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American Morning

Person Left Message at Ponderosa Restaurant

Aired October 21, 2002 - 07:08   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 sniper investigation and that cryptic statement by Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose.
Sources say it was an attempt to actually make contact with the shooter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF CHARLES MOOSE, MONTGOMERY COUNTY POLICE: To the person who left us a message at the Ponderosa last night, you gave us a telephone number. We do want to talk to you. Call us at the number you provided.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Joining us now to help put the latest developments into perspective, CNN criminologist, Casey Jordan.

Good morning.

CASEY JORDAN, CNN CRIMINOLOGIST: Good morning, Paula.

ZAHN: And from Atlanta this morning, retired Army Sergeant-Major Eric Haney, a firearms expert.

Good morning to you as well -- welcome.

SGT. MAJ. ERIC HANEY, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Good morning.

ZAHN: So, Casey, you just heard Bill report that they believe they now know the form in which this message was left, a lengthy letter at the scene of this latest crime.

JORDAN: And if that's true, it's some very important information, because as of yesterday evening when we found out that they were in possession of some sort of message, there's been a tremendous amount of speculation about the format in which the message could be left. Was it something scratched in the dirt at the crime scene? Was it a telephone call?

And there was a lot to mete out of how they were trying to communicate with the person they were speaking to. Their message was so succinct and so carefully worded, it was clearly the message that they were putting out through the media. It was something that they had come to by design. And they were very up front about the fact that whoever we mean this message for knows exactly what it means, and you don't need to know.

ZAHN: What is pretty apparent, though, is there must have been some kind of phone number left in this letter? Or are we reading between the lines here?

JORDAN: Well, maybe it wasn't left in terms of just a clear seven-digit number. The language of Chief Moose's message said, "You gave us a telephone number." And then he says, "Call us at the number you provided."

Why say it twice unless they are basically thanking this person or ingratiating themselves in saying we got the number, OK, and we want to go further?

In fact, even the emphasis on the word "do," he doesn't say we want to talk to you. He goes, we "do" want to talk to you, almost as if perhaps a bit apologetic about any snafu that might have occurred before with the message conveyed in the tarot card.

Again, they're not groveling, but they are trying to establish a clear path or a link of communication, open the window, open the door, to speaking to whoever left that message. And the presumption at this point is it certainly is the shooter they've been looking for.

ZAHN: Sergeant Haney?

HANEY: Yes.

ZAHN: What do you make of this latest development? How big of a break is this?

HANEY: It's tremendous. The first thing, apparently the police and all of the authorities feel that this was a genuine communication, just as Casey established here. If that's the case, and we're operating on that and a then couple of things, hopefully, it brings the killing to a halt.

And if indeed, again, that this is a genuine communication, it's the opening of act II in this whole drama. Now, we go into a long, protracted negotiation phase.

ZAHN: Let's go back to late Saturday night during this latest killing, and our report of Gary Tuchman was one of the first reporters allowed on the scene last night, once the police barricades were moved away.

Let's hear what he described as the area they believe the sniper last shot from -- let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): We are now going to give you a look at where it's believed this shooter fired the one shot that hit the man in his stomach. You can see it's a heavily-wooded area. It's about one or two acres. But there is a path that you can take, and as you walk along the path, you can see from here there is a clear look at the parking lot that we just came out of.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Sergeant Haney, it's believed that the sniper left that area by way of an escape route behind the wooded area, which I'm told is a dirt road which is muddy. There's a lot of construction being done behind there. No witnesses there.

What does this mean for the investigation?

HANEY: Well, actually, they're going to have some evidence back there. They'll have footprints. They probably quite possibly had a shell casing. They're going to have marks from where the person set up to take the shot, if it was from there, and more than likely it was. They're also going to have vehicle tracks back there on the little dirt road where whoever had to have positioned a vehicle.

So, there's a good bit of evidence that's going to be available to gather from that site.

ZAHN: And, of course, they're now saying, I guess, there was a witness in the parking lot and a witness from inside the restaurant. We'll see what that all means.

Casey, just a very quick thought on where you think the investigation is at this hour.

JORDAN: I think we've turned a major corner. And even though I know police continue to be frustrated and very vigilant about capturing the shooter, the fact that we know and have confirmed a communication from the shooter, to me, is extremely hopeful that this can -- we can now capture the perpetrator, or at least bring this direct resolution (ph).

ZAHN: It doesn't necessarily mean he wants to get caught.

JORDAN: Absolutely. He wants to be pursued, but I don't imagine he wants to be caught, or he would have simply turned himself in. The game continues.

