Memories of the deadly Beltway snipers still haven't faded.

Those thoughts were on the minds of motorists and police yesterday as authorities sought at least two people suspected of firing shots that struck several vehicles on a 20-mile stretch of Interstate 64 just west of Charlottesville.

Colonel Steven Flaherty is the state police superintendent. He says the shootings aren't characteristic of snipers, calling it instead random firing.

But he says it reminds him and other officers a lot of emergencies they had, including the sniper shootings.

Residents remembered the crimes of John Allen Muhammad and Lee
Boyd Malvo, who were convicted in the 2002 sniper shooting spree that left 10 people dead and three wounded in Maryland, the District of Columbia and northern Virginia.

Christy Lucado drives through the area on her way to work. She says she immediately thought about the sniper shootings when a friend told her the news.

The stretch of highway was closed for nearly six hours while police searched for suspects and evidence in the injury of two motorists. The interstate reopened around dawn.