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American Morning
Interview With Gary Bald
Aired October 11, 2002 - 06:34 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: We turn now to our other top story this morning. Police have linked the sniper to the latest shooting death in the Washington area.
Bill Hemmer is standing by, once again reporting from Rockville, Maryland with the very latest.
Good morning -- Bill.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, Paula, good morning again to you.
The details and the evidence by which investigators are working right now are so scattered and so few, at least publicly anyway. No eyewitnesses to date. There has been no motive established. The pattern has been random over the past nine days and counting. All of the victims hit from a distance, sometimes well over 100 yards, possibly much greater than that.
And to further complicate matters, investigators simply don't even know what the sniper even looks like, if it's a man, if it's a woman, black, white, Hispanic -- so many open-ended questions again today on this Friday morning.
I want to bring in Gary Bald. He's with the FBI, the special agent in charge, working this case from the very beginning of day one here.
Good morning to you, sir.
GARY BALD, SPECIAL AGENT, FBI: Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: Tell us about the evidence or lack thereof in Manassas. Any shell casings, any tarot cards -- anything like that?
BALD: Well, I don't want to speak specifically about the evidence. I will comment that your observation that there are no witnesses and that there are no leads is not accurate. We do have information that's very helpful to us. It's not as much information as we would like to have, and we have appealed to the public.
I'm very confident that there are people that have observed the shooter or shooters, and that they -- some of whom we have heard from, not necessarily the people that have given us complete descriptions, but we have the information from citizens.
I'd like to encourage the people that are out there that I believe have seen the shooter, perhaps in his vehicle, in their vehicle -- I don't want to imply that there is only one -- or exiting the vehicle or perhaps even firing the shot, to come forward. We are interested in the information. We're not interested in the individual's identity, and I'd like to encourage the citizens to continue to contact us, as they have.
HEMMER: So, your point, then, here this morning is that you are getting some assistance from people in the areas of the shootings that have taken place.
BALD: I don't want to specify what area we're getting the assistance from, but we have gotten significant assistance.
HEMMER: So, when the chief yesterday in Prince William County said they are getting some eyewitness testimony that may lead you in a direction or to, indeed he was accurate then from yesterday?
BALD: I don't want to comment on the specific sources or locations that the information is coming from, only to say that the public has been of tremendous assistance to us, and I'd encourage them to continue to help.
HEMMER: There are five jurisdictions right now involved throughout the Washington, D.C. area, where shootings have taken place. There's been a lot of speculation that the FBI would step in and take over this investigation overall, as a whole. Will that happen?
BALD: No, it won't happen. The investigation is being conducted in a number of local jurisdictions by very capable local law enforcement agencies. The chiefs are in constant contact with our group here. Chief Moose I think is doing a very good job of pulling together the resources that are at his disposal. The investigation is being conducted very smoothly, and we're making some progress.
HEMMER: And tell me about a profile, as much as you can. I know you're very reticent to give out information. But based on what you're learning right now, how far can you go in telling us and our viewers about where you stand based on the profile?
BALD: Well, the profile is a tool that we use. It is a part of the equation that comes together to help solve the case. It provides us some framework to guide our investigation. It's not the end-all- to-beat-all, but it is very helpful.
We've got significant information that we've received from, not only witnesses, but also the crime scenes themselves that get plugged into the formula, and the profilers take that into consideration, and they apply past practices, their past experiences to this situation and help guide the investigators in their questioning and their direction.
HEMMER: Can you tell us male, female?
BALD: I don't want to comment specifically on the profile, but it has been of assistance.
HEMMER: Can you say, white, black, Hispanic, otherwise?
BALD: At this point, some of those questions, we do have answers to, but at this point, I prefer not to share those.
HEMMER: Go back to my original question here quickly. Are there eyewitnesses on the scene who believe they saw either the location where the shot was fired, or are these eyewitnesses that you're speaking of only there present at the scene at the point perhaps when this 53-year-old man was hit on Wednesday night?
BALD: I don't want to characterize the witnesses that we've talked to. We've talked to a lot of people, and I believe that there are others out there that could provide additional information that could help put this puzzle together for us.
HEMMER: There was a consolidation as of yesterday, late Wednesday night, to get all of the phone lines coordinated in one fashion, operated by the FBI. How much is that helping right now?
BALD: It's helping a lot. As the number of jurisdictions has grown, it becomes more difficult to communicate with the public, to let them know that the points of contact that they should reach out for. Each individual chief is doing a very good job of eliciting support from his community. It helps to have an 800 number for them to call, and that number is 888-324-9800.
HEMMER: Thank you, sir. Appreciate it. Good luck to you.
BALD: OK.
HEMMER: Gary Bald, special agent in charge of the FBI here in Rockville, Maryland.
In a matter of moments, Paula, we will hear once again this morning from the police chief here in Montgomery County. Charles Moose should greet reporters in about five minutes or so, so we'll be here to track it and watch it for you -- Paula.
ZAHN: We'll be coming back to you for that. Thanks, Bill.
