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CNN Live Saturday

Special Report: Sniper on the Loose, Part VI

Aired October 12, 2002 - 17:00   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.


ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Another confirmed victim of the sniper on the loose. As police search for the killer, the reward for his capture grows to more than half a million dollars. We'll have the latest and a police news conference just minutes away. Also, we'll talk you to Iraq. A new warning about inspections that could doom the U.N. mission before it even starts. We'll have reports from Baghdad and Washington.
From the CNN center in Atlanta, I'm Anderson Cooper and this is CNN SATURDAY. Welcome to the special edition SNIPER ON THE LOOSE: THE HUNT FOR A KILLER. We'll go live right now to Bill Hemmer who's standing by in Montgomery County, Maryland, who's been following this story all day long.

Bill, what's the latest?

BILL HEMMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, standing by essentially in a matter of minutes, we'll hear from the police chief, Charles Moose, to come out and brief reporters. We anticipate this graphic aid that was described Friday morning, almost a day and half ago, to be released to the media and then eventually to the public. That may offer a better description, a more complete description of this vehicle that we've been talking about now for the past week and a half.

As we await that, though, there's a lot to cover essentially on the community. I want to bring in Kathleen Koch and Mike Brooks, colleagues of mine here in Rockville, Maryland to talk more about both of those aspects.

Good afternoon to both of you.

MIKE BROOKS, LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Good afternoon.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon.

HEMMER: As we await the chief, there's a couple things that really -- before we get to the graphic aid and before we speculate what they could or could not say, what they may or may not say, we had a question earlier today about terrorism, whether or not the definition of terror applies here. You've got extensive police background, investigative background. As you see it, where does it fit right now?

BROOKS: Well, Bill, after working in terrorism for the last six years of my career with the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, this person is terrorizing the community. But yet some people say, "Well, is it terrorism as we think of 9/11 terrorism, or is he just a -- is he just a single operator out there, just creating havoc and terrorism in the community? If you look at the FBI definition of terrorism, they define terrorism as the "unlawful use of force or violence to intimidate or coerce a government, civilian population or any segment thereof in the furtherance of political or associate objectives." Now, does that fit the description?

HEMMER: It may apply.

BROOKS: It could apply. And we don't know exactly what the motive of this shooter is. And it could apply because if you -- social objectives of -- if his objective is to change the lives of people socially, than he's going about it, and he's doing it right now.

HEMMER: And you've seen the change...

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I think I have reacted -- they have reacted in a way -- just like some did after 9/11. There were some people who were terrified. There were some who didn't want to leave their homes. And we're seeing the same thing happen here. There are people who are already talking about home schooling their children, pulling them out school and thinking they can keep them safe...

BROOKS: Already we're seeing that.

KOCH: ... already locked in their home. And I think that's really sad. And then there are other people who are going on about their daily lives. But again, as you've seen -- I think, as we've all seen, at gas stations, that's where you really see the change. We have gas stations putting out signs saying, "We will pump for you" because those who dare to get out and pump for themselves are often cowering next to their cars, behind the pumps, sticking the nozzle in the tank and then jumping into their car.

HEMMER: I heard people just aren't stopping to get gas. That affects business.

BROOKS: The news radio coming up here -- it was just like after 9/11. You hear all these closings. You have all the cancellations of outdoor activities, and canceled until next year. You know and then we go again to another year. And that's...

KOCH: It's so sad and I think it's so disruptive for the young people -- again, the young people who after 9/11 had football games canceled, baseball games, homecomings canceled. The very same thing happening this weekend throughout the region. And I think it's so disturbing for kids who suffered so much last year to see something like this traumatizing their community all over again.

HEMMER: Let's talk about a geographical profile. We may learn more that may take us in one direction or another. You have some pretty interesting thoughts about this though. If you look at where the initial attacks took place 10 days ago, then when they started branching out a week ago yesterday, then Wednesday night of this past week, then yesterday morning, it's taking into a different area. If you're trying to set up a profile, Mike, what are you trying to determine based on the map that we now have?

BROOKS: Usually, a subject will start in an area where he's familiar with and branch out. But you look at -- and Kathleen and I were talking about this earlier -- you look at the two shootings in Spotsylvania County, both of them on Fridays. So does this person live in the Montgomery County, Washington metropolitan area and commute to Spotsylvania County? This is all speculation but a large portion is looking at this. This is all part of the geographical profiling they're doing. And...

