People originally thought that the sniper used a White Van, but he didn't. Reminds me of another bit of hysteria involving the "White Van Man":

Ever since the term "White Van Man" was coined in 1997, by Sarah Kennedy on Radio 2, van drivers have taken on the mantle of what sociologists refer to as 'folk devils'. Overtaking even the football hooligan in the league table of social undesirability, WVM is now most often viewed as a mobile thug - a dangerous threat to the decent, right-thinking, motoring majority.

In the media, WVM is variously described as "aggressive", "tattooed", and a "tailgater". He is the "white male" and a "mad bastard" who "never signals", "cuts up" other drivers and uses the kind of vocabulary that has to be represented by asterisks in newspapers. So friendless has he become that those specialists in populist opportunism, the New Labour Government, have felt obliged to contribute to his public censure. The Minister of Transport, John Prescott, has made it clear that WVM's days are numbered.