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CNN Live Saturday

Police Continue Searching for Beltway Sniper

Aired October 19, 2002 - 18:02   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: We turn now to the search for the sniper. Eleven shootings so far -- nine deaths in the Washington, D.C. area. Today the investigation continues -- so does the fear.
CNN's Daryn Kagan is following the search for us from Montgomery County, Maryland. Good evening, Daryn.

A lot of ...

KAGAN: Good evening.

COOPER: ... a lot of activities last weekend were canceled.

KAGAN: Yeah.

COOPER: Is that the same scene this weekend -- the same thing happened?

KAGAN: Yeah. A lot of activities have been canceled or delayed, Anderson, but I did have a chance to get out and about and see people trying to take back their lives.

Let's talk about that in a moment. First, let's get to some of the other leads and that is things are indeed slow here in Montgomery County but that is a good thing. Five days and counting since the last shooting incident. It's also the third straight weekend that the sniper has not struck and that is good news to people around here -- a relief to residents even though there is still some tension wondering who it is -- who's done all of this.

This is also the day that there were funeral services held for two of the sniper victims. One of the victims shot and killed on October 3 -- that was Pascal Charlot. Also on October 9 Dean Meyers was killed in Manassas, Virginia. He was laid to rest today in his hometown in Pennsylvania.

He was killed, as I mentioned, October 9 -- an architectural engineer also a decorated Vietnam veteran.

Still a lot of frustration here in the Washington, D.C. area with the police investigation. We're going to have to wait until Monday at least to learn about the ballistics test on the shell casing that was found in the back of this white box truck. It was found in a rental truck that was dropped off near a site near Dulles International Airport. At the daily news briefing today at 12:00 noon Eastern, Chief Moose saying that those tests are being done but we'll have to wait at least until Monday to find out if that is a match to other items in this investigation.

Meanwhile, the man known as Matthew Dowdy, the bogus witness -- this is the man who gave bad information allegedly on purpose to police concerning the last shooting that took place on Monday night. He is behind bars right now. He is being charged with a class two misdemeanor of giving bad information to a police officer.

He had given some very specific information. It was not adding up and police came out a couple of days ago -- discredited him as a witness. And now, of course, he has legal troubles of his own.

Anderson, by the way, he is not the first -- he is the third person to be charged to obstructing this investigation. You had one man pretty early on coming forward saying he was the sniper. Well, that didn't turn out to be the case.

And, of course, let's not forget that fast food manager who wanted the day off who gave a false report of the sniper showing up in Stafford, Virginia just so they would close a stretch of highway where his fast food restaurant was.

He got more than a day off -- he could find some time in jail as well.

COOPER: It's unbelievable what some people will do. The most concrete evidence we have so far -- or information we have so far with these composites that police have released on the trucks. Are they still asking for the public's help in finding the suspect vehicles?

KAGAN: That they are and, in fact, one of the bad side effects of this bad witness coming through -- this alleged bad witness -- Matthew Dowdy, coming forward. He'd given such specific information that police had to retract a lot of what he had said but then they had to go back and say, "This is still what's good. This is still what we want you to look for and that includes white box trucks and these white vans that look like a Chevy Astro van or a Ford Econo van with the silver ladder rack on top."

And, in fact, if you think about it -- it was very alert people -- a cleaning crew in the back of this rental truck that found the shell casings that came forward. And police really believe that it's going to be that kind of report or tip that's going to help them get a break in this case.

COOPER: All right -- Daryn Kagan -- thanks very much. We'll get back to you shortly.

KAGAN: OK.

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 19, 2002 - 18:02   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: We turn now to the search for the sniper. Eleven shootings so far -- nine deaths in the Washington, D.C. area. Today the investigation continues -- so does the fear.
CNN's Daryn Kagan is following the search for us from Montgomery County, Maryland. Good evening, Daryn.

A lot of ...

KAGAN: Good evening.

COOPER: ... a lot of activities last weekend were canceled.

KAGAN: Yeah.

COOPER: Is that the same scene this weekend -- the same thing happened?

KAGAN: Yeah. A lot of activities have been canceled or delayed, Anderson, but I did have a chance to get out and about and see people trying to take back their lives.

Let's talk about that in a moment. First, let's get to some of the other leads and that is things are indeed slow here in Montgomery County but that is a good thing. Five days and counting since the last shooting incident. It's also the third straight weekend that the sniper has not struck and that is good news to people around here -- a relief to residents even though there is still some tension wondering who it is -- who's done all of this.

This is also the day that there were funeral services held for two of the sniper victims. One of the victims shot and killed on October 3 -- that was Pascal Charlot. Also on October 9 Dean Meyers was killed in Manassas, Virginia. He was laid to rest today in his hometown in Pennsylvania.

He was killed, as I mentioned, October 9 -- an architectural engineer also a decorated Vietnam veteran.

Still a lot of frustration here in the Washington, D.C. area with the police investigation. We're going to have to wait until Monday at least to learn about the ballistics test on the shell casing that was found in the back of this white box truck. It was found in a rental truck that was dropped off near a site near Dulles International Airport. At the daily news briefing today at 12:00 noon Eastern, Chief Moose saying that those tests are being done but we'll have to wait at least until Monday to find out if that is a match to other items in this investigation.

Meanwhile, the man known as Matthew Dowdy, the bogus witness -- this is the man who gave bad information allegedly on purpose to police concerning the last shooting that took place on Monday night. He is behind bars right now. He is being charged with a class two misdemeanor of giving bad information to a police officer.

He had given some very specific information. It was not adding up and police came out a couple of days ago -- discredited him as a witness. And now, of course, he has legal troubles of his own.

Anderson, by the way, he is not the first -- he is the third person to be charged to obstructing this investigation. You had one man pretty early on coming forward saying he was the sniper. Well, that didn't turn out to be the case.

And, of course, let's not forget that fast food manager who wanted the day off who gave a false report of the sniper showing up in Stafford, Virginia just so they would close a stretch of highway where his fast food restaurant was.

He got more than a day off -- he could find some time in jail as well.

COOPER: It's unbelievable what some people will do. The most concrete evidence we have so far -- or information we have so far with these composites that police have released on the trucks. Are they still asking for the public's help in finding the suspect vehicles?

KAGAN: That they are and, in fact, one of the bad side effects of this bad witness coming through -- this alleged bad witness -- Matthew Dowdy, coming forward. He'd given such specific information that police had to retract a lot of what he had said but then they had to go back and say, "This is still what's good. This is still what we want you to look for and that includes white box trucks and these white vans that look like a Chevy Astro van or a Ford Econo van with the silver ladder rack on top."

And, in fact, if you think about it -- it was very alert people -- a cleaning crew in the back of this rental truck that found the shell casings that came forward. And police really believe that it's going to be that kind of report or tip that's going to help them get a break in this case.

COOPER: All right -- Daryn Kagan -- thanks very much. We'll get back to you shortly.

KAGAN: OK.

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