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Look at Guns of Maryland Killings

Aired October 04, 2002 - 13:54   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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We've been telling you about the massive search in Maryland for a deadly sniper. Police believe a high-powered hunting or assault rifle, like the AR15, was used to kill each victim. It uses two .223-caliber rounds.
CNN law enforcement -- Mike Brooks is here to tell us about this rifle and why it could be crucial or a crucial link,rather, to the sniper.

First of all, why do you think police are coming out and talking this rifle and being so visual about this?

MIKE BROOKS, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: I think they want to show the public what kind of weapons could have been used to do this. So if someone did see this -- if someone see a weapon like this in someone's car or in someone's van, then maybe it might be able to jog their memory and say, hey, wait a minute, I thought I saw somebody with one of the weapons that looked just like the kind that they that were showing on TV.

So I think they're doing that, again, to try to educate the public, because they have it narrowed down to about four different rounds that could possibly be used. The most common is a .223 round that we were just talking about. The other one is .221, .222 and a (UNINTELLIGIBLE), which is all basically -- they're all .22-caliber. And the difference between -- this the .223 round -- the only difference between .223 rounds and the other ones I talked about is the length of the cartridge, of the shell casing. And in this particular case, they have not found any shell casings that have been at the scene or anywhere during their canvass, looking to about where the round was shot.

This is a highly accurate bullet?

PHILLIPS: And this is a highly accurate bullet.

BROOKS: Very accurate. It's...

PHILLIPS: Top notch.

BROOKS: ... and you're talking to -- some of the -- apparently, some of the folks, the victims have been killed at about 100 to 200 yards. With the AR-15, which is the semiautomatic version that everyone has seen the military M-16, semiautomatic, again, meaning that it goes off each time you pull the trigger, automatically mean you could hold the trigger down, it would fire off a series of rounds. But the AR-15 that they were showing, that the ATF was showing, that we have here, is a semiautomatic weapon and highly, highly accurate. This one is equipped with a scope. Even without a scope, even with the open iron sites, it's still extremely accurate up to 200, 300 yards.

PHILLIPS: Now, what could -- let's say this is the weapon was used, what does this tell you, as a profiler, about a possible suspect? That this individual is definitely from the military, has fought a war, knows his guns, I could even say she knows her guns.

BROOKS: Yes.

PHILLIPS: You know, what can it tell you about a suspect?

BROOKS: Well, someone who is using this kind of weapon and even on any other shoulder-fired weapon, a hunting rifle, from the distance that they're doing this, the distance that they're killing their victims, they have to know what they're doing. They probably have or had some military training, law enforcement training. They are pretty good marksmen. I would say -- just from what I've been hearing from my sources up in D.C., that it sounds as if these people know what they're doing.

PHILLIPS: And you were on SWAT team in Washington, D.C., and you know the types of guns you used.

BROOKS: Yes, on the emergency response teams. Absolutely. And we used them on a regular basis -- these and all kinds of other weapons. And to become good at that distance, you have to practice.

PHILLIPS: Now, let's talk access. Is this a popular gun on the street, say, for gang members and your local thug?

BROOKS: Well, these guns were available, up until early the '90s and then it became more to get -- a little more difficult to get these, but there's still a lot of guns like this out there -- this and other hunting rifles.

Other rifles also can take a .223 round. Again, the reason we're focusing on the .223 is because of its readily -- you know, its availability and its most popular and easy access to get the rounds.

PHILLIPS: And also with these minimum risk of shoot-through, right, so would someone wanting to really focus on a target, want to use this type of bullet?

BROOKS: Yes. You know, law enforcement kind of went away from the AR-15 as an assault weapon, when they were doing raids on houses because they're so high-powered. And a lot of the houses, you know, in people's residences, these could rip through the wall and go from one apartment to another apartment. That's why they went to the 9 millimeter, using the H&K, the MP5 and the 9 millimeter, .40-caliber range, and then they don't use this that often now as an assault weapon, but it that it's still highly used as a, you know, as a long- range weapon. PHILLIPS: Law enforcement analyst Mike Brooks, thank you. Appreciate it. A little show and tell, a little education for us.

BROOKS: There you go.

