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ROCKVILLE - The hug was Douglas M. Duncan's idea, naturally.
As hope rose Oct. 24 that the two suspects in custody were linked to the sniper shootings, the Montgomery County executive and his police chief couldn't really believe the three-week ordeal was over. They feared the sniper would strike again, to prove they had the wrong guys.
But that night, when ballistic tests convinced them that they had the right guys, the relief was palpable. Duncan met Chief Charles A. Moose on the second-floor landing at police headquarters.
Moose offered his hand. Duncan offered a hug.
"It wasn't until then that it hit us that it was over," Duncan recalled. "We just walked out [to the news briefing], and it was great, but it was tempered by the fact that I had another funeral in two days."
While Moose was the public face of the sniper investigation, Duncan was the public face of the rest of us - a man worried for his family and his neighbors but resolved to pump his gas and send his five children to school.
"There was really no one else in position to become this larger-than-life, father-like figure at a time of deep crisis and anxiety," said Keith Haller, a pollster who lives and works in the county.
Duncan attended all 10 funerals during the series of killings, a trail of grief stretching from Philadelphia to Arlington, Va. Several victims neither lived nor died in Montgomery County, but it mattered little to Duncan.
"I needed to be there," he said plainly. "Whenever we would get word of another shooting, it would be this tremendous sense of personal loss."
The two-term county executive, who turned 47 on Oct. 25, waged a delicate balancing act during the crisis. He needed to acknowledge the fear people felt without panicking them. He needed to keep people informed at news briefings without politicizing the crisis.
Duncan, a Democrat, is up for re-election next week, but he suspended all campaign and fund-raising activities when the shootings began. Since then, observers say, he has struck the perfect tone to reassure a battered region.
"He handled himself very well," said Paul Herrnson, director of the Center for American Politics and Citizenship at the University of Maryland. He praised Duncan's "seriousness and purpose," saying the crisis reinforced the executive's highly positive image.
Duncan's approval rating has not dropped below 70 percent during his eight years in office, according to Haller's polls - an amazing feat given the highly educated and activist population of Montgomery County. Duncan's solid, consistent leadership has won over Democrats and Republicans, Haller said.
"There's something in the way he comes across - as trustful, strong and sensitive - that has an appeal across geography and certainly other demographics," Haller said.
Duncan's style has been compared favorably with that of Montgomery County State's Attorney Douglas F. Gansler, who has appeared to bask in the media spotlight. Although Gansler has drawn criticism for his rush in filing the first criminal charges, Duncan has come across as empathetic, with his emphasis on the victims.
On that celebratory night last week, with the suspects in custody, Duncan used his time before the television cameras to recite the names of the dead. "I felt it important for the public to understand that there are real victims here, there are real families here, there are people who are suffering terribly, and I wanted us to remember the names," he says.
Duncan's role in the investigation, besides providing county resources, was to act as something of an emissary for the public. He reported to the lead investigators on the mood of the public and on the funerals he attended. And he advised them on what information to release.
When schools in the Richmond, Va., area shut down, and the public clamor for information on a possible threat to children intensified, it was Duncan who urged the task force to release the postscript to the sniper's first letter: "Your children are not safe anywhere at any time."
Montgomery County residents say they knew that already but appreciated hearing Duncan say he'd be sending his children to school the next morning and the morning after that.
As hope rose Oct. 24 that the two suspects in custody were linked to the sniper shootings, the Montgomery County executive and his police chief couldn't really believe the three-week ordeal was over. They feared the sniper would strike again, to prove they had the wrong guys.
Moose offered his hand. Duncan offered a hug.
"It wasn't until then that it hit us that it was over," Duncan recalled. "We just walked out [to the news briefing], and it was great, but it was tempered by the fact that I had another funeral in two days."
While Moose was the public face of the sniper investigation, Duncan was the public face of the rest of us - a man worried for his family and his neighbors but resolved to pump his gas and send his five children to school.
"There was really no one else in position to become this larger-than-life, father-like figure at a time of deep crisis and anxiety," said Keith Haller, a pollster who lives and works in the county.
Duncan attended all 10 funerals during the series of killings, a trail of grief stretching from Philadelphia to Arlington, Va. Several victims neither lived nor died in Montgomery County, but it mattered little to Duncan.
"I needed to be there," he said plainly. "Whenever we would get word of another shooting, it would be this tremendous sense of personal loss."
The two-term county executive, who turned 47 on Oct. 25, waged a delicate balancing act during the crisis. He needed to acknowledge the fear people felt without panicking them. He needed to keep people informed at news briefings without politicizing the crisis.
Duncan, a Democrat, is up for re-election next week, but he suspended all campaign and fund-raising activities when the shootings began. Since then, observers say, he has struck the perfect tone to reassure a battered region.
"He handled himself very well," said Paul Herrnson, director of the Center for American Politics and Citizenship at the University of Maryland. He praised Duncan's "seriousness and purpose," saying the crisis reinforced the executive's highly positive image.
Duncan's approval rating has not dropped below 70 percent during his eight years in office, according to Haller's polls - an amazing feat given the highly educated and activist population of Montgomery County. Duncan's solid, consistent leadership has won over Democrats and Republicans, Haller said.
"There's something in the way he comes across - as trustful, strong and sensitive - that has an appeal across geography and certainly other demographics," Haller said.
Duncan's style has been compared favorably with that of Montgomery County State's Attorney Douglas F. Gansler, who has appeared to bask in the media spotlight. Although Gansler has drawn criticism for his rush in filing the first criminal charges, Duncan has come across as empathetic, with his emphasis on the victims.
On that celebratory night last week, with the suspects in custody, Duncan used his time before the television cameras to recite the names of the dead. "I felt it important for the public to understand that there are real victims here, there are real families here, there are people who are suffering terribly, and I wanted us to remember the names," he says.
Duncan's role in the investigation, besides providing county resources, was to act as something of an emissary for the public. He reported to the lead investigators on the mood of the public and on the funerals he attended. And he advised them on what information to release.
When schools in the Richmond, Va., area shut down, and the public clamor for information on a possible threat to children intensified, it was Duncan who urged the task force to release the postscript to the sniper's first letter: "Your children are not safe anywhere at any time."
Montgomery County residents say they knew that already but appreciated hearing Duncan say he'd be sending his children to school the next morning and the morning after that.
