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American Morning
Serial Sniper in West Virginia?
Aired August 19, 2003 - 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: In West Virginia, two people police believe were victims of a single sniper have been laid to rest. Three people were killed in just about a week's time. The crimes all happened at convenience stores, and authorities are warning people to avoid buying gasoline at night.
Jeanne Meserve with the latest this morning in Charleston, West Virginia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHERIFF DAVE TUCKER, KANAWHA COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA: We have 100 suspects at this time, and they are being interviewed as we speak now.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sheriff Dave Tucker is confident law enforcement is close to breaking this case, On the hunt for a heavyset white man and a dark truck, possibly a Ford F- 150 spotted at the scene of one of three shootings that are apparently linked. All took place at night at convenience stores.
Bullets from two of the shootings are similar; the bullet from the third too damaged to be analyzed.
While law enforcement investigates, the advice to the community: Go about your business, but beware.
TUCKER: Be very cautious. Use good sense and don't stop what we're doing. I think this is important.
MESERVE: Spooked area residents are avoiding nighttime stops at gas stations and convenience stores, gassing up during daylight hours.
At one Charleston Go-Mart, where business was brisk, a customer was shocked to hear this was the scene of the first shooting.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, really? I didn't know that. I wouldn't have stopped here.
MESERVE: At the Central United Methodist Church right across the street, they have offered prayers for the victims and the shooter, but as he took down tables, the pastor insisted the shootings have not rocked his community.
REV. GEORGE BRAMBLE, CENTRAL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: Yesterday, for example, we had a picnic here with 60 people here right out here on the front lawn, while the news people were up across the street here. It never fazed us one bit. MESERVE (on camera): At this point in the investigation, the sheriff refuses to say definitively that he is dealing with a sniper. But members of the Washington area sniper task force have been brought in to assist.
Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Charleston, West Virginia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: More now on how law enforcement officials are developing a profile of the sniper suspect.
Joining us this morning, N.G. Berrill. He is a forensic psychologist at John Jay College of Criminology here in New York City.
Good morning. Nice to see you again.
N.G. BERRILL, FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST, JOHN JAY COLLEGE: Hi. Good morning.
O'BRIEN: First of all, there is not much to go on. Authorities have not yet definitively linked all three shootings, but they say there are similarities. Some folks have said, it sounds like a copycat. A big gap between the Washington, D.C. sniper shootings and these potential sniper -- linked sniper shootings. Do you think it's a copycat?
BERRILL: Well, it smells like it. I mean, it certainly has the earmarks of a copycat-type crime. I mean, what happened last year was highly-publicized. Countless people out there were frustrated, enraged. It certainly smells like it.
O'BRIEN: How do you build a profile when there really is almost nothing to go on except for a couple of snippets of what witnesses may have seen -- a dark truck, a heavyset white man. I mean, that's virtually useless, or is it?
BERRILL: Well, it probably will serve as a colonel for a jumping-off point in order to explore who in the locale might fit the profile of someone who has made threats, who is unstable, who is angry. You know, they'll kind of hone in on this person fairly quickly, I think.
O'BRIEN: You think so.
BERRILL: I do think so.
O'BRIEN: Why?
BERRILL: Well, I think that, No. 1, there seems to be some spottings. I think that it's a smaller locale. I think that eventually -- there is an implicit communication in what this guy is doing. I mean, he's not interested in the victims. He's interested in making a statement about how frustrated, angry he is. And somewhere he's going to communicate with somebody. He's going to want sort of vent, and they're going to triangulate and find out who this guy is.
O'BRIEN: Police have said they have 100 suspects that they're interviewing. Is that a good sign that they have all of those suspects? Or is that a sign that they don't have a clue at this point?
BERRILL: Well, I think it's a good sign. I mean, they are sort of rounding up names and people that might fit the profile of a belligerent, angry, unstable individual. They're going to check out if he's recently been fired, alcohol -- the whole thing.
O'BRIEN: Police have said that they're relying on help from the folks in Washington, D.C., who investigated the sniper shootings there. What kind of help can they give?
BERRILL: Well, they're probably going to move the blueprint over to West Virginia and see what they can do in terms of teasing out some kind of communication with this guy. Eventually, he's going to want to let his gripes, his beefs be known, and it's going to help them in sort of scoping down and finding out who this guy is.
O'BRIEN: How long do you think it takes to track? I know I always put you on the spot on these things. But, I mean, is it a two- week process, is this a six-month process? How long before this person makes a mistake?
BERRILL: About somewhere between two weeks and six months. I mean, he's going to slip up. These are kind of crimes of anger that are not well thought out. Because there is impulse involved, you know, he's going to slip up and they're going to find him.
O'BRIEN: Well, let's hope so. N.G. Berrill, nice to see you as always.
BERRILL: Sure. My pleasure.
O'BRIEN: Thanks so much for your insight.
