Phillip Dowd

"Better be a head shot. I got this on full auto. Anything less, I go down squeezing the trigger."

Phillip Dowd was a criminal sniper who appeared in Season One of Criminal Minds.

Background
At the age of eighteen, Phillip joined the military, attending Ranger School for six years before being dishonorably discharged in 1995 for conduct unbecoming. After his discharge, Phillip joined the Arlington Police Department, but was fired after nine months for lying about his army discharge. Eventually, Phillip began working as an ER nurse, getting a job in Des Plaines, Illinois, occasionally picking up shifts in other hospitals in the area as well. In 2005, Phillip, using his military training, started non-lethally sniping random people so he could save them later, his first victim being a man in a mall parking lot, who unintentionally died due to the paramedics being unable to get to the scene in time. Unfazed by the man's death, Phillip shot two young men in a community centre parking lot nine days later, then three park goers four days after that, the park shooting being the one which prompted the local police into calling in the BAU.

L.D.S.K.
Two days after the attack on the park, Phillip shoots another three people, a couple and a waiter at a diner. Later, when the BAU and local police are in the midst of recreating the park shooting, Phillip observes from his van, shooting Officer Scott McCarty in the head when he is arrested under suspicion of being the unsub (in reality, McCarty had only leaked information to the media).

Phillip is eventually tracked down to a hospital, where he briefly speaks to Hotch and Reid, who are asking to see a doctor, who is a suspect in the case. Thinking the authorities are on to him, Phillip at first tries to escape the hospital, but realizes it is impossible due to the police swarming the building. Going to his locker, Phillip grabs his rifle and returns to the lobby, rifle butting Reid, shooting out the power and disarming the guard and Hotch. Realizing Phillip intends to commit suicide by cop and dozens of people could be killed in the crossfire, Hotch begins gaining his trust, giving him advice on what to do and pretending to hate Reid. Convincing Phillip to let him beat Reid, Hotch begins kicking him, allowing Reid to grab the gun in his ankle holster, with Phillip realizing too late that Hotch had another gun. Just as he raises his rifle, Phillip is shot in the head by Reid, killing him instantly. But Reid says he was aiming for his leg.

Profile
As L.D.S.K.s (Long Distance Serial Killers) are rare, there is no set profile for them, but what is known is that they are always male, have a military or police background and almost never have prior contact with their victims, which means they will contact the authorities to take credit for shootings, allowing them to relive them; the unsub proved to be the exception to this characteristic, as he never once contacted the media, meaning he most likely did have some level of contact with his victims. Since the victims were merely wounded, it at first looked like the shootings were the work of a sadist, though this was ruled out when it became apparent the sniper fled the scene after firing, instead of staying to watch his victims suffer. Due to the type of rifle (which required skill to snipe with) and ammo used by the unsub, it implicated he was in the Marines, Rangers or some other specialized unit, while the shootings taking place in different jurisdictions and the timeframe of them (between 2:55 and 3:15, when there are fewer active cops on the street) implicated the unsub had knowledge of law enforcement. The unsub would be in his thirties and be a smart, paranoid sociopath with severe narcissism, meaning he was rude, vain, arrogant, always blamed others for his mistakes, was incapable of admitting fault and always felt undervalued by everyone around him. The unsub would also work out obsessively, never be without a weapon, have no friends and change jobs frequently (looking for a high stakes one that would prove his superiority over others) and would use a large, unassuming vehicle, such as Sedan, customized to mask the shooter, his firearm and the sound of the shot.

When the geographic profile of the unsub led to a hospital, he was profiled as having Hero Syndrome, meaning he hurt others so he could save them later on, essentially giving him power over life and death. The motivations for Hero Syndrome are excitement, power and respect, implicating the unsub was a member of the hospital staff, as professionals such as surgeons are always dealing with high stakes situations and are already well respected and highly regarded.

It should be noted that even Dowd was not officially a serial killer at all, as he only killed two people, though he is referred to as a long distance serial killer by the team.

Modus Operandi
Phillip committed his shooting with an M-4, which requires skill to snipe with, and used .223 caliber rounds, which fragment on impact. The shootings were committed in broad daylight in public places, which Phillip visited the night before to find the perfect elevated position to fire from, one which would have a wide field of fire and access to something (such as a flag) that would allow Phillip to be able to judge wind resistance and speed. The shots were fired from the back of Phillip's van, which had a retractable licenses plate; firing from a vehicle allotted cover and a quick getaway. While Phillip was a skilled sniper, he only inflicted normally non-fatal shots to the stomach, so he could help his victims later in his job as an ER nurse.

Known Victims

 * Henry Sachs
 * Doug Miller
 * Kevin Parks
 * Three shot, all of them wounded, at a park. They are:
 * Jerry Middleton
 * Tim Reilly
 * Kate Murray
 * Two unnamed diner patrons and an unnamed waiter
 * Officer Scott McCarty
 * Aaron Hotchner, Spencer Reid, and numerous hospital employees and patients

Appearances

 * Season One
 * "L.D.S.K."