ZAHN: Casey Jordan, Sergeant-Major Eric Haney, thanks for your time this 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 21, 2002 - 07:08   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 sniper investigation and that cryptic statement by Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose.
Sources say it was an attempt to actually make contact with the shooter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF CHARLES MOOSE, MONTGOMERY COUNTY POLICE: To the person who left us a message at the Ponderosa last night, you gave us a telephone number. We do want to talk to you. Call us at the number you provided.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Joining us now to help put the latest developments into perspective, CNN criminologist, Casey Jordan.

Good morning.

CASEY JORDAN, CNN CRIMINOLOGIST: Good morning, Paula.

ZAHN: And from Atlanta this morning, retired Army Sergeant-Major Eric Haney, a firearms expert.

Good morning to you as well -- welcome.

SGT. MAJ. ERIC HANEY, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Good morning.

ZAHN: So, Casey, you just heard Bill report that they believe they now know the form in which this message was left, a lengthy letter at the scene of this latest crime.

JORDAN: And if that's true, it's some very important information, because as of yesterday evening when we found out that they were in possession of some sort of message, there's been a tremendous amount of speculation about the format in which the message could be left. Was it something scratched in the dirt at the crime scene? Was it a telephone call?

And there was a lot to mete out of how they were trying to communicate with the person they were speaking to. Their message was so succinct and so carefully worded, it was clearly the message that they were putting out through the media. It was something that they had come to by design. And they were very up front about the fact that whoever we mean this message for knows exactly what it means, and you don't need to know.

ZAHN: What is pretty apparent, though, is there must have been some kind of phone number left in this letter? Or are we reading between the lines here?

JORDAN: Well, maybe it wasn't left in terms of just a clear seven-digit number. The language of Chief Moose's message said, "You gave us a telephone number." And then he says, "Call us at the number you provided."

Why say it twice unless they are basically thanking this person or ingratiating themselves in saying we got the number, OK, and we want to go further?

In fact, even the emphasis on the word "do," he doesn't say we want to talk to you. He goes, we "do" want to talk to you, almost as if perhaps a bit apologetic about any snafu that might have occurred before with the message conveyed in the tarot card.

Again, they're not groveling, but they are trying to establish a clear path or a link of communication, open the window, open the door, to speaking to whoever left that message. And the presumption at this point is it certainly is the shooter they've been looking for.

ZAHN: Sergeant Haney?

HANEY: Yes.

ZAHN: What do you make of this latest development? How big of a break is this?

HANEY: It's tremendous. The first thing, apparently the police and all of the authorities feel that this was a genuine communication, just as Casey established here. If that's the case, and we're operating on that and a then couple of things, hopefully, it brings the killing to a halt.

And if indeed, again, that this is a genuine communication, it's the opening of act II in this whole drama. Now, we go into a long, protracted negotiation phase.

ZAHN: Let's go back to late Saturday night during this latest killing, and our report of Gary Tuchman was one of the first reporters allowed on the scene last night, once the police barricades were moved away.

Let's hear what he described as the area they believe the sniper last shot from -- let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): We are now going to give you a look at where it's believed this shooter fired the one shot that hit the man in his stomach. You can see it's a heavily-wooded area. It's about one or two acres. But there is a path that you can take, and as you walk along the path, you can see from here there is a clear look at the parking lot that we just came out of.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Sergeant Haney, it's believed that the sniper left that area by way of an escape route behind the wooded area, which I'm told is a dirt road which is muddy. There's a lot of construction being done behind there. No witnesses there.

What does this mean for the investigation?

HANEY: Well, actually, they're going to have some evidence back there. They'll have footprints. They probably quite possibly had a shell casing. They're going to have marks from where the person set up to take the shot, if it was from there, and more than likely it was. They're also going to have vehicle tracks back there on the little dirt road where whoever had to have positioned a vehicle.

So, there's a good bit of evidence that's going to be available to gather from that site.

ZAHN: And, of course, they're now saying, I guess, there was a witness in the parking lot and a witness from inside the restaurant. We'll see what that all means.

Casey, just a very quick thought on where you think the investigation is at this hour.

JORDAN: I think we've turned a major corner. And even though I know police continue to be frustrated and very vigilant about capturing the shooter, the fact that we know and have confirmed a communication from the shooter, to me, is extremely hopeful that this can -- we can now capture the perpetrator, or at least bring this direct resolution (ph).

ZAHN: It doesn't necessarily mean he wants to get caught.

JORDAN: Absolutely. He wants to be pursued, but I don't imagine he wants to be caught, or he would have simply turned himself in. The game continues.

ZAHN: Casey Jordan, Sergeant-Major Eric Haney, thanks for your time this 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.