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CNN Live Today
Investigators Getting More Info on Sniper
Aired October 16, 2002 - 11:40 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: Kelli Arena has been doing some good work and has some information, and we're going to bring her in from our investigation desk inside of our Washington bureau where it is a little bit drier than we are in Montgomery County.
KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm sorry, Daryn.
KAGAN: But you are making good use of that dryness, and tell us more about finding out that, in fact, it looks like this latest shooting at the Home Depot in Falls Church was indeed a lot closer than the other shootings?
ARENA: Yes, they do believe, investigators believe, that the sniper was 30 yard away, that is just 100 feet, and the fact he has moved in closer and was much more aggressive this time, did allow for more witness involvement, at least according to law enforcement sources. That includes two accounts from that site in Falls Church, two people telling investigators that they saw an olive, darker skinned male in a white van. They are working with investigators in coming up with a composite sketch.
One of those witnesses also telling investigators that he or she believed that the person that they saw was brandishing a rifle on their shoulder. So some movement there.
Now again, I have to caution that sometimes people think they see things that they don't see in the heat of the moment. The people, the individual that these witnesses are describing, may or may not have anything to do with the attacks, but they are working with the investigators, hopefully it will lead somewhere. License plate, we have heard that there were partial license plate numbers that were provided to investigators, we know those numbers are run through databases to see if they can come up with any more information, and we -- like we reported last evening and information is coming in, the FBI through the Justice Department has asked for satellite images of locations where the sniper has struck to see if there are any satellite images available, either from weather satellites or intelligence satellites, so that they can compare the locations.
Now whether or not they exist is the question. Agencies are going back through the records to see what satellite images they actually have, and if they have it of that time. This is all that's going on right now, Daryn, and hopefully, we will see more and can move it forward in about 15 minutes.
KAGAN: That's when the one begins out here. Kelli Arena, thank you so much. We want to go from you to our CNN criminologist, and that is Casey Jordan to get some insight perhaps on what this new information could tell us. Casey, good morning to you.
CASEY JORDAN, CNN CRIMINOLOGIST: Good morning, Daryn.
To me, the most significant development is this information on the 30 yards. I absolutely think that the psychological processing of the shooter or shooters is actual responding or reflecting the clampdown by law enforcement. There is two directions it could go, at this point. You might see even more brazen attack in the future, or you might see the attacks displaced even further outside the spectrum of where the shootings have taken place so far.
KAGAN: You mean geographically moving to a different area?
JORDAN: I truly believe one of two things is going to happen. It's either going to escalate in terms of challenging the police and saying, look what I can do. Of course we know last Friday we had a shooting 50 yards from a trooper, and of course on Monday, a shooting 30 yards from the victim, in front of her husband. It just doesn't seem like it could get much worse.
And yet, we have not seen this level of law enforcement activity until of course after Monday evening's shooting.
So in my estimation, one of two things, you might see a reaction that is even further off the charts, or you might see a backdown, because even though this person is certainly enjoying the chess game with the police, he or they do not want to get caught. I'm convinced they want it to continue.
KAGAN: But, Casey, don't we have to be careful about trying to get in the mind -- and I know that's your job, but to get in the mind and kind of figure out how this guy is thinking. Is it possible, rather than how we look at it and say, oh, he's getting more brazen, because he's getting closer, he is just going where the opportunity is, and perhaps on Monday night, the opportunity would have been from 100 yards away.
JORDAN: There is opportunity all over the place. You really don't know. I will certainly agree that possibly we cannot know what's going on inside the mind of the shooter. But we can make assessments, simply based on how things have escalated. There is a pattern, albeit, based on mostly common sense and educated guessing, that this person is not going to back down at all. And there certainly seems to be a response that is enjoying the media attention and enjoying the terror that is the byproduct of these attacks.
KAGAN: Criminologist Casey Jordan, thank you for your insights this morning. Appreciate that.
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 16, 2002 - 11:40 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Kelli Arena has been doing some good work and has some information, and we're going to bring her in from our investigation desk inside of our Washington bureau where it is a little bit drier than we are in Montgomery County.
KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm sorry, Daryn.
KAGAN: But you are making good use of that dryness, and tell us more about finding out that, in fact, it looks like this latest shooting at the Home Depot in Falls Church was indeed a lot closer than the other shootings?
ARENA: Yes, they do believe, investigators believe, that the sniper was 30 yard away, that is just 100 feet, and the fact he has moved in closer and was much more aggressive this time, did allow for more witness involvement, at least according to law enforcement sources. That includes two accounts from that site in Falls Church, two people telling investigators that they saw an olive, darker skinned male in a white van. They are working with investigators in coming up with a composite sketch.
One of those witnesses also telling investigators that he or she believed that the person that they saw was brandishing a rifle on their shoulder. So some movement there.
Now again, I have to caution that sometimes people think they see things that they don't see in the heat of the moment. The people, the individual that these witnesses are describing, may or may not have anything to do with the attacks, but they are working with the investigators, hopefully it will lead somewhere. License plate, we have heard that there were partial license plate numbers that were provided to investigators, we know those numbers are run through databases to see if they can come up with any more information, and we -- like we reported last evening and information is coming in, the FBI through the Justice Department has asked for satellite images of locations where the sniper has struck to see if there are any satellite images available, either from weather satellites or intelligence satellites, so that they can compare the locations.
Now whether or not they exist is the question. Agencies are going back through the records to see what satellite images they actually have, and if they have it of that time. This is all that's going on right now, Daryn, and hopefully, we will see more and can move it forward in about 15 minutes.
KAGAN: That's when the one begins out here. Kelli Arena, thank you so much. We want to go from you to our CNN criminologist, and that is Casey Jordan to get some insight perhaps on what this new information could tell us. Casey, good morning to you.
CASEY JORDAN, CNN CRIMINOLOGIST: Good morning, Daryn.
To me, the most significant development is this information on the 30 yards. I absolutely think that the psychological processing of the shooter or shooters is actual responding or reflecting the clampdown by law enforcement. There is two directions it could go, at this point. You might see even more brazen attack in the future, or you might see the attacks displaced even further outside the spectrum of where the shootings have taken place so far.
KAGAN: You mean geographically moving to a different area?
JORDAN: I truly believe one of two things is going to happen. It's either going to escalate in terms of challenging the police and saying, look what I can do. Of course we know last Friday we had a shooting 50 yards from a trooper, and of course on Monday, a shooting 30 yards from the victim, in front of her husband. It just doesn't seem like it could get much worse.
And yet, we have not seen this level of law enforcement activity until of course after Monday evening's shooting.
So in my estimation, one of two things, you might see a reaction that is even further off the charts, or you might see a backdown, because even though this person is certainly enjoying the chess game with the police, he or they do not want to get caught. I'm convinced they want it to continue.
KAGAN: But, Casey, don't we have to be careful about trying to get in the mind -- and I know that's your job, but to get in the mind and kind of figure out how this guy is thinking. Is it possible, rather than how we look at it and say, oh, he's getting more brazen, because he's getting closer, he is just going where the opportunity is, and perhaps on Monday night, the opportunity would have been from 100 yards away.
JORDAN: There is opportunity all over the place. You really don't know. I will certainly agree that possibly we cannot know what's going on inside the mind of the shooter. But we can make assessments, simply based on how things have escalated. There is a pattern, albeit, based on mostly common sense and educated guessing, that this person is not going to back down at all. And there certainly seems to be a response that is enjoying the media attention and enjoying the terror that is the byproduct of these attacks.
KAGAN: Criminologist Casey Jordan, thank you for your insights this morning. Appreciate that.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