KOCH: And officers here that I've talked to yesterday were telling me, again, because the shooting started here -- as Mike said, you know killers often start in the area where they feel comfortable, where they know the lay of the land -- that they still believe if the killer doesn't leave here, the killer works here, the killer grew up here. They have a very good knowledge of the geography of this area because those first shootings, especially the ones on Thursday morning. You had four shootings in under two hours.

HEMMER: Essentially, crisscrossing the road.

KOCH: Absolutely, that killer had to know how to get quickly from Point A to Point B and not run into the very officers who were responding to his previous one, two, three killings.

BROOKS: And always near an interstate, easy in and out, doesn't get trapped in the neighbor.

KOCH: But that's -- except the Montgomery County shootings, which is why, again, they believe...

BROOKS: Right.

KOCH: ... the base of operations is here. When you strike near an interstate, you're saying, "I don't know the area very well. I'm just going to pop off the interstate, pick my victims, shoot them and then get back on because I don't really know the lay of the land here."

BROOKS: Could be. Well, you know, we talked about Friday, the last shooting in Spotsylvania county, they had the road shut down in a matter of five to seven minutes.

HEMMER: Yes, seven minutes.

BROOKS: Yes, so that's amazing.

HEMMER: That's lightning speed, Mike. Again, the dragnet did not work yesterday.

BROOKS: No, it didn't.

HEMMER: Anderson has a quick question too -- Anderson. COOPER: Yes, Bill, I'd be interested in hearing from Kathleen and from Mike, how closely do you think this killer or killers is watching the media coverage because it would seem -- you know there were several days ago a lot of reports about that cluster identification, and then all of a sudden, the -- you know, he or they seem to switch locations, seemed to expand the region they went in. Do you think they're watching the TV coverage very closely? Do you think they're listening to these police press conferences?

KOCH: Anderson, I have been here on the scene pretty much since the shootings began and the police have been operating under that assumption. And that is why you've seen, especially since that incident earlier this week -- where the existence of the tarot card that was apparently left at the scene of Monday's shooting, the young boy who police say may or may not -- that card may or may not have been left by the killer. Since then, the police have been saying less and less. I think they're very concerned about doing anything that would in any way compromise, you know, this investigation...

BROOKS: I agree with you.

KOCH: ... and do anything that would tip their hand to the killer or anything that pro provoke the killer. And we in the media, who are here on site, we are aware that this person might be watching as well, that this is someone who really is enjoying all his coverage. He or she might come here. We've had people on scene come and videotape us, sightseers. It's made us nervous.

BROOKS: And in the past, other criminals have come back to see their handiwork and to see what kind of reaction they're getting because of what they're doing.

KOCH: This is his or her show.

BROOKS: Exactly.

HEMMER: There are either two reasons for the fact that we get very few facts. Either A, they don't have them, or B, they're withholding them for that reason. They don't want the killer to gauge their next move in the investigation.

BROOKS: I think they have a lot more information than what they're giving out. From what I'm hearing from some of my former colleagues, they do have a lot of information. They're holding this very close to the vest. This is one of the largest investigations I've ever seen in the Washington area.

HEMMER: Really?

KOCH: And I don't think they should give it to us. I mean I know I'm a reporter. We're trying to give information out that's important to the public, but when you live in this area, when your family lives here, when your children live here, your children are locked in their schools now for more than a week, you know, you don't want to push beyond that limit. We're all on the same side essentially here. We want this person stopped. BROOKS: Sure.

KOCH: We want this person caught. So as much as we want to give the public what they need to know, none of us want to do one single thing that could endanger this investigation.

HEMMER: Thank you, Kathleen. Kathleen Koch, Mike Brooks, thanks again. We'll talk in a matter of minutes.

Anderson, as we await here in Rockville, Maryland, we'll hear from the police chief in a matter of moments and when it happens, we'll have it for you live -- back to you now.

COOPER: All right, Bill, we'll come back to you as soon as that press conference -- it looks like it's going to get underway. Right now, we're going to go to Charles Molineaux who's standing by in Spotsylvania County, where yesterday's shooting took place.

Charles, what's the latest there? What is the scene like now?

CHARLES MOLINEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Actually, it's interesting, Anderson. This gas station has been closed and the work crews have been there. But just within the past hour, somebody actually came in and dropped off some flowers at the scene where Kenneth Bridges was shot yesterday morning.

