Canadians have been warned the country's largest auto club to avoid driving near Washington until police capture a sniper feared to have killed seven people and wounded two others.
The Canadian Automobile Association (CAA), recommended travelers to take alternative routes while the gunman is still at large.
"We believe the continuing series of sniper attacks poses a serious concern for the safety of CAA members," said Mike Beauchesne a spokesperson for the association's Central Ontario branch.
The club said Canadian drivers headed south often use highways that pass through the Washington suburbs where the shooting occurred.
"Because of this, our auto travel specialists recommend alternative routes that steer clear of that area until the situation is brought under control," the CAA said in a statement released just as Canadians were beginning their Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
A spate of apparently random shootings in the suburbs of the U.S. capital, including parts of Maryland and Virginia, over the past 10 days has spread fear in the Washington area.
An eighth person was killed yesterday, under similar circumstances at a service station south of Washington off the I-95, a major interstate highway on the U.S. East Coast.