Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
Is Falls Church Shooting Linked to Sniper?
Aired October 17, 2002 - 07:05 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Could this latest tragedy at least push the investigation forward somehow?
Well, CNN's law enforcement analyst, Mike Brooks, has been following the case. He joins us from Atlanta this morning.
Good morning -- Mike.
MIKE BROOKS, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Good morning, Paula.
ZAHN: You just heard Michael say there has been no official confirmation that last night's murder is linked with the other sniper killings. But based on the pattern you have seen unfolded so far, is there any doubt in your mind that this is linked to the others?
BROOKS: There is no doubt in my mind, Paula, and in talking to law enforcement officials last night, there is basically no doubt in their mind either. It's just a matter of getting the postmortem information and evidence from the victim, comparing that with what they have known, and making an announcement that it is linked with the other shootings.
Now, this is the third time that the shooter has acted under the cover of nightfall. So, you know, this was 9:15, 9:30 in the evening, and in an area that he could get in and out of quickly. You've got Route 50, Route 7, 495, 66, all within, you know, a mile-and-a-half, two miles, of where the shooting occurred. Again, the same M.O. as before: quick in, quick out -- Paula.
ZAHN: What do you make of the significance that this is the third time the sniper has chosen a target that's not far from a Michaels Craft store? Of course, the first time he struck the window of a store and no one was injured.
BROOKS: Right. Then, the next one was in the parking lot in Spotsylvania County of a Michaels Craft store. Then, where the 13- year-old boy was shot in Prince George's County, there was a Michaels Craft store just down the road from there that had been the victim of an arson fire that's still an open case. And now, this also, you know, is in close proximity to a Michaels store. Investigators are looking at this.
When I mentioned this to one of the people close to the investigation last night, he said, "Oh, no."
So, you know, whether that has any significance or not, that's purely speculation. But law enforcement officials are definitely taking a look to see if there is any connection with the Michaels.
ZAHN: And, of course, once again, they are awaiting the ballistics test results to make any of those connections that we're talking about here.
On to the question of this PO Box that was announced, where people could leave their tips, what's the purpose of that?
BROOKS: Well, there is thought that maybe the shooter wants to communicate with the police. There was talk earlier, unconfirmed sources said that -- unconfirmed information that on the tarot card, besides just "Dear Policemen, I am God," that there was some other information that would lead law enforcement to believe he wanted to communicate with them. We have yet to confirm that, but maybe this shooter, instead of calling the tip line, would want to leave some kind of written message.
So, they're just pulling out all of the stops of whether someone wants to communicate in writing, whether someone wants to communicate over the phone, they're allowing anyone who wants to do that, you know, the capability of doing that.
So, I think they're just -- they're trying to cover all of the bases and just pulling out all of the stops on this -- Paula.
ZAHN: Very quickly in closing, what do you think the biggest clue is so far that law enforcement has to work on?
BROOKS: Well, there's a lot that law enforcement isn't telling us. There's a number of different clues. We've got two shell casings. Law enforcement has two shell casings. They have the tarot card with some writing on it.
They've got a lot of different pieces, trying to put this huge puzzle together. I think there's a few pieces they're not telling the media about and telling the public about, because they want to try to see if any of these pieces are connected or not, but I think there's a lot they're not telling us. So, hopefully we can find out a little bit more today as this investigation progresses.
ZAHN: Yes, we're hoping to find out at about 9:00, when a news conference is held out of Falls Church, Virginia, with the officials there.
Mike Brooks, thanks for your insights this morning -- our CNN law enforcement analyst. Appreciate it.
BROOKS: Thank you, Paula.
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 17, 2002 - 07:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Could this latest tragedy at least push the investigation forward somehow?
Well, CNN's law enforcement analyst, Mike Brooks, has been following the case. He joins us from Atlanta this morning.
Good morning -- Mike.
MIKE BROOKS, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Good morning, Paula.
ZAHN: You just heard Michael say there has been no official confirmation that last night's murder is linked with the other sniper killings. But based on the pattern you have seen unfolded so far, is there any doubt in your mind that this is linked to the others?
BROOKS: There is no doubt in my mind, Paula, and in talking to law enforcement officials last night, there is basically no doubt in their mind either. It's just a matter of getting the postmortem information and evidence from the victim, comparing that with what they have known, and making an announcement that it is linked with the other shootings.
Now, this is the third time that the shooter has acted under the cover of nightfall. So, you know, this was 9:15, 9:30 in the evening, and in an area that he could get in and out of quickly. You've got Route 50, Route 7, 495, 66, all within, you know, a mile-and-a-half, two miles, of where the shooting occurred. Again, the same M.O. as before: quick in, quick out -- Paula.
ZAHN: What do you make of the significance that this is the third time the sniper has chosen a target that's not far from a Michaels Craft store? Of course, the first time he struck the window of a store and no one was injured.
BROOKS: Right. Then, the next one was in the parking lot in Spotsylvania County of a Michaels Craft store. Then, where the 13- year-old boy was shot in Prince George's County, there was a Michaels Craft store just down the road from there that had been the victim of an arson fire that's still an open case. And now, this also, you know, is in close proximity to a Michaels store. Investigators are looking at this.
When I mentioned this to one of the people close to the investigation last night, he said, "Oh, no."
So, you know, whether that has any significance or not, that's purely speculation. But law enforcement officials are definitely taking a look to see if there is any connection with the Michaels.
ZAHN: And, of course, once again, they are awaiting the ballistics test results to make any of those connections that we're talking about here.
On to the question of this PO Box that was announced, where people could leave their tips, what's the purpose of that?
BROOKS: Well, there is thought that maybe the shooter wants to communicate with the police. There was talk earlier, unconfirmed sources said that -- unconfirmed information that on the tarot card, besides just "Dear Policemen, I am God," that there was some other information that would lead law enforcement to believe he wanted to communicate with them. We have yet to confirm that, but maybe this shooter, instead of calling the tip line, would want to leave some kind of written message.
So, they're just pulling out all of the stops of whether someone wants to communicate in writing, whether someone wants to communicate over the phone, they're allowing anyone who wants to do that, you know, the capability of doing that.
So, I think they're just -- they're trying to cover all of the bases and just pulling out all of the stops on this -- Paula.
ZAHN: Very quickly in closing, what do you think the biggest clue is so far that law enforcement has to work on?
BROOKS: Well, there's a lot that law enforcement isn't telling us. There's a number of different clues. We've got two shell casings. Law enforcement has two shell casings. They have the tarot card with some writing on it.
They've got a lot of different pieces, trying to put this huge puzzle together. I think there's a few pieces they're not telling the media about and telling the public about, because they want to try to see if any of these pieces are connected or not, but I think there's a lot they're not telling us. So, hopefully we can find out a little bit more today as this investigation progresses.
ZAHN: Yes, we're hoping to find out at about 9:00, when a news conference is held out of Falls Church, Virginia, with the officials there.
Mike Brooks, thanks for your insights this morning -- our CNN law enforcement analyst. Appreciate it.
BROOKS: Thank you, Paula.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
