~a little about where i live~

BOWIE, Maryland (CNN) -- Police are investigating whether a 13-year-old boy shot Monday morning at a middle school in Maryland's Prince George's County was hit by the same sniper who killed six people and wounded another in the Washington area last week. The shootings began Wednesday afternoon when someone fired a shot through a window at a Michaels crafts store in Wheaton, Maryland, but no one was hit. # The first killing took place at 6:05 p.m. Wednesday when 55-year-old James D. Martin, a program analyst for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, was shot in the parking lot of Shoppers Food Warehouse in Wheaton. # At 7:41 a.m. Thursday, police were called to a crime scene and found James L. Buchanan, a 39-year-old landscaper who had been shot while mowing a lawn at a commercial establishment near Rockville. Buchanan was identified as the son of a retired Montgomery County police officer. # At 8:12 a.m. Thursday, a caller reported the shooting death of Walekar. # At 8:37 a.m. Thursday, Sarah Ramos, 34, of Silver Spring was killed at a post office near Leisure World, a retirement community. Immediately after the shooting, a witness reported seeing a white van or truck speed from the post office parking lot. # At 9:58 a.m. Thursday, Lori Ann Lewis-Rivera, 25, of Silver Spring was reported shot at a Shell gas station in Kensington where she was vacuuming her van. # At about 9:15 p.m. Thursday, in the only killing in Washington and the only one to occur at night, Pascal Charlot, 72, was shot in the chest as he walked along Georgia Avenue. He was taken to a hospital, where he died less than an hour later. # On Friday afternoon, a 43-year-old woman who had been loading purchases from a Michaels craft store in Fredericksburg, Virginia, was hit by a bullet that pierced her lower back, exited her chest and came to rest inside her Toyota minivan. She was in stable condition Sunday in a Fairfax hospital. Maj. Howard Smith of the Spotsylvania County, Virginia, sheriff's office said testing by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms concluded the .223-caliber slug from the van of the Virginia victim matched rounds taken from three of the people killed in Maryland and the man killed in Washington. Authorities said each victim was shot once and that the victims appeared to have been chosen at random. Authorities have offered up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest and indictment of the person suspected in the killings.

(the capitol)

1:00 pm... they're loud. raucous voices, chattering nonstop discussion indecipherable and monotonous, no clear purpose to the words yet all full of meaning an inexplicable frenzy of sound like that of birds chattering relentlessy constant and full of life but in a language beyond comprehension... they smell. they smell of cigarettes, of the smoke billowing from their lips in constant exchange with the words they speak. they smell of cologne and perfumes, more than necessary, so much that it drags behind them as they walk and infiltrates your nose and thus your sense as it breaks the smell of the city streets... they smell of leather, and steam. the smell of freshly ironed clothes yet mixed with sweat and grease, of vendors and restaurants and leftover breakfast donuts, the sweetness contrasting the smell of offices and printers and inkjet paper, copy machines and air conditioning... they smell of chlorine. the fountains constantly bubbling fresh water in the heat of the afternoon, a fresh but nauseating smell of cleanliness amidst the dirt and wealth of the streets, water where there wouldnt naturally be water. the smell of coffees and caffe lattes clutched by bent fingers, so accustomed to the keyboards that they are affixed in that position despite their current uselessness, fingers wrapped round sandwiches and conversation, clutching at skirts and ties in a desperate attempt to stay busy... anger and frustration mixed with happiness and fake smiles broken talk and white lies gone unnoticed as the air conditioners drip minute puddles onto the chalk white sidewalk absorbed as fast as they are formed... all magnified in the hundred and ten degree heat of the afternoon.

(protestors)