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CNN Live At Daybreak
Police Looking For Killers in Maryland Shooting Spree
Aired October 04, 2002 - 05:11 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: OK, now more on those strange shootings in the Washington, D.C. area. Police are looking for what they call a very calculating killer or killers in a Maryland shooting spree. And this takes place in a suburb right outside of Washington, D.C.
Peggy Fox of Washington affiliate WUSA has a live update from Montgomery County police headquarters.
Good morning, Peggy.
PEGGY FOX, WUSA CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
You used to work in this area, so I know you know Montgomery County pretty well. These five killings all happened within about one square mile. It started Wednesday evening at 5:20 during the rush hour and that's really the only similarity in all the killings. 5:20 Wednesday and then the killings started back again in the morning Thursday. It was all over by about 10:30, with the last person killed.
Five different people, all going about their daily lives, doing everyday things, vacuuming out a car. A young mother who was vacuuming out a car was shot dead. A man mowing the lawn for his job was shot dead. Very strange. Very few witnesses. In fact, there's only one witness. A man saw a white delivery truck speeding away from the scene of one of the shootings. That's the only eyewitness account we have. And so police have been stopping white delivery trucks all day yesterday and throughout the night, pulling people out at gunpoint, putting them in handcuffs, searching the vehicle and letting them go. The drivers of these vehicles we talked to say that, you know, while it's frustrating, they do understand the need for that.
Now, police are searching for a skilled shooter. Ballistics tests are not yet back on the bullets recovered from the scene, but they believe a high powered rifle was used. We've also spoken to FBI profilers and they believe it's probably not one person responsible, probably two, and that it is probably a white man in his 20s or 30s and perhaps somebody who lives nearby.
They're trying to piece it all together. We're hoping ballistics tests can be of some help. But mainly police are begging anybody who has any suspicions or any kind of knowledge, might have seen something strange near one of the sites of these shootings, to call police with that information.
I'm Peggy Fox life in Montgomery County. Back to you, Carol.
COSTELLO: Peggy, there are so many questions about this. Nobody saw the shooter? I mean that's stealth. I mean how close did he get to his victims, do you think?
FOX: Well, nobody even knows that, Carol. It was so strange. In fact, the first shooting that happened yesterday morning, the report that went out over the police scanner was that a lawn mower had exploded. Because it was a man mowing his lawn and he was shot from a distance. And witnesses thought his lawnmower exploded because nobody saw the shooter. Things like that.
And then in another case, a woman was shot who was sitting on the bench outside of a shopping center and she dies. The report that went out was that she committed suicide. Not the case at all. She was shot from a distance.
So nobody seems to have gotten a good look at the shooter. That's why police believe perhaps, probably that the shooter or shooters took the shots from inside this van and from a distance. And also, it has to be somebody who's a very good shot, because each of the five murder victims was killed with only one shot.
The only time the shooter missed was the day before Wednesday. The first shooting went through the glass of a Michael's craft store. And it whizzed by a clerk, didn't hit anybody. The police didn't know what that was all about. Now they've been able to piece it together and they believe that whoever did that shooting also killed these five people.
COSTELLO: So strange.
FOX: It is. It's scary.
COSTELLO: All right, Peggy Fox, thank you very much.
Reporting live from Montgomery County, Maryland this morning.
These shootings happened within a four mile radius around Rockville, Maryland, where violent crime rarely happens.
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 - 05:11 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: OK, now more on those strange shootings in the Washington, D.C. area. Police are looking for what they call a very calculating killer or killers in a Maryland shooting spree. And this takes place in a suburb right outside of Washington, D.C.
Peggy Fox of Washington affiliate WUSA has a live update from Montgomery County police headquarters.
Good morning, Peggy.
PEGGY FOX, WUSA CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
You used to work in this area, so I know you know Montgomery County pretty well. These five killings all happened within about one square mile. It started Wednesday evening at 5:20 during the rush hour and that's really the only similarity in all the killings. 5:20 Wednesday and then the killings started back again in the morning Thursday. It was all over by about 10:30, with the last person killed.
Five different people, all going about their daily lives, doing everyday things, vacuuming out a car. A young mother who was vacuuming out a car was shot dead. A man mowing the lawn for his job was shot dead. Very strange. Very few witnesses. In fact, there's only one witness. A man saw a white delivery truck speeding away from the scene of one of the shootings. That's the only eyewitness account we have. And so police have been stopping white delivery trucks all day yesterday and throughout the night, pulling people out at gunpoint, putting them in handcuffs, searching the vehicle and letting them go. The drivers of these vehicles we talked to say that, you know, while it's frustrating, they do understand the need for that.
Now, police are searching for a skilled shooter. Ballistics tests are not yet back on the bullets recovered from the scene, but they believe a high powered rifle was used. We've also spoken to FBI profilers and they believe it's probably not one person responsible, probably two, and that it is probably a white man in his 20s or 30s and perhaps somebody who lives nearby.
They're trying to piece it all together. We're hoping ballistics tests can be of some help. But mainly police are begging anybody who has any suspicions or any kind of knowledge, might have seen something strange near one of the sites of these shootings, to call police with that information.
I'm Peggy Fox life in Montgomery County. Back to you, Carol.
COSTELLO: Peggy, there are so many questions about this. Nobody saw the shooter? I mean that's stealth. I mean how close did he get to his victims, do you think?
FOX: Well, nobody even knows that, Carol. It was so strange. In fact, the first shooting that happened yesterday morning, the report that went out over the police scanner was that a lawn mower had exploded. Because it was a man mowing his lawn and he was shot from a distance. And witnesses thought his lawnmower exploded because nobody saw the shooter. Things like that.
And then in another case, a woman was shot who was sitting on the bench outside of a shopping center and she dies. The report that went out was that she committed suicide. Not the case at all. She was shot from a distance.
So nobody seems to have gotten a good look at the shooter. That's why police believe perhaps, probably that the shooter or shooters took the shots from inside this van and from a distance. And also, it has to be somebody who's a very good shot, because each of the five murder victims was killed with only one shot.
The only time the shooter missed was the day before Wednesday. The first shooting went through the glass of a Michael's craft store. And it whizzed by a clerk, didn't hit anybody. The police didn't know what that was all about. Now they've been able to piece it together and they believe that whoever did that shooting also killed these five people.
COSTELLO: So strange.
FOX: It is. It's scary.
COSTELLO: All right, Peggy Fox, thank you very much.
Reporting live from Montgomery County, Maryland this morning.
These shootings happened within a four mile radius around Rockville, Maryland, where violent crime rarely happens.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
