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American Morning

Interview With James Fox

Aired October 14, 2002 - 07:17   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Certainly the biggest question: How is this sniper evading authorities?
James Fox is a professor in the College of Criminal Justice at Northeastern University. He's live this morning in Norwood, Massachusetts.

Professor, good morning to you.

JAMES FOX, NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY: Good morning.

HEMMER: You were quoted over the weekend. I want to read this now -- quote: "His enjoyment is not in the killing. His is killing for effect, and if the effect is terror, it appears to be working at this point."

More on that?

FOX: Well, he's enjoying himself. He's holding an entire region in his grip of terror. He's enjoying a notoriety that he's achieved here, and of course, he's enjoying the cat-and-mouse game he's playing with the cops. It's a game that he's winning, and he's pretty good at it.

HEMMER: Why not change the tactic from the police standpoint? About a week ago, politicians were coming to the microphone and calling this guy a coward, saying that the schools were safe, and then an eighth grader was shot on his way to school. Why not come out and challenge his mentality, call him a coward, say what it is?

FOX: Why not do it? Well, that actually intensifies his feeling of power and dominance and control, inspires him even more.

I was also concerned about the fact that a number of police officers and police chiefs recently have been calling for this man to turn himself in. He's not going to do that, and all this kind of appeal will look like to the shooter is begging.

HEMMER: Well, here's my point, though.

(CROSSTALK)

FOX: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) it.

HEMMER: He's a sniper, he's effective, he eludes every dragnet that's set up for him, whether it's in Maryland or the state of the Virginia. Why not challenge his mentality? If he's going to kill anyway and do it and get away with it, why not challenge his mentality and force him to eventually to be lazy or sloppy, and then you get him?

FOX: Well, he will eventually get lazy and sloppy, not because we challenge him, but because he feels invincible. It's not that he wants to get caught, and lots of people have speculated, oh, he wants to get caught, and that's why he's leaving a tarot card. He doesn't want to get caught. If he wanted to get caught, he'd just stick around for five seconds so the police could show up.

He thinks he's superior; he thinks he's unstoppable. At some point, his own arrogance will get the best of him. He'll leave a clue, an important clue, not because he wants to, but because he thinks he is uncatchable, and that's when we'll get him.

HEMMER: Yes, I heard Chief Moose yesterday say, and I think this is really the first time I heard these words come out of his mouth. He talked about America being a strong country and a strong nation that won't be intimidated, will not back down. Many rumors and a whole lot of theories out there as to whether or not the police are communicating to a certain message by way of these press conferences and interviews.

Do you see a connection there with the words of the chief yesterday, talking possibly to the sniper, saying as a country, we're not afraid of you? And if so, what does that mean?

FOX: Well, any time the police do a press conference, they have to consider the possibility -- and in this case, a likelihood -- that the shooter is tuning in. He's clearly watching the tube, reading the newspaper, and adjusting his behavior based on what the police say. Are there hidden messages? Perhaps.

I hope there's more to this investigation than meets the eye, because if there's not, then we're in a lot of trouble here.

HEMMER: Do you think we're not getting much in terms of the investigation...

FOX: We aren't getting...

HEMMER: ... (UNINTELLIGIBLE) public, is that what you're saying?

FOX: We aren't getting much. In any investigation, the police tend to hold back information so they can trip up compulsive confessors or try to trap a suspect into saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. I hope that they hold back information. I just don't know.

The problem here is this is a very difficult case to solve. One, there's no crime scene evidence. Unlike most murder scenes where there's fibers and hairs and blood, and this guy is killing from afar, so there's no evidence.

Secondly, since he's killing total strangers, there's no connection, there's no motive, there's no possible suspects. He could be anyone.

See, this guy has proven that he has a certain degree of cunning, and is getting away with murder right now, and this is an incredibly difficult case for the police to solve. They'll need to get lucky. They haven't gotten lucky yet.

HEMMER: Thank you, Professor. Dr. James Fox, Northeastern University, with us this morning -- great to have you.

