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CNN Live At Daybreak

Murder Spree Through Montgomery County, Maryland

Aired October 04, 2002 - 05:04   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Authorities in the Washington, D.C. area are looking for a white, box type truck with a damaged rear lift. Police think a person or persons inside may be linked to a strange shooting spree. Three men and two women were killed, each with a single bullet, between Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CONNIE CHUNG, HOST: You have said that you believe that the five killings are linked. How do you know that?

CHIEF CHARLES MOOSE, MONTGOMERY COUNTY POLICE: Well, again, I've been very hesitant to do any speculation. But as we look at the situation, we're still waiting on all of the science pieces to come together. But a lot of pieces do tell us that these are connected. And, again, we have some very strong feelings there. We're waiting on the science to make that all absolute. But there's no really doubt at this point, in my mind, that they're all connected.

CHUNG: May I assume that it might have something to do with the type of weapon and the bullets that have been recovered, that that is the link?

MOOSE: Well, again, at this point, we want to be very careful with any kind of assumptions. We're still waiting for a lot of that forensics type material to come back to be processed. But when we look at the situation on the map, when we look at the nature of the wounds, again, some strong feelings that these are connected.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: A reminder, CNN's Connie Chung airs tonight at 8:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

Let's talk more about this case. The victims were killed in different places and were from different walks of life. Sherri Lee (ph) of Washington affiliate WTTG talked with those they left behind.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHERRI LEE, WTTG CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At Premaker Walekar's (ph) house, his son Andrew thinks about all the things his father will miss. Walekar, a taxicab driver, had stopped at the Mobil station to buy lottery tickets and gas when he was shot.

ANDREW WALEKAR, VICTIM'S SON: I just want everybody to know that my dad was a man, he was the greatest person I ever met, you know, I ever knew. I'm glad that he was my father.

LEE: The murder spree through Montgomery County took the lives of fathers, wives, husbands and mothers. At the Hampshire West Apartments, where Laurie Lewis Rivera (ph) lived, neighbors remember a friendly woman who waved in the parking lot and always said hello. She and her husband had a 3 or 4-year-old daughter.

ROSA MALONE, NEIGHBOR: She comes and goes and all of a sudden she gets caught up in this. It's just devastating. There's no words for it.

LEE: James "Sonny" Buchanan didn't have any children, but he loved violating at the Boys & Girls Club. He was gunned down mowing a strip of grass behind the Fitzgerald Auto Mall, just blocks from where he sold Christmas trees every winter to raise money for the club.

GREGORY WIMS, BOYS & GIRLS CLUB: Sonny was the dad to literally 400 kids. He came to the club two or three times a week, helped with homework, etc.

LEE: Friends and family of the victims say they want the killer or killers caught. They've already lost loved ones and are afraid it could happen again.

JANAINA ROCHA, VICTIM'S NEIGHBOR: I'm feeling terrified, terrified. I'm feeling very bad. There is a lot of bad things that are happening.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: The other victims were a 55-year-old man and a 34- year-old woman, both from Silver Springs, Maryland. And that report was from WTTG's Sherri Lee.

We're going to have a live report out of Washington in just a bit on DAYBREAK.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired October 4, 2002 - 05:04   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Authorities in the Washington, D.C. area are looking for a white, box type truck with a damaged rear lift. Police think a person or persons inside may be linked to a strange shooting spree. Three men and two women were killed, each with a single bullet, between Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CONNIE CHUNG, HOST: You have said that you believe that the five killings are linked. How do you know that?

CHIEF CHARLES MOOSE, MONTGOMERY COUNTY POLICE: Well, again, I've been very hesitant to do any speculation. But as we look at the situation, we're still waiting on all of the science pieces to come together. But a lot of pieces do tell us that these are connected. And, again, we have some very strong feelings there. We're waiting on the science to make that all absolute. But there's no really doubt at this point, in my mind, that they're all connected.

CHUNG: May I assume that it might have something to do with the type of weapon and the bullets that have been recovered, that that is the link?

MOOSE: Well, again, at this point, we want to be very careful with any kind of assumptions. We're still waiting for a lot of that forensics type material to come back to be processed. But when we look at the situation on the map, when we look at the nature of the wounds, again, some strong feelings that these are connected.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: A reminder, CNN's Connie Chung airs tonight at 8:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

Let's talk more about this case. The victims were killed in different places and were from different walks of life. Sherri Lee (ph) of Washington affiliate WTTG talked with those they left behind.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHERRI LEE, WTTG CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At Premaker Walekar's (ph) house, his son Andrew thinks about all the things his father will miss. Walekar, a taxicab driver, had stopped at the Mobil station to buy lottery tickets and gas when he was shot.

ANDREW WALEKAR, VICTIM'S SON: I just want everybody to know that my dad was a man, he was the greatest person I ever met, you know, I ever knew. I'm glad that he was my father.

LEE: The murder spree through Montgomery County took the lives of fathers, wives, husbands and mothers. At the Hampshire West Apartments, where Laurie Lewis Rivera (ph) lived, neighbors remember a friendly woman who waved in the parking lot and always said hello. She and her husband had a 3 or 4-year-old daughter.

ROSA MALONE, NEIGHBOR: She comes and goes and all of a sudden she gets caught up in this. It's just devastating. There's no words for it.

LEE: James "Sonny" Buchanan didn't have any children, but he loved violating at the Boys & Girls Club. He was gunned down mowing a strip of grass behind the Fitzgerald Auto Mall, just blocks from where he sold Christmas trees every winter to raise money for the club.

GREGORY WIMS, BOYS & GIRLS CLUB: Sonny was the dad to literally 400 kids. He came to the club two or three times a week, helped with homework, etc.

LEE: Friends and family of the victims say they want the killer or killers caught. They've already lost loved ones and are afraid it could happen again.

JANAINA ROCHA, VICTIM'S NEIGHBOR: I'm feeling terrified, terrified. I'm feeling very bad. There is a lot of bad things that are happening.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: The other victims were a 55-year-old man and a 34- year-old woman, both from Silver Springs, Maryland. And that report was from WTTG's Sherri Lee.

We're going to have a live report out of Washington in just a bit on DAYBREAK.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com