ROCKVILLE, Md. -- It was the deadliest day in Montgomery County history -- four innocent people shot and killed by an unseen sniper.

Five years later, former Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan says he felt it was his job to try to keep the community calm during the now infamous three-week killing spree.

Duncan, who now works at the University of Maryland, shared his thoughts and looked back on the sniper shootings that paralyzed our community.

He said he can hardly believe it has been five years.

It began on Oct. 3, 2003, at 7:41 a.m. with the shooting of Sonny Buchanan, who was mowing grass near Rockville Pike. In less than an hour, Premkumar Walekar was killed at a gas pump in Aspen Hill and Sarah Ramos was shot sitting on a bench at Leisure World Plaza.

By 10 a.m., the death toll reached four when Lori Lewis Rivera was killed in Kensington, vacuuming her van at a gas station.

As county executive, Duncan said he felt a responsibility to share information on the investigation in daily briefings at police headquarters, but even officials felt vulnerable.

"I was like everyone else," he said, remembering ducking at gas stations and scanning shopping centers fearful the snipers were waiting.

But Duncan also got to know the sniper victim's families and attended most funerals.

"I still think very often of the families and say a little prayer for them," he said. "Their lives were just ruined by what these snipers did. They'll never get their loved ones back so we should think about them, particularly at this time of year."

Another recognizable face in the sniper investigation, former Police Chief Charles Moose, moved to Hawaii after Lee Boyd Malvo and John Allen Muhammad were convicted in the Virginia sniper deaths.

He decided to start his police career over, attending the police academy there. He is now a patrol officer and News4's Chris Gordon reports that he is happy walking a beat.

Montgomery County police held daily briefings during what became the snipers' three-week reign of terror.

Much of that responsibility fell on the shoulders of a young police captain who had just been promoted to the job of public information officer.

Five years later, Capt. Nancy Demme said she drives her patrol car past the locations of the sniper shootings often.

Demme said police learned valuable lessons during the investigation, particularly how to work with other agencies on high-profile cases.

"I hope it doesn't happen again, but it's always a possibility," she said.