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Another Shooting in Montgomery County, Maryland

Aired October 22, 2002 - 06:55   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.


CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Mike Ahlers, are you still on the phone with us? Back with us now, CNN producer there on the scene.
What's going on now? Can you tell us?

MIKE AHLERS, CNN PRODUCER: Well, I'll tell you, I've been looking around for witnesses. The few people I've encountered, and I've only seen a few, none of them heard any gunshot. None of them witnessed the scene. Even, I talked to a resident of the apartment complex that is closest to the bus and he didn't hear anything. He says he was, he believes he was in the shower at the time.

If, you had asked earlier about witnesses and it's clear that the bus would have had a bus driver. The, there may have been other passengers. When I arrived on the scene, they were nowhere to be seen. But as for other people out and about, it doesn't appear likely that there are many witnesses.

CALLAWAY: Mike Brooks, how audible would the sound of the weapon that the sniper has been using be on a morning like this? It seems like when it's mild weather, cold weather, sound seems to almost reverberate, a gunshot would almost reverberate through that area for some distance.

BROOKS: Well, you could, and -- well, in an area like this, people hear noises all the time if there's apartment complexes. To answer your question, though, the weapon, again, speculation only, that the kind of weapon that has been used in the past makes a pretty audible, loud noise. And, but in an area like this where you have a lot of commuter traffic...

CALLAWAY: Lots of traffic.

BROOKS: A lot of commuter traffic, apartments, you know, people going, moving around quite a bit in the morning, doors slamming, car doors slamming, someone may not have heard anything at all. So, you know, it's -- but they definitely have to do a canvas of the neighborhood and then go knock on some doors. If I was an investigator, that's the first thing I would be doing.

CALLAWAY: Mike, are you seeing that happening there at the scene?

AHLERS: Well, what's interesting is that where I am I'm not seeing much canvassing at all. That may be because they've, they are establishing a larger perimeter than they've done in the past. Or it may be because they did a quick search of this before I arrived. But there are very few police officers, you know, within a couple hundred yards of the scene, at least on my side of the scene. And I'm walking through the apartment complex and other than one who was putting up some police tape, I don't see any.

CALLAWAY: People that you've talked with so far, do they seem alarmed, concerned? Do they know what's happened in their backyard?

AHLERS: Well, none of these -- they really don't know what's happening. None of them witnessed anything, none of them heard anything and a few have wandered up the police line and wandered away. But I think there's obvious concern.

CALLAWAY: Let's recap again for everyone what has happened here. Another shooting in Montgomery County, Maryland, not too far from some of the other shootings that we've seen that have been connected with the sniper. The shooting this morning, though, of course, no official confirmation that it is associated with the sniper. This taking place at Grand Prix Road and Connecticut Avenue.

We believe it was a male victim shot in the chest, now taken to the hospital. He was apparently getting off of a commuter bus in that region.

Police have cordoned off a large area there as they continue to investigate this. We have Patty Davis on the scene in Maryland, the headquarters of the sniper investigation, and we have CNN producer Mike Ahlers, who is also on the scene talking with people there in that area.

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 22, 2002 - 06:55   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Mike Ahlers, are you still on the phone with us? Back with us now, CNN producer there on the scene.
What's going on now? Can you tell us?

MIKE AHLERS, CNN PRODUCER: Well, I'll tell you, I've been looking around for witnesses. The few people I've encountered, and I've only seen a few, none of them heard any gunshot. None of them witnessed the scene. Even, I talked to a resident of the apartment complex that is closest to the bus and he didn't hear anything. He says he was, he believes he was in the shower at the time.

If, you had asked earlier about witnesses and it's clear that the bus would have had a bus driver. The, there may have been other passengers. When I arrived on the scene, they were nowhere to be seen. But as for other people out and about, it doesn't appear likely that there are many witnesses.

CALLAWAY: Mike Brooks, how audible would the sound of the weapon that the sniper has been using be on a morning like this? It seems like when it's mild weather, cold weather, sound seems to almost reverberate, a gunshot would almost reverberate through that area for some distance.

BROOKS: Well, you could, and -- well, in an area like this, people hear noises all the time if there's apartment complexes. To answer your question, though, the weapon, again, speculation only, that the kind of weapon that has been used in the past makes a pretty audible, loud noise. And, but in an area like this where you have a lot of commuter traffic...

CALLAWAY: Lots of traffic.

BROOKS: A lot of commuter traffic, apartments, you know, people going, moving around quite a bit in the morning, doors slamming, car doors slamming, someone may not have heard anything at all. So, you know, it's -- but they definitely have to do a canvas of the neighborhood and then go knock on some doors. If I was an investigator, that's the first thing I would be doing.

CALLAWAY: Mike, are you seeing that happening there at the scene?

AHLERS: Well, what's interesting is that where I am I'm not seeing much canvassing at all. That may be because they've, they are establishing a larger perimeter than they've done in the past. Or it may be because they did a quick search of this before I arrived. But there are very few police officers, you know, within a couple hundred yards of the scene, at least on my side of the scene. And I'm walking through the apartment complex and other than one who was putting up some police tape, I don't see any.

CALLAWAY: People that you've talked with so far, do they seem alarmed, concerned? Do they know what's happened in their backyard?

AHLERS: Well, none of these -- they really don't know what's happening. None of them witnessed anything, none of them heard anything and a few have wandered up the police line and wandered away. But I think there's obvious concern.

CALLAWAY: Let's recap again for everyone what has happened here. Another shooting in Montgomery County, Maryland, not too far from some of the other shootings that we've seen that have been connected with the sniper. The shooting this morning, though, of course, no official confirmation that it is associated with the sniper. This taking place at Grand Prix Road and Connecticut Avenue.

We believe it was a male victim shot in the chest, now taken to the hospital. He was apparently getting off of a commuter bus in that region.

Police have cordoned off a large area there as they continue to investigate this. We have Patty Davis on the scene in Maryland, the headquarters of the sniper investigation, and we have CNN producer Mike Ahlers, who is also on the scene talking with people there in that area.

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