Arrests made in sniper case by Tori Durst The Ranger Editor

As of Thursday, two arrests were made concering the sniper case. 13 shots had been confirmed from the sniper's gun, and nine people had died in the Washington area. The victims have been random at random places doing random things.

Wednesday night, Chief Moose in a news conference issued a warrant for the arrest of John Allen Williams. Williams is an African American, male that was conventionally trained at Fort Lewis in Washington, who served in the Gulf War, according to www.cnn.com. In the early hours of Thursday, the police arrested Williams and his step son, John Malvo, a 17 year old citizen of Jamaica.

Deann Merchant, a psychology professor, quizzed 72 students of her classes about the sniper before the arrests. Only four students thought the police should give in to the demands. "Fifty-four percent of the students believed there are more people involved," Merchant said. "People like that (the sniper) love the feeling of power, calling the shots and getting all the attention."

Before the arrests were made, students could not understand the actions of the sniper. "There was no pattern," said Gayle Williams, a mass communication major. "The sniper is doing it randomly for attention."

"It's odd that the victims don't fit a profile," said Michael Huff, a psychology major. "It's as if he hates all humanity. "He should be taking out people like sex offenders - not random, innocent people," said Jimmy Henson, an EMS major. "Shooting the kid showed he wanted to send the message of fear."

According to cnn.com, the sniper's first communication was a "death" tarot card that had a handwritten message, "Dear Policeman, I am God," left at the scene where the 13-year-old boy was shot at a Maryland middle school. Williams said she had heard about a video game where you play as a sniper against someone else, and whoever wins is named "god."

Sniper attacks are a part of U.S. history, the most recent in California of 1999. In 1966, a sniper attack made national news at the University of Texas at Austin. "Sooner or later, it was going to start happening," said Don Abel, a radio-TV instructor. "People should be aware it is not just going to happen in the D.C. area." Abel said Americans need to take on a whole new approach to national security.

Henson said he isn't scared because, "in the south, we live in the Bible Belt and are kept more conservative." Shannon Gonzales, an accounting major, said her family is afraid something similar could happen here.

Phala Cook, a pending major originally from the area where the shootings are, said, "I hope this sinks in to our young people and they aren't running around at night. He has the advantage, because there are lots of places to hide in buildings or forests."

According to John Sluder, a mass communication major and former sniper in the U.S. Army, the army teaches snipers how to make their own camouflage outfits, that can look like a clump of weeds, part of a building or be completely hidden. Army snipers also are taught that if someone sees where the shot came from and searches in the area, the sniper is taught to stay in the spot until it is safe. "Even if they step right beside him, if he knows what he is doing, they won't know he is there, and there are even methods used where the dogs can't smell him," Sluder said.