I, Sniper

One on the most heart tearing and best series I ever seen. Great production, hard thought to believe it has happened in reality.

You can either learn from history, or choose to ignore it and carry on repeating the same mistakes. To learn from history, you have to hear all sides of the story... not just the sides that tell you what you want to hear so you can sleep more easily at night.

We'll never get to hear the side from the older killer, John Muhammad, as he was executed in 2009. But to hear the side from the surviving killer Lee Malvo provides a fascinating insight into just how easy it is to plan and commit a murder spree in the USA. And if it was frighteningly easy in 2002, it's apparently just as easy now in 2023 if not easier.

It's only Feb 20th and already there have been 68 mass shootings in the USA, with 104 people killed and 269 injured. Statistically, Americans are far less safe right now than while these two men were on the loose back in 2022.

The Internet is strangely light on the background of these two men... one a decorated soldier, the other a Jamaican immigrant. What should be shocking is how relatively ordinary they were, according to the people they came into contact with, but instead it's tragically familiar.

One particularly telling moment is when the owner of the shooting range (where the killers honed their skills) gets in a muddle as to whether owning guns is a "God given" right or a constitutional right. You suspect he wants to believe the former, but has to concede the latter. And when he makes a point of telling us that what a gun is used for is "up to the individual", the camera lingers just long enough to see the self-doubt settle into his eyes.

The episode "Your Children are not Safe," was utterly chilling and riveting. Lee Malvo's candor and attention to every little detail was amazing to hear recounted. His drawings gave me chills. The devotion and reliance Malvo had towards Muhammad made him perfectly pliable. He became the perfect killer. It's frightening.

This well-rounded, balanced documentary is outstanding. I sat back and thought about how well done it was. At first, I thought...since a great deal of the story is told from Malvo's perspective through audio calls from prison...it wouldn't be as balanced as it actually was. Here we hear not only from Malvo, but from law enforcement, media official, victim's family members and from the few victims who survived that period of time. It was such a tragedy and this documentary series puts it all in perspective. One of the best true crime docs I have seen in a long time. It will draw you in and you will stay for awhile. It sticks with you.

Living in the No Va area it's difficult for many to understand the anxiety in that area at the time- especially with these events following 9/11 and the anthrax killings....the documentary does a GREAT job of talking with most of the officers and victims or their families, all, while a large part of the story is being narrated by Malvo... it's chilling to hear his calculated story and then get the perspective and feel the emotions of those directly impacted by that POS- especially after the shooting at the middle school...Blending into the story of where many of these people are now adds yet another well thought out and edited story... excellent documentary..