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 14, 2002 - 07:17   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Certainly the biggest question: How is this sniper evading authorities?
James Fox is a professor in the College of Criminal Justice at Northeastern University. He's live this morning in Norwood, Massachusetts.

Professor, good morning to you.

JAMES FOX, NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY: Good morning.

HEMMER: You were quoted over the weekend. I want to read this now -- quote: "His enjoyment is not in the killing. His is killing for effect, and if the effect is terror, it appears to be working at this point."

More on that?

FOX: Well, he's enjoying himself. He's holding an entire region in his grip of terror. He's enjoying a notoriety that he's achieved here, and of course, he's enjoying the cat-and-mouse game he's playing with the cops. It's a game that he's winning, and he's pretty good at it.

HEMMER: Why not change the tactic from the police standpoint? About a week ago, politicians were coming to the microphone and calling this guy a coward, saying that the schools were safe, and then an eighth grader was shot on his way to school. Why not come out and challenge his mentality, call him a coward, say what it is?

FOX: Why not do it? Well, that actually intensifies his feeling of power and dominance and control, inspires him even more.

I was also concerned about the fact that a number of police officers and police chiefs recently have been calling for this man to turn himself in. He's not going to do that, and all this kind of appeal will look like to the shooter is begging.

HEMMER: Well, here's my point, though.

(CROSSTALK)

FOX: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) it.

HEMMER: He's a sniper, he's effective, he eludes every dragnet that's set up for him, whether it's in Maryland or the state of the Virginia. Why not challenge his mentality? If he's going to kill anyway and do it and get away with it, why not challenge his mentality and force him to eventually to be lazy or sloppy, and then you get him?

FOX: Well, he will eventually get lazy and sloppy, not because we challenge him, but because he feels invincible. It's not that he wants to get caught, and lots of people have speculated, oh, he wants to get caught, and that's why he's leaving a tarot card. He doesn't want to get caught. If he wanted to get caught, he'd just stick around for five seconds so the police could show up.

He thinks he's superior; he thinks he's unstoppable. At some point, his own arrogance will get the best of him. He'll leave a clue, an important clue, not because he wants to, but because he thinks he is uncatchable, and that's when we'll get him.

HEMMER: Yes, I heard Chief Moose yesterday say, and I think this is really the first time I heard these words come out of his mouth. He talked about America being a strong country and a strong nation that won't be intimidated, will not back down. Many rumors and a whole lot of theories out there as to whether or not the police are communicating to a certain message by way of these press conferences and interviews.

Do you see a connection there with the words of the chief yesterday, talking possibly to the sniper, saying as a country, we're not afraid of you? And if so, what does that mean?

FOX: Well, any time the police do a press conference, they have to consider the possibility -- and in this case, a likelihood -- that the shooter is tuning in. He's clearly watching the tube, reading the newspaper, and adjusting his behavior based on what the police say. Are there hidden messages? Perhaps.

I hope there's more to this investigation than meets the eye, because if there's not, then we're in a lot of trouble here.

HEMMER: Do you think we're not getting much in terms of the investigation...

FOX: We aren't getting...

HEMMER: ... (UNINTELLIGIBLE) public, is that what you're saying?

FOX: We aren't getting much. In any investigation, the police tend to hold back information so they can trip up compulsive confessors or try to trap a suspect into saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. I hope that they hold back information. I just don't know.

The problem here is this is a very difficult case to solve. One, there's no crime scene evidence. Unlike most murder scenes where there's fibers and hairs and blood, and this guy is killing from afar, so there's no evidence.

Secondly, since he's killing total strangers, there's no connection, there's no motive, there's no possible suspects. He could be anyone.

See, this guy has proven that he has a certain degree of cunning, and is getting away with murder right now, and this is an incredibly difficult case for the police to solve. They'll need to get lucky. They haven't gotten lucky yet.

HEMMER: Thank you, Professor. Dr. James Fox, Northeastern University, with us this morning -- great to have you.

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