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CNN Live Today
Scenes from Falls Church Shooting
Aired October 15, 2002 - 11:09 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: We have with us right now on the phone, Dave Statter. He works with our affiliate WUSA.
And, Dave, as I understand it, you live very close to this Home Depot and got to the scene very quickly last night after the shooting took place.
DAVE STATTER, CNN AFFILIATE WUSA REPORTER: I live just down the street. I've shopped there many times. I've been covering this since the beginning, and this one hits very close to home.
I pulled up there with the first police officers before they roped the scene off. This, in fact, you're looking at is the video I shot as police quickly tried to cordon off that parking lot area. I actually pulled up within an aisle of where Ms. Franklin had fallen, and saw all of the -- you know, the shopping cart was next to her full of items that she had just bought, apparently.
KAGAN: I imagine if you live right around the corner from this or just down the down the street that this is a shopping center you go to often.
STATTER: Oh, yes. I have shopped there many times. That is the Home Depot I go to in that shopping center. The Starbucks, the Barnes and Noble, the Shoppers Food Warehouse, the Michaels -- that's my neighborhood.
KAGAN: You say -- first on a professional note, you said that you've been covering this story. This is probably the quickest you've been able to get to a scene. But did anything seem remarkable to you about how this was different and how police were responding as to earlier shootings?
STATTER: Well, it surprised me that it was under cover, but I realized with the high sides on that ground floor parking area that even though it was under cover, it still -- I realized right away it could have been the sniper, as it's obviously proven to be.
I was struck how police were so -- in such urgent need (ph) right away. As you see in some of the pictures we showed earlier, they were running to get the area cordoned off. I had never seen that before in 30 years of covering, and they wanted to get that scene secured.
And then, I was -- what seemed different than the other ones, there were people around who were saying, "we saw this, we saw this, we saw a van." So, there were enough people that actually saw something, and I thought, well, there's at least room for optimism in this one.
KAGAN: My colleague, Jeanne Meserve, who is sitting with me right now, we were talking about this last hour -- she was just shopping at that Home Depot last weekend -- talking about the area, how there are a lot of ways to get out of that shopping center. But she points out that it's not an easy place to get out of.
STATTER: I think you need to know, because in one direction that you go out, it only puts you towards Route 7 away, from Route 50. If you go out toward what is called Patrick Henry Drive, there is only one way to turn. You have to know that. And there are a lot of one- way spots in that parking lot to get you in the wrong direction on the service roadway if you are not careful.
KAGAN: Dave Statter with WUSA, thanks for sharing your pictures and your insight and experience from last night and from covering this.
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 15, 2002 - 11:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We have with us right now on the phone, Dave Statter. He works with our affiliate WUSA.
And, Dave, as I understand it, you live very close to this Home Depot and got to the scene very quickly last night after the shooting took place.
DAVE STATTER, CNN AFFILIATE WUSA REPORTER: I live just down the street. I've shopped there many times. I've been covering this since the beginning, and this one hits very close to home.
I pulled up there with the first police officers before they roped the scene off. This, in fact, you're looking at is the video I shot as police quickly tried to cordon off that parking lot area. I actually pulled up within an aisle of where Ms. Franklin had fallen, and saw all of the -- you know, the shopping cart was next to her full of items that she had just bought, apparently.
KAGAN: I imagine if you live right around the corner from this or just down the down the street that this is a shopping center you go to often.
STATTER: Oh, yes. I have shopped there many times. That is the Home Depot I go to in that shopping center. The Starbucks, the Barnes and Noble, the Shoppers Food Warehouse, the Michaels -- that's my neighborhood.
KAGAN: You say -- first on a professional note, you said that you've been covering this story. This is probably the quickest you've been able to get to a scene. But did anything seem remarkable to you about how this was different and how police were responding as to earlier shootings?
STATTER: Well, it surprised me that it was under cover, but I realized with the high sides on that ground floor parking area that even though it was under cover, it still -- I realized right away it could have been the sniper, as it's obviously proven to be.
I was struck how police were so -- in such urgent need (ph) right away. As you see in some of the pictures we showed earlier, they were running to get the area cordoned off. I had never seen that before in 30 years of covering, and they wanted to get that scene secured.
And then, I was -- what seemed different than the other ones, there were people around who were saying, "we saw this, we saw this, we saw a van." So, there were enough people that actually saw something, and I thought, well, there's at least room for optimism in this one.
KAGAN: My colleague, Jeanne Meserve, who is sitting with me right now, we were talking about this last hour -- she was just shopping at that Home Depot last weekend -- talking about the area, how there are a lot of ways to get out of that shopping center. But she points out that it's not an easy place to get out of.
STATTER: I think you need to know, because in one direction that you go out, it only puts you towards Route 7 away, from Route 50. If you go out toward what is called Patrick Henry Drive, there is only one way to turn. You have to know that. And there are a lot of one- way spots in that parking lot to get you in the wrong direction on the service roadway if you are not careful.
KAGAN: Dave Statter with WUSA, thanks for sharing your pictures and your insight and experience from last night and from covering this.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