Now, of course, the news about the testing on the ballistics in this case does confirm that this was yet another attack by the sniper. But it also confirms the sniper's M.O. or that geographical profile we have been talking about. Yes, it did happen at a gas station. Yes, it did happen at this Exxon just south of Fredericksburg. But take a look down there and you see something more important. That traffic light is an access route onto a major highway, in this case, I-95. And that has been a major constant of the past four attacks by the sniper. They have all happened near major highways -- I-95, I-66, or U.S. 55 -- and that is something of great concern to the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Department, which has now sent crime prevention teams out to businesses along 95 to talk to them about how they can protect themselves, their customers and their employees.

Of course, reiterating what happened, this tragedy yesterday morning was Kenneth Bridges became the tenth victim of this sniper when he was shot at about 9:30 in the morning, while he was filling up here at this gas station. Now, there was a deputy -- rather, a state trooper right across the street when it happened. The alert went out immediately. The dragnet came down. As we have been hearing, the highways were shut down and police began searching for a white van that some witnesses reported having seen after having heard the shots fired. Well, they found a lot of white vans, hundreds of them in fact, but not the one they were looking for and no suspects.

A source of no small amount of frustration for police and a lot of concern for people in this area. Massaponax area of Spotsylvania County is, in fact, now the only place this sniper has come twice after breaking out of that original area, of course Montgomery County and the area of Washington, D.C., just outside of Montgomery County. The first shootings -- the first six shootings were there, on local streets. But then the subsequent ones were done on major highways. And we are seeing this common thread does continue as investigators say it really underscores just how much they need the public's help in coming up with tips to catch this person --Anderson.

COOPER: Well, Charles, you mentioned this white van. We anticipate hearing more about that in a few moments when there is this live press conference in Montgomery County. I want to ask you though -- you're at this spot where the shooting occurred yesterday. I mean as you look around, is it possible that this shooter or shooters were at the outside of the vehicle? I mean is there any forested area around? Is it a completely commercial district? What is the area like around where you are?

MOLINEAUX: There's -- it is -- it is a very much an industrial area, but there are certainly trees. There are hotels. There are rooftops. There are ample opportunities. If you want to take a look around -- as much as 360 degrees -- we have the sun to contend with -- but there are trees over that way. Then, we have a whole series of commercial strip centers going down on Jefferson-Davis Highway, which is also U.S. 1 here. And then going off in the other direction, we actually have a hotel, a Days Inn over that way, and then, actually an abandoned restaurant over -- just over that crest of that hill.

So there are ample places where someone could park a vehicle and shoot from it or get out of a vehicle and hide in some kind of grasses or bushes if you were going to try to attack somebody in that fashion. So, yes, there are various different ways that someone could have pulled off a shooting attack here.

We have heard the speculation of course that the shooting may have been done from inside a vehicle or may have actually been done from someone getting out of the vehicle, laying down in grass or bushes to shoot at the victims. So unfortunately, there's not a whole lot of easy access to an idea as to what this person may have been doing in this place. All we do know is that some of the witnesses say that they heard the shots and then saw this white van rapidly turning left on to the street here and headed towards I-95. But of course, in the seven minutes that it took police to set up this dragnet, an amazingly fast performance by the cops, still, the sniper apparently managed to get away.

I actually talked to the supervisor of the FBI's office in Fredericksburg and what he told me was that even with the incredibly fast response by the police, and the fact that there was a state trooper on the scene at the time, right across the street, who heard the shot himself, ran across and sounded the alarm, the circumstances still, usually favor a sniper getting away.

COOPER: All right, Charles Molineaux, thanks very much for standing by where the shooting occurred yesterday. We're going to go back now to Bill Hemmer because we've been told that in about a minute this press conference is supposed to take place. Bill standing by in Montgomery County for us.

Bill, what do you anticipate hearing? I mean we've heard so much about, you know, this white van and possibly getting some sort of graphic representation of it, possibly in this press conference. Is that what you're anticipating seeing?

HEMMER: Yes, indeed, Anderson. How much to tell, we get, still is a wide open question here. But I'll just remind you, yesterday morning, we were told through the FBI that they were coming out with some sort of graphic aid that would indicate that they have talked to witnesses at the scenes of perhaps several of these different shootings. And they're going to try and compile the facts based on the eyewitnesses and put it together. It's been a day and a half since it came out and we hope to get it right now.