PHILLIPS: Appreciate it. All right.

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 4, 2002 - 13:54   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We've been telling you about the massive search in Maryland for a deadly sniper. Police believe a high-powered hunting or assault rifle, like the AR15, was used to kill each victim. It uses two .223-caliber rounds.
CNN law enforcement -- Mike Brooks is here to tell us about this rifle and why it could be crucial or a crucial link,rather, to the sniper.

First of all, why do you think police are coming out and talking this rifle and being so visual about this?

MIKE BROOKS, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: I think they want to show the public what kind of weapons could have been used to do this. So if someone did see this -- if someone see a weapon like this in someone's car or in someone's van, then maybe it might be able to jog their memory and say, hey, wait a minute, I thought I saw somebody with one of the weapons that looked just like the kind that they that were showing on TV.

So I think they're doing that, again, to try to educate the public, because they have it narrowed down to about four different rounds that could possibly be used. The most common is a .223 round that we were just talking about. The other one is .221, .222 and a (UNINTELLIGIBLE), which is all basically -- they're all .22-caliber. And the difference between -- this the .223 round -- the only difference between .223 rounds and the other ones I talked about is the length of the cartridge, of the shell casing. And in this particular case, they have not found any shell casings that have been at the scene or anywhere during their canvass, looking to about where the round was shot.

This is a highly accurate bullet?

PHILLIPS: And this is a highly accurate bullet.

BROOKS: Very accurate. It's...

PHILLIPS: Top notch.

BROOKS: ... and you're talking to -- some of the -- apparently, some of the folks, the victims have been killed at about 100 to 200 yards. With the AR-15, which is the semiautomatic version that everyone has seen the military M-16, semiautomatic, again, meaning that it goes off each time you pull the trigger, automatically mean you could hold the trigger down, it would fire off a series of rounds. But the AR-15 that they were showing, that the ATF was showing, that we have here, is a semiautomatic weapon and highly, highly accurate. This one is equipped with a scope. Even without a scope, even with the open iron sites, it's still extremely accurate up to 200, 300 yards.

PHILLIPS: Now, what could -- let's say this is the weapon was used, what does this tell you, as a profiler, about a possible suspect? That this individual is definitely from the military, has fought a war, knows his guns, I could even say she knows her guns.

BROOKS: Yes.

PHILLIPS: You know, what can it tell you about a suspect?

BROOKS: Well, someone who is using this kind of weapon and even on any other shoulder-fired weapon, a hunting rifle, from the distance that they're doing this, the distance that they're killing their victims, they have to know what they're doing. They probably have or had some military training, law enforcement training. They are pretty good marksmen. I would say -- just from what I've been hearing from my sources up in D.C., that it sounds as if these people know what they're doing.

PHILLIPS: And you were on SWAT team in Washington, D.C., and you know the types of guns you used.

BROOKS: Yes, on the emergency response teams. Absolutely. And we used them on a regular basis -- these and all kinds of other weapons. And to become good at that distance, you have to practice.

PHILLIPS: Now, let's talk access. Is this a popular gun on the street, say, for gang members and your local thug?

BROOKS: Well, these guns were available, up until early the '90s and then it became more to get -- a little more difficult to get these, but there's still a lot of guns like this out there -- this and other hunting rifles.

Other rifles also can take a .223 round. Again, the reason we're focusing on the .223 is because of its readily -- you know, its availability and its most popular and easy access to get the rounds.

PHILLIPS: And also with these minimum risk of shoot-through, right, so would someone wanting to really focus on a target, want to use this type of bullet?

BROOKS: Yes. You know, law enforcement kind of went away from the AR-15 as an assault weapon, when they were doing raids on houses because they're so high-powered. And a lot of the houses, you know, in people's residences, these could rip through the wall and go from one apartment to another apartment. That's why they went to the 9 millimeter, using the H&K, the MP5 and the 9 millimeter, .40-caliber range, and then they don't use this that often now as an assault weapon, but it that it's still highly used as a, you know, as a long- range weapon. PHILLIPS: Law enforcement analyst Mike Brooks, thank you. Appreciate it. A little show and tell, a little education for us.

BROOKS: There you go.

PHILLIPS: Appreciate it. All right.

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