The Sniper Attacks, 7 Years Later: A Remembrance

Glass shards exploded from the car window as bullets tore through the side of Paul LaRuffa’s 1999 Chrysler 300M.

Blood poured from wounds in his chest, arm and back, soaking the driver’s seat of the dark green vehicle. Mr. LaRuffa was ambushed as he got into his car while leaving his Clinton, Md., pizzeria on the evening of Sept. 5, 2002.

The then-55-year-old was shot five times with a .22-caliber handgun and was desperately trying with his hands to stop the blood from oozing out of his chest. The bullets punctured both lungs, which were quickly collapsing, and damaged nerves in his left arm.

The attack that happened seven years ago was a prelude to the D.C. sniper rampage, in which 10 people in Maryland, Virginia and the District would randomly be killed and others injured by John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo at grocery stores, gas stations and other public places.

Muhammad is scheduled to die Nov. 10 for his role in the crimes. In September, Gov. Tim Kaine said he didn’t see any reason to stop the execution. Jon Sheldon, Muhammad’s lawyer, said his team plans to file a compelling request for clemency with the governor by Oct. 15.

Malvo, who was a teenager during the attacks, will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Muhammad and Malvo, who pulled the trigger that night, stole $3,500 from Mr. LaRuffa and his laptop computer. The robbery bankrolled the attacks that terrorized the area for more than three weeks. It was later revealed that Muhammad used the money to buy the Chevrolet Caprice that the pair outfitted as a sniper nest.

Mr. LaRuffa’s Sony Vaio computer would be recovered with a map of the region, with the shooting sites marked with skulls and crossbones and locations of planned further killings as far away as Raleigh, N.C. Mr. LaRuffa never got the computer back, although he thinks one day he might ask the FBI — or whoever has it — to return it.

The “lucky green car” still sits in Mr. LaRuffa’s garage and serves as a reminder of the attack that forever changed his life. The pizzeria has since been sold, and it has gone out of business. The scars have healed over, but the memory of the shooting has far from faded.

He was confronted by a boy wearing a hooded sweatshirt and a T-shirt that read, “I only have to be nice to one person a day. Today’s not your day.”

Then the shots.

“Did I feel each shot? I heard them all, but I can’t tell you. The worst I felt was something hitting me,” he said. “One second you’re sitting there, and a millisecond later there’s blood pouring out of your body.”

His friend placed an emotional 911 call. In the background, Mr. LaRuffa screams that he doesn’t want to die.

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