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 12, 2002 - 17:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Another confirmed victim of the sniper on the loose. As police search for the killer, the reward for his capture grows to more than half a million dollars. We'll have the latest and a police news conference just minutes away. Also, we'll talk you to Iraq. A new warning about inspections that could doom the U.N. mission before it even starts. We'll have reports from Baghdad and Washington.
From the CNN center in Atlanta, I'm Anderson Cooper and this is CNN SATURDAY. Welcome to the special edition SNIPER ON THE LOOSE: THE HUNT FOR A KILLER. We'll go live right now to Bill Hemmer who's standing by in Montgomery County, Maryland, who's been following this story all day long.

Bill, what's the latest?

BILL HEMMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, standing by essentially in a matter of minutes, we'll hear from the police chief, Charles Moose, to come out and brief reporters. We anticipate this graphic aid that was described Friday morning, almost a day and half ago, to be released to the media and then eventually to the public. That may offer a better description, a more complete description of this vehicle that we've been talking about now for the past week and a half.

As we await that, though, there's a lot to cover essentially on the community. I want to bring in Kathleen Koch and Mike Brooks, colleagues of mine here in Rockville, Maryland to talk more about both of those aspects.

Good afternoon to both of you.

MIKE BROOKS, LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Good afternoon.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon.

HEMMER: As we await the chief, there's a couple things that really -- before we get to the graphic aid and before we speculate what they could or could not say, what they may or may not say, we had a question earlier today about terrorism, whether or not the definition of terror applies here. You've got extensive police background, investigative background. As you see it, where does it fit right now?

BROOKS: Well, Bill, after working in terrorism for the last six years of my career with the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, this person is terrorizing the community. But yet some people say, "Well, is it terrorism as we think of 9/11 terrorism, or is he just a -- is he just a single operator out there, just creating havoc and terrorism in the community? If you look at the FBI definition of terrorism, they define terrorism as the "unlawful use of force or violence to intimidate or coerce a government, civilian population or any segment thereof in the furtherance of political or associate objectives." Now, does that fit the description?

HEMMER: It may apply.

BROOKS: It could apply. And we don't know exactly what the motive of this shooter is. And it could apply because if you -- social objectives of -- if his objective is to change the lives of people socially, than he's going about it, and he's doing it right now.

HEMMER: And you've seen the change...

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I think I have reacted -- they have reacted in a way -- just like some did after 9/11. There were some people who were terrified. There were some who didn't want to leave their homes. And we're seeing the same thing happen here. There are people who are already talking about home schooling their children, pulling them out school and thinking they can keep them safe...

BROOKS: Already we're seeing that.

KOCH: ... already locked in their home. And I think that's really sad. And then there are other people who are going on about their daily lives. But again, as you've seen -- I think, as we've all seen, at gas stations, that's where you really see the change. We have gas stations putting out signs saying, "We will pump for you" because those who dare to get out and pump for themselves are often cowering next to their cars, behind the pumps, sticking the nozzle in the tank and then jumping into their car.

HEMMER: I heard people just aren't stopping to get gas. That affects business.

BROOKS: The news radio coming up here -- it was just like after 9/11. You hear all these closings. You have all the cancellations of outdoor activities, and canceled until next year. You know and then we go again to another year. And that's...

KOCH: It's so sad and I think it's so disruptive for the young people -- again, the young people who after 9/11 had football games canceled, baseball games, homecomings canceled. The very same thing happening this weekend throughout the region. And I think it's so disturbing for kids who suffered so much last year to see something like this traumatizing their community all over again.

HEMMER: Let's talk about a geographical profile. We may learn more that may take us in one direction or another. You have some pretty interesting thoughts about this though. If you look at where the initial attacks took place 10 days ago, then when they started branching out a week ago yesterday, then Wednesday night of this past week, then yesterday morning, it's taking into a different area. If you're trying to set up a profile, Mike, what are you trying to determine based on the map that we now have?

BROOKS: Usually, a subject will start in an area where he's familiar with and branch out. But you look at -- and Kathleen and I were talking about this earlier -- you look at the two shootings in Spotsylvania County, both of them on Fridays. So does this person live in the Montgomery County, Washington metropolitan area and commute to Spotsylvania County? This is all speculation but a large portion is looking at this. This is all part of the geographical profiling they're doing. And...

