Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Today
Tracing the Path of the Sniper
Aired October 23, 2002 - 11:06 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.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: We want to take you to the scene of the actual shooting. Yesterday, Bob Franken actually was able to get on site and is I believe able to walk us through it. Bob, have you been able to actually trace the path of the sniper? Is there any more information there?
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're basing this on where the investigators were looking. First of all, I want to show you this, you see me now, but look how easy it is for the sniper to be concealed. Remember, this happened in the darkness of about 6:00 in the morning yesterday. So he would have been easy to be out of sight, to be in a position somewhere around here. You can see that this area is beaten down. The investigators have obviously looked very thoroughly at this area.
Now what they're theorizing is that he went into these woods. This is part of a park, Northgate Park. It's one of those urban parks you see in so many cities. And in back, through all the trees that you're seeing there is a path, a bicycle path, a paved bicycle path, which would have been, investigators theorize, very, very easy for whoever did the shooting to go down to that path and then run or walk 50 yards up to Connecticut Avenue, which is a mayor thoroughfare, just at the end of the path on either side. He could have concealed his are car, gotten in there under the cover of darkness and then left very easily.
Now, I'm standing in the middle of a basketball court, which is a prominent feature here. You can see back there where that flag is, where there's a collection of photographers and cameramen, that type of thing, the bus stop where Conrad Johnson lost his life. You're looking at it from approximately the vantage point that somebody who had taken a shot might have been able to do. This is the theory of investigators. It sounds somewhat typical to the other shootings. Other shootings have been conducted, many of them from nearby wooded areas, always with a quick escape. And, of course, Carol, it raises the question that so many people have asked, how is he able to so meticulously plan an escape that seems to at least thus far been foolproof.
LIN: Another theory going around that perhaps he didn't escape right away, that his plan was to perhaps mingle with bystanders around the area, and perhaps even be able to hide the weapon in the woods and then blend in with the crowds that might gather around the scene.
FRANKEN: well, that is entirely plausible. That is a higher risk theory. Normally if somebody knows what he is doing does something like this, the first thing he wants to do is get out of the area. But all of this is speculation on the part of investigationers, and certainly on our part. The one thing, though, that seems to be characteristic of every one of these attacks is that there is an easy avenue of escape.
LIN: Bob, you've been there for the better part of the morning. This area was described as an area where a lot of these ride-on buses would park while the drivers were waiting for their official orders from the day. Was it business as usual today?
FRANKEN: Well, it was business as usual, except at the very first part of the morning, police cars were there to stop residents of this area as they were leaving, to stop them and simply say, is there anything that you might be able to tell us? They would ask them a couple of questions an let them go on their way. They continued that only until about 7:00 a.m., and then the area was opened up. Now, except for all us reporters around here, it is back to normal, as normal as one can be in an area that everyone is frightened by what has been going on here.
LIN: Thank you very much, Bob Franken reporting live from Aspen Hill, Maryland.
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 23, 2002 - 11:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: We want to take you to the scene of the actual shooting. Yesterday, Bob Franken actually was able to get on site and is I believe able to walk us through it. Bob, have you been able to actually trace the path of the sniper? Is there any more information there?
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're basing this on where the investigators were looking. First of all, I want to show you this, you see me now, but look how easy it is for the sniper to be concealed. Remember, this happened in the darkness of about 6:00 in the morning yesterday. So he would have been easy to be out of sight, to be in a position somewhere around here. You can see that this area is beaten down. The investigators have obviously looked very thoroughly at this area.
Now what they're theorizing is that he went into these woods. This is part of a park, Northgate Park. It's one of those urban parks you see in so many cities. And in back, through all the trees that you're seeing there is a path, a bicycle path, a paved bicycle path, which would have been, investigators theorize, very, very easy for whoever did the shooting to go down to that path and then run or walk 50 yards up to Connecticut Avenue, which is a mayor thoroughfare, just at the end of the path on either side. He could have concealed his are car, gotten in there under the cover of darkness and then left very easily.
Now, I'm standing in the middle of a basketball court, which is a prominent feature here. You can see back there where that flag is, where there's a collection of photographers and cameramen, that type of thing, the bus stop where Conrad Johnson lost his life. You're looking at it from approximately the vantage point that somebody who had taken a shot might have been able to do. This is the theory of investigators. It sounds somewhat typical to the other shootings. Other shootings have been conducted, many of them from nearby wooded areas, always with a quick escape. And, of course, Carol, it raises the question that so many people have asked, how is he able to so meticulously plan an escape that seems to at least thus far been foolproof.
LIN: Another theory going around that perhaps he didn't escape right away, that his plan was to perhaps mingle with bystanders around the area, and perhaps even be able to hide the weapon in the woods and then blend in with the crowds that might gather around the scene.
FRANKEN: well, that is entirely plausible. That is a higher risk theory. Normally if somebody knows what he is doing does something like this, the first thing he wants to do is get out of the area. But all of this is speculation on the part of investigationers, and certainly on our part. The one thing, though, that seems to be characteristic of every one of these attacks is that there is an easy avenue of escape.
LIN: Bob, you've been there for the better part of the morning. This area was described as an area where a lot of these ride-on buses would park while the drivers were waiting for their official orders from the day. Was it business as usual today?
FRANKEN: Well, it was business as usual, except at the very first part of the morning, police cars were there to stop residents of this area as they were leaving, to stop them and simply say, is there anything that you might be able to tell us? They would ask them a couple of questions an let them go on their way. They continued that only until about 7:00 a.m., and then the area was opened up. Now, except for all us reporters around here, it is back to normal, as normal as one can be in an area that everyone is frightened by what has been going on here.
LIN: Thank you very much, Bob Franken reporting live from Aspen Hill, Maryland.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