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 August 19, 2003 - 07:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: In West Virginia, two people police believe were victims of a single sniper have been laid to rest. Three people were killed in just about a week's time. The crimes all happened at convenience stores, and authorities are warning people to avoid buying gasoline at night.
Jeanne Meserve with the latest this morning in Charleston, West Virginia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHERIFF DAVE TUCKER, KANAWHA COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA: We have 100 suspects at this time, and they are being interviewed as we speak now.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sheriff Dave Tucker is confident law enforcement is close to breaking this case, On the hunt for a heavyset white man and a dark truck, possibly a Ford F- 150 spotted at the scene of one of three shootings that are apparently linked. All took place at night at convenience stores.
Bullets from two of the shootings are similar; the bullet from the third too damaged to be analyzed.
While law enforcement investigates, the advice to the community: Go about your business, but beware.
TUCKER: Be very cautious. Use good sense and don't stop what we're doing. I think this is important.
MESERVE: Spooked area residents are avoiding nighttime stops at gas stations and convenience stores, gassing up during daylight hours.
At one Charleston Go-Mart, where business was brisk, a customer was shocked to hear this was the scene of the first shooting.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, really? I didn't know that. I wouldn't have stopped here.
MESERVE: At the Central United Methodist Church right across the street, they have offered prayers for the victims and the shooter, but as he took down tables, the pastor insisted the shootings have not rocked his community.
REV. GEORGE BRAMBLE, CENTRAL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: Yesterday, for example, we had a picnic here with 60 people here right out here on the front lawn, while the news people were up across the street here. It never fazed us one bit. MESERVE (on camera): At this point in the investigation, the sheriff refuses to say definitively that he is dealing with a sniper. But members of the Washington area sniper task force have been brought in to assist.
Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Charleston, West Virginia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: More now on how law enforcement officials are developing a profile of the sniper suspect.
Joining us this morning, N.G. Berrill. He is a forensic psychologist at John Jay College of Criminology here in New York City.
Good morning. Nice to see you again.
N.G. BERRILL, FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST, JOHN JAY COLLEGE: Hi. Good morning.
O'BRIEN: First of all, there is not much to go on. Authorities have not yet definitively linked all three shootings, but they say there are similarities. Some folks have said, it sounds like a copycat. A big gap between the Washington, D.C. sniper shootings and these potential sniper -- linked sniper shootings. Do you think it's a copycat?
BERRILL: Well, it smells like it. I mean, it certainly has the earmarks of a copycat-type crime. I mean, what happened last year was highly-publicized. Countless people out there were frustrated, enraged. It certainly smells like it.
O'BRIEN: How do you build a profile when there really is almost nothing to go on except for a couple of snippets of what witnesses may have seen -- a dark truck, a heavyset white man. I mean, that's virtually useless, or is it?
BERRILL: Well, it probably will serve as a colonel for a jumping-off point in order to explore who in the locale might fit the profile of someone who has made threats, who is unstable, who is angry. You know, they'll kind of hone in on this person fairly quickly, I think.
O'BRIEN: You think so.
BERRILL: I do think so.
O'BRIEN: Why?
BERRILL: Well, I think that, No. 1, there seems to be some spottings. I think that it's a smaller locale. I think that eventually -- there is an implicit communication in what this guy is doing. I mean, he's not interested in the victims. He's interested in making a statement about how frustrated, angry he is. And somewhere he's going to communicate with somebody. He's going to want sort of vent, and they're going to triangulate and find out who this guy is.
O'BRIEN: Police have said they have 100 suspects that they're interviewing. Is that a good sign that they have all of those suspects? Or is that a sign that they don't have a clue at this point?
BERRILL: Well, I think it's a good sign. I mean, they are sort of rounding up names and people that might fit the profile of a belligerent, angry, unstable individual. They're going to check out if he's recently been fired, alcohol -- the whole thing.
O'BRIEN: Police have said that they're relying on help from the folks in Washington, D.C., who investigated the sniper shootings there. What kind of help can they give?
BERRILL: Well, they're probably going to move the blueprint over to West Virginia and see what they can do in terms of teasing out some kind of communication with this guy. Eventually, he's going to want to let his gripes, his beefs be known, and it's going to help them in sort of scoping down and finding out who this guy is.
O'BRIEN: How long do you think it takes to track? I know I always put you on the spot on these things. But, I mean, is it a two- week process, is this a six-month process? How long before this person makes a mistake?
BERRILL: About somewhere between two weeks and six months. I mean, he's going to slip up. These are kind of crimes of anger that are not well thought out. Because there is impulse involved, you know, he's going to slip up and they're going to find him.
O'BRIEN: Well, let's hope so. N.G. Berrill, nice to see you as always.
BERRILL: Sure. My pleasure.
O'BRIEN: Thanks so much for your insight.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