KOCH: And officers here that I've talked to yesterday were telling me, again, because the shooting started here -- as Mike said, you know killers often start in the area where they feel comfortable, where they know the lay of the land -- that they still believe if the killer doesn't leave here, the killer works here, the killer grew up here. They have a very good knowledge of the geography of this area because those first shootings, especially the ones on Thursday morning. You had four shootings in under two hours.

HEMMER: Essentially, crisscrossing the road.

KOCH: Absolutely, that killer had to know how to get quickly from Point A to Point B and not run into the very officers who were responding to his previous one, two, three killings.

BROOKS: And always near an interstate, easy in and out, doesn't get trapped in the neighbor.

KOCH: But that's -- except the Montgomery County shootings, which is why, again, they believe...

BROOKS: Right.

KOCH: ... the base of operations is here. When you strike near an interstate, you're saying, "I don't know the area very well. I'm just going to pop off the interstate, pick my victims, shoot them and then get back on because I don't really know the lay of the land here."

BROOKS: Could be. Well, you know, we talked about Friday, the last shooting in Spotsylvania county, they had the road shut down in a matter of five to seven minutes.

HEMMER: Yes, seven minutes.

BROOKS: Yes, so that's amazing.

HEMMER: That's lightning speed, Mike. Again, the dragnet did not work yesterday.

BROOKS: No, it didn't.

HEMMER: Anderson has a quick question too -- Anderson. COOPER: Yes, Bill, I'd be interested in hearing from Kathleen and from Mike, how closely do you think this killer or killers is watching the media coverage because it would seem -- you know there were several days ago a lot of reports about that cluster identification, and then all of a sudden, the -- you know, he or they seem to switch locations, seemed to expand the region they went in. Do you think they're watching the TV coverage very closely? Do you think they're listening to these police press conferences?

KOCH: Anderson, I have been here on the scene pretty much since the shootings began and the police have been operating under that assumption. And that is why you've seen, especially since that incident earlier this week -- where the existence of the tarot card that was apparently left at the scene of Monday's shooting, the young boy who police say may or may not -- that card may or may not have been left by the killer. Since then, the police have been saying less and less. I think they're very concerned about doing anything that would in any way compromise, you know, this investigation...

BROOKS: I agree with you.

KOCH: ... and do anything that would tip their hand to the killer or anything that pro provoke the killer. And we in the media, who are here on site, we are aware that this person might be watching as well, that this is someone who really is enjoying all his coverage. He or she might come here. We've had people on scene come and videotape us, sightseers. It's made us nervous.

BROOKS: And in the past, other criminals have come back to see their handiwork and to see what kind of reaction they're getting because of what they're doing.

KOCH: This is his or her show.

BROOKS: Exactly.

HEMMER: There are either two reasons for the fact that we get very few facts. Either A, they don't have them, or B, they're withholding them for that reason. They don't want the killer to gauge their next move in the investigation.

BROOKS: I think they have a lot more information than what they're giving out. From what I'm hearing from some of my former colleagues, they do have a lot of information. They're holding this very close to the vest. This is one of the largest investigations I've ever seen in the Washington area.

HEMMER: Really?

KOCH: And I don't think they should give it to us. I mean I know I'm a reporter. We're trying to give information out that's important to the public, but when you live in this area, when your family lives here, when your children live here, your children are locked in their schools now for more than a week, you know, you don't want to push beyond that limit. We're all on the same side essentially here. We want this person stopped. BROOKS: Sure.

KOCH: We want this person caught. So as much as we want to give the public what they need to know, none of us want to do one single thing that could endanger this investigation.

HEMMER: Thank you, Kathleen. Kathleen Koch, Mike Brooks, thanks again. We'll talk in a matter of minutes.

Anderson, as we await here in Rockville, Maryland, we'll hear from the police chief in a matter of moments and when it happens, we'll have it for you live -- back to you now.

COOPER: All right, Bill, we'll come back to you as soon as that press conference -- it looks like it's going to get underway. Right now, we're going to go to Charles Molineaux who's standing by in Spotsylvania County, where yesterday's shooting took place.

Charles, what's the latest there? What is the scene like now?

CHARLES MOLINEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Actually, it's interesting, Anderson. This gas station has been closed and the work crews have been there. But just within the past hour, somebody actually came in and dropped off some flowers at the scene where Kenneth Bridges was shot yesterday morning.

