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American Morning
D.C. Sniper Getting More Bold?
Aired October 15, 2002 - 09:44 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Dr. Casey Jordan is back with us, criminologist here for CNN.
Casey, are you with us?
CASEY JORDAN, CRIMINOLOGIST: Yes, I am, Bill.
HEMMER: What do you take away from the briefing we just heard?
JORDAN: It was a confirmation of what we pretty much suspected from last night. We would have been, indeed, quite surprised if this had not been linked, but I think we're also impressed by how quickly they were able to confirm that this is the 11th shooting. And I think we can construe that the second shell casing, which they confirm they now have, most likely came from last night's shooting, which indicates that the shooter might be tripping up a bit, because we have not seen spent shell casings at the previous scenes, except for the one they left intentionally.
HEMMER: Let me get back to the shell casings in a minute here. But based on what we heard from the chief, it appears, anyway -- I can't say this conclusively -- it appears they have a lot more information from witnesses based on the shooting last night than we have heard in any other incident. Correct or not?
JORDAN: Absolutely. And I think that while that gives us a tremendous amount of hope, it also increases the level of frustration for law enforcement. They were on stand by, they got there as quickly as they possibly could, and yet the shooter still eluded them. So I really think today you're going to see a new level of energy that we haven't seen before.
HEMMER: So they take the witnesses information, right, they put it together, they try and construct a story. How do they go about verifying this? What do they do today? How does that process go from here?
JORDAN: Well in a case like this, there is no exact protocol for how to proceed. What they will do is assess the quality and quantity of information. How many witnesses saw what? Or do you have somebody whose account is so compelling that perhaps the quality of it is more important than the number of witnesses. It is very heartening to think they may have a partial license plate, but they need to be cautious because if they pursue information which is not valid or simply mistaken, it could take the investigation in the wrong direction and compound their frustrations further. PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Casey, Paula here. I just wanted to jump in and follow up on a point Bill made earlier in the morning. That's the geography of this garage where Linda Franklin lost her life. What does the location of that garage suggest to you, and in terms of how challenging it was to make a getaway? Once again, there are varying accounts whether witnesses actually saw the shooter leave the van or not. I've actually seen two highly contradictory accounts, but does it suggest to you not only is he tripping up but is really getting a false sense of faith here?
JORDAN: I would hope so. We have been waiting for this. We've been waiting for him to become so brave and so bold that he takes risks or chances that make it more difficult for him to get away. Indeed, when you're talking about a large Home Depot complex on a holiday weekend, and you're talking about a parking lot, where certainly you're going to have a lot of people around, then absolutely, the shooter or shooters did take additional chances.
Also, because it's a two-tier parking garage, I would think that because she was on the first level, that the lighting may have been a little bit more difficult. There may have been more obstacles in the way. So the idea that the shooter took such a high-risk shot and still was able to get away indicates that there is a new level of risk that they are taking.
Thank you, Casey. Casey Jordan, criminologist working for us along this story here.
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 - 09:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Dr. Casey Jordan is back with us, criminologist here for CNN.
Casey, are you with us?
CASEY JORDAN, CRIMINOLOGIST: Yes, I am, Bill.
HEMMER: What do you take away from the briefing we just heard?
JORDAN: It was a confirmation of what we pretty much suspected from last night. We would have been, indeed, quite surprised if this had not been linked, but I think we're also impressed by how quickly they were able to confirm that this is the 11th shooting. And I think we can construe that the second shell casing, which they confirm they now have, most likely came from last night's shooting, which indicates that the shooter might be tripping up a bit, because we have not seen spent shell casings at the previous scenes, except for the one they left intentionally.
HEMMER: Let me get back to the shell casings in a minute here. But based on what we heard from the chief, it appears, anyway -- I can't say this conclusively -- it appears they have a lot more information from witnesses based on the shooting last night than we have heard in any other incident. Correct or not?
JORDAN: Absolutely. And I think that while that gives us a tremendous amount of hope, it also increases the level of frustration for law enforcement. They were on stand by, they got there as quickly as they possibly could, and yet the shooter still eluded them. So I really think today you're going to see a new level of energy that we haven't seen before.
HEMMER: So they take the witnesses information, right, they put it together, they try and construct a story. How do they go about verifying this? What do they do today? How does that process go from here?
JORDAN: Well in a case like this, there is no exact protocol for how to proceed. What they will do is assess the quality and quantity of information. How many witnesses saw what? Or do you have somebody whose account is so compelling that perhaps the quality of it is more important than the number of witnesses. It is very heartening to think they may have a partial license plate, but they need to be cautious because if they pursue information which is not valid or simply mistaken, it could take the investigation in the wrong direction and compound their frustrations further. PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Casey, Paula here. I just wanted to jump in and follow up on a point Bill made earlier in the morning. That's the geography of this garage where Linda Franklin lost her life. What does the location of that garage suggest to you, and in terms of how challenging it was to make a getaway? Once again, there are varying accounts whether witnesses actually saw the shooter leave the van or not. I've actually seen two highly contradictory accounts, but does it suggest to you not only is he tripping up but is really getting a false sense of faith here?
JORDAN: I would hope so. We have been waiting for this. We've been waiting for him to become so brave and so bold that he takes risks or chances that make it more difficult for him to get away. Indeed, when you're talking about a large Home Depot complex on a holiday weekend, and you're talking about a parking lot, where certainly you're going to have a lot of people around, then absolutely, the shooter or shooters did take additional chances.
Also, because it's a two-tier parking garage, I would think that because she was on the first level, that the lighting may have been a little bit more difficult. There may have been more obstacles in the way. So the idea that the shooter took such a high-risk shot and still was able to get away indicates that there is a new level of risk that they are taking.
Thank you, Casey. Casey Jordan, criminologist working for us along this story here.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
