about them being right there where all the stuff is going down."\nFrom Brown's point of view, the difficulty remains the lack of control in the situation, but he still wants his daughter to live her life and not be handicapped by fear, he said.\n"I understand the idea that there's nothing I can do to protect myself; it's a whole different quality of fear," Brown said. "But you can't go around in a suit of armor. You simply can't function like that. You just have to do your best to live a normal life and be aware of what's going on around you"