Now, of course, the news about the testing on the ballistics in this case does confirm that this was yet another attack by the sniper. But it also confirms the sniper's M.O. or that geographical profile we have been talking about. Yes, it did happen at a gas station. Yes, it did happen at this Exxon just south of Fredericksburg. But take a look down there and you see something more important. That traffic light is an access route onto a major highway, in this case, I-95. And that has been a major constant of the past four attacks by the sniper. They have all happened near major highways -- I-95, I-66, or U.S. 55 -- and that is something of great concern to the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Department, which has now sent crime prevention teams out to businesses along 95 to talk to them about how they can protect themselves, their customers and their employees.

Of course, reiterating what happened, this tragedy yesterday morning was Kenneth Bridges became the tenth victim of this sniper when he was shot at about 9:30 in the morning, while he was filling up here at this gas station. Now, there was a deputy -- rather, a state trooper right across the street when it happened. The alert went out immediately. The dragnet came down. As we have been hearing, the highways were shut down and police began searching for a white van that some witnesses reported having seen after having heard the shots fired. Well, they found a lot of white vans, hundreds of them in fact, but not the one they were looking for and no suspects.

A source of no small amount of frustration for police and a lot of concern for people in this area. Massaponax area of Spotsylvania County is, in fact, now the only place this sniper has come twice after breaking out of that original area, of course Montgomery County and the area of Washington, D.C., just outside of Montgomery County. The first shootings -- the first six shootings were there, on local streets. But then the subsequent ones were done on major highways. And we are seeing this common thread does continue as investigators say it really underscores just how much they need the public's help in coming up with tips to catch this person --Anderson.

COOPER: Well, Charles, you mentioned this white van. We anticipate hearing more about that in a few moments when there is this live press conference in Montgomery County. I want to ask you though -- you're at this spot where the shooting occurred yesterday. I mean as you look around, is it possible that this shooter or shooters were at the outside of the vehicle? I mean is there any forested area around? Is it a completely commercial district? What is the area like around where you are?

MOLINEAUX: There's -- it is -- it is a very much an industrial area, but there are certainly trees. There are hotels. There are rooftops. There are ample opportunities. If you want to take a look around -- as much as 360 degrees -- we have the sun to contend with -- but there are trees over that way. Then, we have a whole series of commercial strip centers going down on Jefferson-Davis Highway, which is also U.S. 1 here. And then going off in the other direction, we actually have a hotel, a Days Inn over that way, and then, actually an abandoned restaurant over -- just over that crest of that hill.

So there are ample places where someone could park a vehicle and shoot from it or get out of a vehicle and hide in some kind of grasses or bushes if you were going to try to attack somebody in that fashion. So, yes, there are various different ways that someone could have pulled off a shooting attack here.

We have heard the speculation of course that the shooting may have been done from inside a vehicle or may have actually been done from someone getting out of the vehicle, laying down in grass or bushes to shoot at the victims. So unfortunately, there's not a whole lot of easy access to an idea as to what this person may have been doing in this place. All we do know is that some of the witnesses say that they heard the shots and then saw this white van rapidly turning left on to the street here and headed towards I-95. But of course, in the seven minutes that it took police to set up this dragnet, an amazingly fast performance by the cops, still, the sniper apparently managed to get away.

I actually talked to the supervisor of the FBI's office in Fredericksburg and what he told me was that even with the incredibly fast response by the police, and the fact that there was a state trooper on the scene at the time, right across the street, who heard the shot himself, ran across and sounded the alarm, the circumstances still, usually favor a sniper getting away.

COOPER: All right, Charles Molineaux, thanks very much for standing by where the shooting occurred yesterday. We're going to go back now to Bill Hemmer because we've been told that in about a minute this press conference is supposed to take place. Bill standing by in Montgomery County for us.

Bill, what do you anticipate hearing? I mean we've heard so much about, you know, this white van and possibly getting some sort of graphic representation of it, possibly in this press conference. Is that what you're anticipating seeing?

HEMMER: Yes, indeed, Anderson. How much to tell, we get, still is a wide open question here. But I'll just remind you, yesterday morning, we were told through the FBI that they were coming out with some sort of graphic aid that would indicate that they have talked to witnesses at the scenes of perhaps several of these different shootings. And they're going to try and compile the facts based on the eyewitnesses and put it together. It's been a day and a half since it came out and we hope to get it right now.

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