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American Morning

False Witness

Aired October 18, 2002 - 10:03   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: No lack of things to be nervous about here in the Washington D.C. area. One of the big problems and frustrations coming from right here where we learned about noon yesterday that the person that they thought was the best witness in the last shooting, the Home Depot shooting, turns out to be bogus, and a lot of the information that they thought was leading to perhaps the catch of the killer, they've had to retract.
Our Bob Franken is at the site of the Home Depot shooting in Falls Church, Virginia. Police have been on the scene there constantly since Monday, looking for more evidence, and he joins us now.

Bob, good morning.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And it looks like, Daryn, that they have scoured this area. Of course, as we all know, the focus, almost immediately after Monday night's shooting, was on the parking garage in back of me. There was a belief based on the witness reports that the shooter, the sniper, had operated about 30 yards from the victim, Linda Franklin, in the parking garage itself, before he traveled along this access road and escaped into the night.

But now, the emphasis has very obviously shifted to the area across the street. That's an area with a parking lot, an area with a bit of an incline. So there is a belief now on the part of the police that that could very possibly have been the vantage point, if you can see. It's a very, very direct vantage point into the parking garage.

Now, what we saw as the starkest evidence that that is the new police focus, was the presence yesterday of scouring teams, only way to describe them, teams of police cadets, who were literally on their hands and knees, going over every inch of the area over there, across the way, looking for evidence, even at some point stopping automobiles who were moving along the access road.

One of the things that must be pointed out here is that whether he shot from the garage or whether he shot from that area over there, there is easy, easy escape access. There are roads that take you right into a network, a web of roads and highways, where somebody could escape into the night well before anybody got over the initial shock of the shooting.

But there is evidence to date that the police have pretty much finished their investigation. Over my shoulder you can see some construction going on, along those grassy areas over there. Yesterday, evidence was being collected, everybody was being kept off that area. The fact that construction crews are now being left is the strongest indication you can get that police have decided they've searched that as thoroughly as they can -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Bob, people, I think, are trying to assess just how damaging this bogus witness was, with the information that he gave police are saying, about the bogus information this witness gave police, and clearly right after the shooting happened, we were led to believe it could have been as close as 30 yards away. Do we think, or do we know, did police not look into that parking lot you were just pointing out at the time of the shootings? Was it a missed opportunity?

FRANKEN: Well, at the very least, it has delayed the investigation. At the very least, it stopped them from having a good handle on who they were looking for when they shut down the highways. The police now believe that the information about the cream colored van was misleading. They also believe that the description of the sniper was misleading, not an olive-skinned man.

They have not given up on the possibility that the garage may have been the vantage point, because there were a variety of witnesses, or at least people who heard from people who described themselves as witnesses. What they did, is they had high mapped everything. They have high-tech laser mapping devices, who were out here all day yesterday, and even this morning. They were going over everybody inch of the garage, everybody area across the street. They're not giving up on any possibility. But the early hopes they that they had a lead have been dashed.

KAGAN: And then for a long time in that parking lot, a memorial for the latest victim, Linda Franklin. Is that memorial still there, or has that been moved away?

FRANKEN: It has not only be moved away by the Home Depot people who were worried that it was going to be damaged by cars that were passing by, it has now been delivered to the family. Home Depot consulted with the friends of the Linda Franklin family, and they brought it to the family the day before yesterday. Very quietly. They didn't want a lot of publicity about that.

KAGAN: Understandable. Bob Franken in Falls Church, Virginia. Thank you very much.

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 18, 2002 - 10:03   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: No lack of things to be nervous about here in the Washington D.C. area. One of the big problems and frustrations coming from right here where we learned about noon yesterday that the person that they thought was the best witness in the last shooting, the Home Depot shooting, turns out to be bogus, and a lot of the information that they thought was leading to perhaps the catch of the killer, they've had to retract.
Our Bob Franken is at the site of the Home Depot shooting in Falls Church, Virginia. Police have been on the scene there constantly since Monday, looking for more evidence, and he joins us now.

Bob, good morning.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And it looks like, Daryn, that they have scoured this area. Of course, as we all know, the focus, almost immediately after Monday night's shooting, was on the parking garage in back of me. There was a belief based on the witness reports that the shooter, the sniper, had operated about 30 yards from the victim, Linda Franklin, in the parking garage itself, before he traveled along this access road and escaped into the night.

But now, the emphasis has very obviously shifted to the area across the street. That's an area with a parking lot, an area with a bit of an incline. So there is a belief now on the part of the police that that could very possibly have been the vantage point, if you can see. It's a very, very direct vantage point into the parking garage.

Now, what we saw as the starkest evidence that that is the new police focus, was the presence yesterday of scouring teams, only way to describe them, teams of police cadets, who were literally on their hands and knees, going over every inch of the area over there, across the way, looking for evidence, even at some point stopping automobiles who were moving along the access road.

One of the things that must be pointed out here is that whether he shot from the garage or whether he shot from that area over there, there is easy, easy escape access. There are roads that take you right into a network, a web of roads and highways, where somebody could escape into the night well before anybody got over the initial shock of the shooting.

But there is evidence to date that the police have pretty much finished their investigation. Over my shoulder you can see some construction going on, along those grassy areas over there. Yesterday, evidence was being collected, everybody was being kept off that area. The fact that construction crews are now being left is the strongest indication you can get that police have decided they've searched that as thoroughly as they can -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Bob, people, I think, are trying to assess just how damaging this bogus witness was, with the information that he gave police are saying, about the bogus information this witness gave police, and clearly right after the shooting happened, we were led to believe it could have been as close as 30 yards away. Do we think, or do we know, did police not look into that parking lot you were just pointing out at the time of the shootings? Was it a missed opportunity?

FRANKEN: Well, at the very least, it has delayed the investigation. At the very least, it stopped them from having a good handle on who they were looking for when they shut down the highways. The police now believe that the information about the cream colored van was misleading. They also believe that the description of the sniper was misleading, not an olive-skinned man.

They have not given up on the possibility that the garage may have been the vantage point, because there were a variety of witnesses, or at least people who heard from people who described themselves as witnesses. What they did, is they had high mapped everything. They have high-tech laser mapping devices, who were out here all day yesterday, and even this morning. They were going over everybody inch of the garage, everybody area across the street. They're not giving up on any possibility. But the early hopes they that they had a lead have been dashed.

KAGAN: And then for a long time in that parking lot, a memorial for the latest victim, Linda Franklin. Is that memorial still there, or has that been moved away?

FRANKEN: It has not only be moved away by the Home Depot people who were worried that it was going to be damaged by cars that were passing by, it has now been delivered to the family. Home Depot consulted with the friends of the Linda Franklin family, and they brought it to the family the day before yesterday. Very quietly. They didn't want a lot of publicity about that.

KAGAN: Understandable. Bob Franken in Falls Church, Virginia. Thank you very much.

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