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American Morning
Sniper in D.C. Area Remains at Large
Aired October 09, 2002 - 09:02 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR; More now on the hunt for that sniper in the Washington area. There's been another shooting in Maryland this morning.
Jeanne Meserve standing by with the details. She joins us live from police headquarters in Montgomery County, Maryland.
Good morning, Jeanne.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
A flurry of concern and activity when reports of that shooting came in at a motel in Prince George's County. That is the same county where a 13-year-old was gunned down on Monday. Authorities now telling us they do not believe there was any relationship between this morning's shooting and the string of sniper attacks which so far have killed six and wounded two seriously. Once again, absolutely no relationship, authorities say, is indicated at this point. It appears to have been part of a domestic disturbance.
Now police Chief Charles Moose, who is in charge of this investigation, has already briefed us once this morning. He is very upset at release of this information about this tarot card that was also found in Prince George's near the site of the middle school shooting. It was the death card from the fortune telling deck. On it were inscribed the words, "Dear policeman, I am God."
Now sources telling CNN it is not a definitive thing that this was left by the shooter, that there is still the possibility that this could have been left by the prankster at the scene of the shooting. Investigators looking that the very carefully.
But Charles Moose expressing tremendous dismay at media reporting this, and at the sources within his investigation who leaked this information. He also had very harsh words for former law enforcement personnel who have been filling the airwaves and the newspapers with speculation about this case. They -- he says they are not well informed about the specifics of this investigation and they could compromise the search for the killer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF CHARLES MOOSE, MONTGOMERY COUNTY POLICE: I beg of the media to let us do our job. If the community wants you to do it, they will call today and we will have a vote, and if it's decided that channel 9 is going to investigate this case, then so be it. So be it. I don't think that's going to happen. And I beg my community to make their voices heard, because I am convinced that we are approaching interference, and the interference is unacceptable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MESERVE: Now, the police have been trying to establish whether or not this sniper may have been engaged in other crimes before this wave. One of the things they've been looking at is a September 14th shooting in Silver Spring. The employee of a liquor store was shot in the back of the store before closing, apparently from a distance. The owner of the store says this is strikingly familiar to the sniper shootings, but the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms saying that the ballistics evidence is inconclusive. It does not establish whether there is a link or whether there is not a link. They simply cannot tell from the evidence that they have in hand.
This investigation continuing full force today with federal, state and local law enforcement. The tally this morning, 1,600 credible leads that are being followed up -- Paula.
ZAHN: Thanks so much, Jeanne. We'll be coming back to you 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 9, 2002 - 09:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR; More now on the hunt for that sniper in the Washington area. There's been another shooting in Maryland this morning.
Jeanne Meserve standing by with the details. She joins us live from police headquarters in Montgomery County, Maryland.
Good morning, Jeanne.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
A flurry of concern and activity when reports of that shooting came in at a motel in Prince George's County. That is the same county where a 13-year-old was gunned down on Monday. Authorities now telling us they do not believe there was any relationship between this morning's shooting and the string of sniper attacks which so far have killed six and wounded two seriously. Once again, absolutely no relationship, authorities say, is indicated at this point. It appears to have been part of a domestic disturbance.
Now police Chief Charles Moose, who is in charge of this investigation, has already briefed us once this morning. He is very upset at release of this information about this tarot card that was also found in Prince George's near the site of the middle school shooting. It was the death card from the fortune telling deck. On it were inscribed the words, "Dear policeman, I am God."
Now sources telling CNN it is not a definitive thing that this was left by the shooter, that there is still the possibility that this could have been left by the prankster at the scene of the shooting. Investigators looking that the very carefully.
But Charles Moose expressing tremendous dismay at media reporting this, and at the sources within his investigation who leaked this information. He also had very harsh words for former law enforcement personnel who have been filling the airwaves and the newspapers with speculation about this case. They -- he says they are not well informed about the specifics of this investigation and they could compromise the search for the killer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF CHARLES MOOSE, MONTGOMERY COUNTY POLICE: I beg of the media to let us do our job. If the community wants you to do it, they will call today and we will have a vote, and if it's decided that channel 9 is going to investigate this case, then so be it. So be it. I don't think that's going to happen. And I beg my community to make their voices heard, because I am convinced that we are approaching interference, and the interference is unacceptable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MESERVE: Now, the police have been trying to establish whether or not this sniper may have been engaged in other crimes before this wave. One of the things they've been looking at is a September 14th shooting in Silver Spring. The employee of a liquor store was shot in the back of the store before closing, apparently from a distance. The owner of the store says this is strikingly familiar to the sniper shootings, but the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms saying that the ballistics evidence is inconclusive. It does not establish whether there is a link or whether there is not a link. They simply cannot tell from the evidence that they have in hand.
This investigation continuing full force today with federal, state and local law enforcement. The tally this morning, 1,600 credible leads that are being followed up -- Paula.
ZAHN: Thanks so much, Jeanne. We'll be coming back to you 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
