New Serial Criminal Spread Fear around Washington with Fires

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, July 05, 2003

New Serial Criminal Spread Fear around Washington with Fires

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Residents in Washington and one of its suburbs, barely recovering from a series of sniper shootings last year, are being rattled by a new serial criminal who set fires in residences, it is reported Friday.

Since late March, as many as 22 fires may have been set by the same arsonist outside residences in Prince George's County, Maryland, and neighborhoods in eastern Washington, authorities say.

The fires have killed an elderly woman, injured several other people and caused tens of thousands of dollars in damages, the NewYork Times reported.

The fires have jangled the region's collective nerves because the arsonist set the blazes in the dead of night, around the porches and doorways of houses, the Times report said. In most cases, residents have been sound asleep inside.

The authorities saw no clear financial motive behind the attacks, saying they believe the arsonist's intent is to injure orkill randomly selected victims and to terrorize entire communities.They described the crimes as terrorism.

In some neighborhoods, homeowners have begun keeping watch on their porches at night and beefing up neighborhood patrols, while officials in Washington and Prince George's County have begun distributing smoke detectors to residents in areas struck by the arsonist.

Investigators have set up a tip line and are offering a 9,000-dollar reward for information leading to the conviction of the arsonist. On Thursday the authorities released a composite sketch of a potential witness to at least one of the fires, describing him as a black man in his 30's of medium complexion and build.

Some local authorities have argued that the arsonist is potentially more dangerous than the sniper rampage last year because a singly out-of-control blaze could kill more than the 10 people the sniper suspects are accused of killing in the Washington area. Two suspects are awaiting trials for the shootings.

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