‘Skilled shooter’ kills 5 in Maryland

? Five people were gunned down one by one in the Washington suburbs in less than 16 hours, and authorities said Thursday they were looking for a “skilled shooter” suspected of felling each victim with a single bullet.

While cautioning that the slayings had not definitely been linked, police said it was a strong possibility.

“We do have someone that so far has been very accurate in what they are attempting to do,” Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose said.

More than 24 hours after the murders began, officers called in on overtime were patrolling the streets of the affluent county as a state police helicopter flew overhead. Officers were posted at malls in nearby Rockville, where the city’s afternoon and evening recreation programs were canceled.

The victims were killed in Maryland suburbs north of the nation’s capital between 6 p.m. EDT Wednesday and 10 a.m. Thursday. One was shot as he mowed a lawn, another while cleaning her car at a gas station, a third outside a post office.

Investigators said they had found no indication the victims were related or had any conflicts. None appeared to have been robbed.

Police also said race did not appear to be a motive, noting the victims included two white men, a white woman, a Hispanic woman and a man from India.

The first person killed was James D. Martin, 55, of Silver Spring, who was shot Wednesday evening in the parking lot of a grocery store. Police were reviewing a security tape from a camera that monitors the lot.

The next four victims died in little more than two hours Thursday morning.

James L. “Sonny” Buchanan, 39, of Arlington, Va., was killed about 7:45 a.m. Thursday while cutting grass at a car dealership. A half-hour later, taxi driver Prenkumar Walekar, 54, of Olney was shot as he pumped gas.

Another half-hour later, Sarah Ramos, 34, of Silver Spring was gunned down at a post office near a retirement community. Dolores Wallgren, arriving for an appointment at a nearby beauty shop, said she saw Ramos slumped over on a bench, bleeding from the head.

Lori Ann Lewis-Rivera, 25, of Silver Spring was slain about 10 a.m. at a gas station. Mechanics said they heard shots but didn’t see who killed the woman as she vacuumed her van.