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Local Reporter Discusses Public Reaction to Sniper

Aired October 10, 2002 - 10:11   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.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Back to the shooting. The latest shooting, whether linked to the sniper attacks or not, has sent another shudder of fear through suburban Washington.
For a sense of the prevailing mood, we want to check in with Mitchell Miller of Washington radio station WTOP.

Mitchell, good morning.

MITCHELL MILLER, WTOP REPORTER: Good morning.

KAGAN: If you can give us a sense of people going about their everyday lives, or at least trying to.

MILLER: Just moments ago, we found out that there was more police activity in southern Maryland. This is just indicative of how things are right now. Charles County, Maryland, which is south of Washington D.C., we got a report just a few minutes ago that there was a lot of increased patrols in a certain area. Well, we checked it out. It turns out there had been a report of men on top of a building, in this case, a Michael's building, which is a craft store. This craft store, of course, has been in some ways tied to the shootings, because the very first shooting, actually, had a bullet go through one of those stores. So there's been a lot of curiosity about this. In this case, it turns out the people on top of the building were just construction workers and cleared the scene just a few minutes ago.

But that is the kind of indication of what is going on here. You have people anytime they see something even remotely suspicious immediately calling police, and the police are there to check it out.

KAGAN: Well, in the end that will probably be what helps police crack this case.

MILLER: Exactly. And there's so much police activity around here. You notice it everywhere you go. You walk by a school in Washington, D.C., where I live, and you see the increased police presence around those schools. You go anywhere in the suburbs around here, and you see patrols all over the place. There's been so much heightened security related to the schools: all these people coming in, the volunteers walking the kids to school.

So now that we have this other shooting -- and of course, it happens at a gas station, one of the places virtually everybody visits every week -- everybody here is just a little bit nervous. KAGAN: Yes, you make a good point. So many of these attacks, whether it's school or out shopping or at the gas station, these shootings are taking place during everyday activities, things that people can't avoid and wouldn't necessarily want to.

MILLER: That's what I think has the people here most scared, because when you talk to anybody on the street around here, even people that are kind of, you know, skeptical of things that are happening or maybe are used to things in their neighborhood -- you know, believe it or not, here in Washington, D.C., for a long time, people actually got used to gunshots at night, unfortunately. Even some of the more jaded people here or people who have lived here a long, long time say, I have to admit, every day I walk out the door I look over my shoulder or I look across the street or I check out the vehicle that's down the road from me. And so you really get a sense that people have changed their behavior in the wake of these shootings.

This latest shooting -- and again, we have yet to hear from authorities having confirmed whether it is related to the other sniper, but this latest one, at yet another gas station, this would make it, if it is related, the third gas station-related shooting. Also near a major highway interchange.

MILLER: Yes, this is a really busy area. It's hard to imagine a shooting actually taking place here. This is an area off of I-66, which is a major east/west artery in and out of Washington, D.C. And this is an area where you have lots of fast food places, lots of restaurants, lots of activity from, actually, truckers that come in off the highway there. So a lot of us have been looking at this area and just saying how could this happen here? This is an area where you could easily walk up any day of the week and feel perfectly fine, up until this past week when we've had all these shootings.

KAGAN: So it shatters a sense of security with that, and geographically, as it spreads -- again, if this is, indeed, related.

MILLER: Right. And that's one thing people are starting to think about now. Where is the sniper going to hit next? I mean, we started in Maryland, and people literally are looking at maps in the Washington area wondering is my neighborhood going to be the next one hit?

KAGAN: Scary times. Mitchell Miller, with WTOP radio, thank you for your coverage. We really appreciate your insights this morning.

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 10, 2002 - 10:11   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Back to the shooting. The latest shooting, whether linked to the sniper attacks or not, has sent another shudder of fear through suburban Washington.
For a sense of the prevailing mood, we want to check in with Mitchell Miller of Washington radio station WTOP.

Mitchell, good morning.

MITCHELL MILLER, WTOP REPORTER: Good morning.

KAGAN: If you can give us a sense of people going about their everyday lives, or at least trying to.

MILLER: Just moments ago, we found out that there was more police activity in southern Maryland. This is just indicative of how things are right now. Charles County, Maryland, which is south of Washington D.C., we got a report just a few minutes ago that there was a lot of increased patrols in a certain area. Well, we checked it out. It turns out there had been a report of men on top of a building, in this case, a Michael's building, which is a craft store. This craft store, of course, has been in some ways tied to the shootings, because the very first shooting, actually, had a bullet go through one of those stores. So there's been a lot of curiosity about this. In this case, it turns out the people on top of the building were just construction workers and cleared the scene just a few minutes ago.

But that is the kind of indication of what is going on here. You have people anytime they see something even remotely suspicious immediately calling police, and the police are there to check it out.

KAGAN: Well, in the end that will probably be what helps police crack this case.

MILLER: Exactly. And there's so much police activity around here. You notice it everywhere you go. You walk by a school in Washington, D.C., where I live, and you see the increased police presence around those schools. You go anywhere in the suburbs around here, and you see patrols all over the place. There's been so much heightened security related to the schools: all these people coming in, the volunteers walking the kids to school.

So now that we have this other shooting -- and of course, it happens at a gas station, one of the places virtually everybody visits every week -- everybody here is just a little bit nervous. KAGAN: Yes, you make a good point. So many of these attacks, whether it's school or out shopping or at the gas station, these shootings are taking place during everyday activities, things that people can't avoid and wouldn't necessarily want to.

MILLER: That's what I think has the people here most scared, because when you talk to anybody on the street around here, even people that are kind of, you know, skeptical of things that are happening or maybe are used to things in their neighborhood -- you know, believe it or not, here in Washington, D.C., for a long time, people actually got used to gunshots at night, unfortunately. Even some of the more jaded people here or people who have lived here a long, long time say, I have to admit, every day I walk out the door I look over my shoulder or I look across the street or I check out the vehicle that's down the road from me. And so you really get a sense that people have changed their behavior in the wake of these shootings.

This latest shooting -- and again, we have yet to hear from authorities having confirmed whether it is related to the other sniper, but this latest one, at yet another gas station, this would make it, if it is related, the third gas station-related shooting. Also near a major highway interchange.

MILLER: Yes, this is a really busy area. It's hard to imagine a shooting actually taking place here. This is an area off of I-66, which is a major east/west artery in and out of Washington, D.C. And this is an area where you have lots of fast food places, lots of restaurants, lots of activity from, actually, truckers that come in off the highway there. So a lot of us have been looking at this area and just saying how could this happen here? This is an area where you could easily walk up any day of the week and feel perfectly fine, up until this past week when we've had all these shootings.

KAGAN: So it shatters a sense of security with that, and geographically, as it spreads -- again, if this is, indeed, related.

MILLER: Right. And that's one thing people are starting to think about now. Where is the sniper going to hit next? I mean, we started in Maryland, and people literally are looking at maps in the Washington area wondering is my neighborhood going to be the next one hit?

KAGAN: Scary times. Mitchell Miller, with WTOP radio, thank you for your coverage. We really appreciate your insights this morning.

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