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Relief spreads with news of arrests
SILVER SPRING, Maryland (CNN) -- Life appeared to be returning to normal Thursday in the Washington, D.C., area following word that police had arrested two men suspected of carrying out the sniper attacks that had terrorized the region for more than three weeks. People at the Silver Spring shopping center where 34-year-old Sara Ramos was shot and killed October 3, expressed relief that the men had been arrested, and hope that the sniper had been taken off the street. "I could not believe my ears. I was happy when I turned the news on this morning to hear they had picked up these two suspects," a woman who worked nearby told CNN. Joe Brown, who lives in the area, said it was like a "ghost town" in the days following the shooting. "In the last three weeks, you just could literally walk into any store, get service -- there were no lines -- find a parking space; not today: You can see it's very busy, very active; people aren't afraid to come out and shop and be normal again," Brown said. He said the community seemed to be getting back on track. "Everybody I've talked to in the post office or at Giant ... they're thrilled and relieved that this person or persons have been caught. It's a shame they didn't catch them sooner, but it's better now that nobody else can get hurt," Brown said. People are smilingAnother woman told CNN she could sense the change. "I've been up to Olney, which is about two, three miles up, and we went for lunch and there was considerable joviality amongst the lunch people," she said. "They were smiling -- smiles we haven't seen in weeks." A woman jogging elsewhere in Montgomery County described it as a feeling of freedom. "I was afraid to jog for the last three weeks," she said. "Anywhere." Gas station attendant Robert Grimm said it was "rough" standing outside pumping gas for nervous customers. Four of the victims were gunned down at gas stations. "Big relief -- no, Alka Seltzer didn't do this -- it's a big relief," Grimm said. In Washington, Linda Quinn, who heard the shot that killed 72-year-old Pascal Charlot on October 3, said she was glad not to have to look over her shoulder. "I can take my daughter to school without looking around me wondering where it's coming from -- whether I'm going to be the one next," Quinn said. She sighed and said she would never forget that night. "I don't know, I've just been praying," she said. "Eventually, I hope it just eases out of my mind, but as long as I keep walking past this spot, I will remember it." No more bloodshedDean Meyers, a 53-year-old Vietnam veteran, was killed October 9 as he pumped gas at a station in Manassas, Virginia.
His brother, Bob, said news of the arrest was a great relief. "If it is true, at least at the hands of these two, there will be no more incidents, no more bloodshed," Meyers said. Dean Meyers' nephew, Larry, said that during the Vietnam War his uncle survived a Viet Cong ambush -- even though his platoon members did not know how he got out alive. "We feel he has been living on borrowed time for about 32 years, or whatever it was, and we were happy to have him," Larry Meyers said. CNN's Bill Delaney, Michael Okwu and Jason Carroll contributed to this report.
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If it is true, at least at the hands of these two, there will be no more incidents, no more bloodshed. 
