Massive hunt for US sniper

Police guard the spot where the woman was killed

American police are engaged in a massive hunt for the killer of a woman shot dead with a single bullet outside Washington DC, in the American state of Virginia.

They are checking to see if the killing is the latest in a series of sniper attacks which have spread terror in the area, leaving eight dead and two wounded.

The police search is focused on a cream-coloured Chevrolet Astro van seen close to the shooting in the town of Falls Church.

The woman was hit by a shot to the head in the car park of a home improvement shop as she and her husband were loading goods into the boot of their car.

Traffic paralysed

As news of the shooting emerged on Monday evening, helicopters used powerful searchlights to illuminate the area of buildings and woods.

At the same time traffic was paralysed as police began intense questioning of drivers.

After the earlier attacks, police had said they were looking for a white van.

Following Monday's shooting, they said the van was cream-coloured, with a broken rear light and a silver roof ladder.

The place where the attack occurred is particularly busy and is known as Seven Corners because of the number of roads meeting there.

Local police chief Tom Manger said that would have helped the gunman escape the scene and "within just a few short minutes be in Arlington, be in Alexandria or on a couple of interstates," Reuters news agency reports.

Witnesses hope

The female victim of Monday's shooting has not been identified.

"She was pronounced dead at the scene," police chief Tom Manger said.

It would appear the killer could have chosen the victim from a number of targets.

The police checks caused traffic chaos

"This was as a time when the stores were open, so there were a number of folks who were in the parking lot of the shopping centre," officer Manger said.

One shopper said he heard a single shot: "Not very loud, like a snap. After than I heard people start panicking," Raymond Massas said, the Associated Press news agency reports.

"There's some pretty decent eyewitness information that maybe we haven't had in some of the previous shootings," Ellen Qualls, a spokeswoman for the governor of Virginia said.

Witness Manuel Solis said he had been approaching the entrance to the shop when it happened, the Washington Post reported.

Sniper attacks

2-3 Oct - Five people killed in Montgomery County, Maryland

3 Oct - Man killed in Washington DC

4 Oct - Woman injured in Fredericksburg, Virginia

7 Oct - Boy injured in Prince George's County, Maryland

9 Oct - Man killed in Manassas, Virginia

11 Oct - Man killed in Fredericksburg, Virginia

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"I heard one shot and then the whole world started running inside the store," he said.

According to Mr Solis, the victim fell about 100 feet (30 metres) from the shop's exit.

A police spokesman told reporters that a number of witnesses to the killing were being interviewed.

Monday's shooting comes after a weekend of respite for people in the area.

In the last attack, on Friday, a man was killed at a petrol station near Fredericksburg, Virginia.

President George W Bush earlier expressed revulsion at the sniper killings, describing them as a "form of terrorism".

Sniper puzzle

All the deaths linked to the sniper attacks have been caused by a single bullet.

Police Chief Charles Moose, who is co-ordinating the hunt for the sniper, earlier played down theories of a pattern to the shootings, saying he wanted the public to "keep an open mind".

A composite picture of a white lorry seen at some of the shootings was released on Sunday, but Mr Moose said that was to clarify the exact type of vehicle being sought rather than close off people's minds.

One possible clue for profilers examining the case is the geographical proximity of the attacks.

The first five victims were killed within a few miles of each other in Washington's Maryland suburbs, and the sixth person who died was shot on a street corner in Washington, close to the Maryland state border.

There have been three confirmed sniper attacks in Virginia - two of which proved fatal.

However, investigators have not been able to detect a pattern from the victims themselves - who appear to have been chosen at random.

Of the eight people positively identified as targets so far, five were men and three women.

In terms of race, the victims are a fairly representative cross-section of the area: three whites, three blacks, one Hispanic, and one native of India.

They ranged in age from 13 to 72.