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American Morning

Sniper Still on Loose

Aired October 08, 2002 - 07:03   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.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: With heightened security, schools are opening this morning in the Washington area, even though fear and anxiety are overshadowing daily activities.
With eight shootings now believed to be the work of a single gunman, police this morning promise to bring the killer to justice. Helicopters are being kept in the air to bolster security.

Now, for the latest on the investigation, let's go to our own Jeanne Meserve at the Montgomery County Police Department, as well as the site of yesterday's shooting in Prince George's County, where we find our own Patty Davis there.

Patty -- we want to start with you this morning. What's the latest? Good morning.

PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that sniper's latest victim: a 13-year-old boy. He was walking into this middle school, Benjamin Tasker Middle School, in Bowie, Maryland, when he was shot yesterday around 8:00 a.m. Now, his aunt was there, and rushed him to a nearby medical facility.

He's in critical but stable condition this morning. He was shot in the abdomen and the chest. It appears a single shot, once again. Now, ballistic evidence, police say, is linking this shoot to the other seven shootings in the area.

Prince George's County police chief this morning saying the implied message from this boy, who is now fighting for his life, is: Don't let the killer shut down the fighting spirit in all of us.

Now, this school remains open today, as many others -- most others -- all others, in fact, around the county. They are all on lockdown, which means no outside activities, no recess, no after- school activities.

Parents are being encouraged to bring their kids to school this morning, drive them, walk them; act as school safety patrols to ensure their children's safety.

Now, Prince George's County police chief this morning saying that overnight, they executed a search warrant here in Prince George's County, but it did not lead to the perpetrator. Also saying that there was a shooting on the other side of this county overnight, but it does not appear to be related -- Paula.

ZAHN: Patty, I know parents are being advised to bring their kids to school. Have you gotten any sense of how many kids will actually show up for school today?

DAVIS: That's a good question. Will there be a good showing of students today? A lot of parents are extremely nervous here now that this killer or killers has shown that they will go after children. So, we'll have to see just what the turnout is going to be today, but the schools are wide open, and officials are encouraging kids to come to school -- Paula.

ZAHN: Patty Davis, thanks so much.

Let's turn to Jeanne Meserve, who has just been monitoring a news conference that was just held by the Montgomery County Police Department.

Jeanne -- good morning.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.

This sniper has now hit every weekday morning since last Wednesday. The police chief here in Montgomery County refuses to speculate on whether there is a pattern at play here, but he did say, this county is in a state of high anxiety this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF CHARLES MOOSE, MONTGOMERY COUNTY POLICE: As a police department and as a community, we clearly remain anxious. We have very a visible patrol in and around our schools, a very visible patrol on our roadways because of rush hour. But we continue to function as a community. We're very resilient.

Anxiety is anxiety, but again, we realize that people in their own way may be fearful. But I personally will encourage people to continue to move forward with their lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MESERVE: Chief Moose says that there are two prongs to his department's activities. One is protection. You just heard him talk about that. The other is the investigation.

As of this morning, he said his department had 1,250 credible leads that it is following up, but it is asking for more. Again, today, a plea to the public to please call one of the two tip lines that have been set up. It is the chief's belief that there is somebody out there who has seen something that is relevant to this case and could help investigators crack it wide open.

As to the progress this case is making, the chief said that he was positive about this, that he felt his investigators were more energized now than they had been. However, he said this was a complex case, and he didn't want to build up any false hopes about when it might be solved.

There was a formal request last night for federal assistance in this case. That will probably mean even more manpower, more federal resources brought to play here. That will unfold as the day does.

Paula -- back to you.

ZAHN: Thanks, Jeanne. We'll be coming back to you live throughout the morning.

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 8, 2002 - 07:03   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: With heightened security, schools are opening this morning in the Washington area, even though fear and anxiety are overshadowing daily activities.
With eight shootings now believed to be the work of a single gunman, police this morning promise to bring the killer to justice. Helicopters are being kept in the air to bolster security.

Now, for the latest on the investigation, let's go to our own Jeanne Meserve at the Montgomery County Police Department, as well as the site of yesterday's shooting in Prince George's County, where we find our own Patty Davis there.

Patty -- we want to start with you this morning. What's the latest? Good morning.

PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that sniper's latest victim: a 13-year-old boy. He was walking into this middle school, Benjamin Tasker Middle School, in Bowie, Maryland, when he was shot yesterday around 8:00 a.m. Now, his aunt was there, and rushed him to a nearby medical facility.

He's in critical but stable condition this morning. He was shot in the abdomen and the chest. It appears a single shot, once again. Now, ballistic evidence, police say, is linking this shoot to the other seven shootings in the area.

Prince George's County police chief this morning saying the implied message from this boy, who is now fighting for his life, is: Don't let the killer shut down the fighting spirit in all of us.

Now, this school remains open today, as many others -- most others -- all others, in fact, around the county. They are all on lockdown, which means no outside activities, no recess, no after- school activities.

Parents are being encouraged to bring their kids to school this morning, drive them, walk them; act as school safety patrols to ensure their children's safety.

Now, Prince George's County police chief this morning saying that overnight, they executed a search warrant here in Prince George's County, but it did not lead to the perpetrator. Also saying that there was a shooting on the other side of this county overnight, but it does not appear to be related -- Paula.

ZAHN: Patty, I know parents are being advised to bring their kids to school. Have you gotten any sense of how many kids will actually show up for school today?

DAVIS: That's a good question. Will there be a good showing of students today? A lot of parents are extremely nervous here now that this killer or killers has shown that they will go after children. So, we'll have to see just what the turnout is going to be today, but the schools are wide open, and officials are encouraging kids to come to school -- Paula.

ZAHN: Patty Davis, thanks so much.

Let's turn to Jeanne Meserve, who has just been monitoring a news conference that was just held by the Montgomery County Police Department.

Jeanne -- good morning.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.

This sniper has now hit every weekday morning since last Wednesday. The police chief here in Montgomery County refuses to speculate on whether there is a pattern at play here, but he did say, this county is in a state of high anxiety this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF CHARLES MOOSE, MONTGOMERY COUNTY POLICE: As a police department and as a community, we clearly remain anxious. We have very a visible patrol in and around our schools, a very visible patrol on our roadways because of rush hour. But we continue to function as a community. We're very resilient.

Anxiety is anxiety, but again, we realize that people in their own way may be fearful. But I personally will encourage people to continue to move forward with their lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MESERVE: Chief Moose says that there are two prongs to his department's activities. One is protection. You just heard him talk about that. The other is the investigation.

As of this morning, he said his department had 1,250 credible leads that it is following up, but it is asking for more. Again, today, a plea to the public to please call one of the two tip lines that have been set up. It is the chief's belief that there is somebody out there who has seen something that is relevant to this case and could help investigators crack it wide open.

As to the progress this case is making, the chief said that he was positive about this, that he felt his investigators were more energized now than they had been. However, he said this was a complex case, and he didn't want to build up any false hopes about when it might be solved.

There was a formal request last night for federal assistance in this case. That will probably mean even more manpower, more federal resources brought to play here. That will unfold as the day does.

Paula -- back to you.

ZAHN: Thanks, Jeanne. We'll be coming back to you live throughout the morning.

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