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 11, 2002 - 06:34 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We turn now to our other top story this morning. Police have linked the sniper to the latest shooting death in the Washington area.
Bill Hemmer is standing by, once again reporting from Rockville, Maryland with the very latest.
Good morning -- Bill.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, Paula, good morning again to you.
The details and the evidence by which investigators are working right now are so scattered and so few, at least publicly anyway. No eyewitnesses to date. There has been no motive established. The pattern has been random over the past nine days and counting. All of the victims hit from a distance, sometimes well over 100 yards, possibly much greater than that.
And to further complicate matters, investigators simply don't even know what the sniper even looks like, if it's a man, if it's a woman, black, white, Hispanic -- so many open-ended questions again today on this Friday morning.
I want to bring in Gary Bald. He's with the FBI, the special agent in charge, working this case from the very beginning of day one here.
Good morning to you, sir.
GARY BALD, SPECIAL AGENT, FBI: Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: Tell us about the evidence or lack thereof in Manassas. Any shell casings, any tarot cards -- anything like that?
BALD: Well, I don't want to speak specifically about the evidence. I will comment that your observation that there are no witnesses and that there are no leads is not accurate. We do have information that's very helpful to us. It's not as much information as we would like to have, and we have appealed to the public.
I'm very confident that there are people that have observed the shooter or shooters, and that they -- some of whom we have heard from, not necessarily the people that have given us complete descriptions, but we have the information from citizens.
I'd like to encourage the people that are out there that I believe have seen the shooter, perhaps in his vehicle, in their vehicle -- I don't want to imply that there is only one -- or exiting the vehicle or perhaps even firing the shot, to come forward. We are interested in the information. We're not interested in the individual's identity, and I'd like to encourage the citizens to continue to contact us, as they have.
HEMMER: So, your point, then, here this morning is that you are getting some assistance from people in the areas of the shootings that have taken place.
BALD: I don't want to specify what area we're getting the assistance from, but we have gotten significant assistance.
HEMMER: So, when the chief yesterday in Prince William County said they are getting some eyewitness testimony that may lead you in a direction or to, indeed he was accurate then from yesterday?
BALD: I don't want to comment on the specific sources or locations that the information is coming from, only to say that the public has been of tremendous assistance to us, and I'd encourage them to continue to help.
HEMMER: There are five jurisdictions right now involved throughout the Washington, D.C. area, where shootings have taken place. There's been a lot of speculation that the FBI would step in and take over this investigation overall, as a whole. Will that happen?
BALD: No, it won't happen. The investigation is being conducted in a number of local jurisdictions by very capable local law enforcement agencies. The chiefs are in constant contact with our group here. Chief Moose I think is doing a very good job of pulling together the resources that are at his disposal. The investigation is being conducted very smoothly, and we're making some progress.
HEMMER: And tell me about a profile, as much as you can. I know you're very reticent to give out information. But based on what you're learning right now, how far can you go in telling us and our viewers about where you stand based on the profile?
BALD: Well, the profile is a tool that we use. It is a part of the equation that comes together to help solve the case. It provides us some framework to guide our investigation. It's not the end-all- to-beat-all, but it is very helpful.
We've got significant information that we've received from, not only witnesses, but also the crime scenes themselves that get plugged into the formula, and the profilers take that into consideration, and they apply past practices, their past experiences to this situation and help guide the investigators in their questioning and their direction.
HEMMER: Can you tell us male, female?
BALD: I don't want to comment specifically on the profile, but it has been of assistance.
HEMMER: Can you say, white, black, Hispanic, otherwise?
BALD: At this point, some of those questions, we do have answers to, but at this point, I prefer not to share those.
HEMMER: Go back to my original question here quickly. Are there eyewitnesses on the scene who believe they saw either the location where the shot was fired, or are these eyewitnesses that you're speaking of only there present at the scene at the point perhaps when this 53-year-old man was hit on Wednesday night?
BALD: I don't want to characterize the witnesses that we've talked to. We've talked to a lot of people, and I believe that there are others out there that could provide additional information that could help put this puzzle together for us.
HEMMER: There was a consolidation as of yesterday, late Wednesday night, to get all of the phone lines coordinated in one fashion, operated by the FBI. How much is that helping right now?
BALD: It's helping a lot. As the number of jurisdictions has grown, it becomes more difficult to communicate with the public, to let them know that the points of contact that they should reach out for. Each individual chief is doing a very good job of eliciting support from his community. It helps to have an 800 number for them to call, and that number is 888-324-9800.
HEMMER: Thank you, sir. Appreciate it. Good luck to you.
BALD: OK.
HEMMER: Gary Bald, special agent in charge of the FBI here in Rockville, Maryland.
In a matter of moments, Paula, we will hear once again this morning from the police chief here in Montgomery County. Charles Moose should greet reporters in about five minutes or so, so we'll be here to track it and watch it for you -- Paula.
ZAHN: We'll be coming back to you for that. Thanks, Bill.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
