The execution of Washington D.C. sniper John Allan Muhammad left Vondre Armour shaken.
"As soon as I read that he was executed, my chest kind of tightened," says Armour, who is now a track and field coach at Centennial High School.
In 2002, Armour was in the Navy.
He was transferred from Pensacola, Florida to Norfolk, Virginia.
He remembers driving into Virginia knowing the sniper could be out there.
"As I got closer to actually the state, I kind of pondered how much gas I had so I wouldn't have to get out between North Carolina and Virginia state border, and make it to Norfolk just so I wouldn't have to get out and pump gas," says Armour.
He arrived on base two days early, and wanted to visit the nation's capital.
"I had never been to D.C. before and contemplated going," says Armour. "It was probably a dumb idea. You were advised against it, but I actually thought about it. A couple days later, a gentleman at a steakhouse was shot. Probably one of the best decisions I made not to go up there."
The steakhouse where the sniper struck was just off the highway Armour would have taken to go to D.C.
Morale at the base was low.
"People were just getting picked off left and right," says Armour. "We talked about it on the ship a lot. People were looking to buy weapons and what not, because we had no idea where this guy was."
It was a time when lives were changed and lost.
A nation was left in fear, and it went deeper than that.
"There was an overwhelming sense of fear, and then fear turned to frustration," recalls Armour. "We're running for our lives, being careful...just our daily routines. Bus drivers were getting shot. School children were getting shot."
