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American Morning

Despite Threat, Washington-Area Schools Open

Aired October 23, 2002 - 08:34   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: Despite the chilling threat against children made by a person who authorities believe is a sniper, Washington-area schools are opening this morning.
Michael Okwu is at a school in the Washington area.

Good morning, Michael.

MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they're open, but there's certainly a lot of fear here. I'm standing in Fairfax County in something of a high school zone just over my shoulders, an alternative high school, and up the street is another high school, and I want to give you a sense of what the topography is here. This landscape is typical of high schools in the suburban Washington area. It's basically building set along a line of trees, and I was talking to parents and students this morning who all say that they think about that every day they come to school now. Never before has forestry been so deeply associated with danger.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's been devastating over the last past month. I've been driving my son to school every day, even though it's not that far. I won't let him walk anywhere. We don't go anywhere. I'm a school teacher. I've had all of my kids in. I've had them in for a month now. And they're scared. They don't want to walk outside. The patrols don't want to out the building, and you know, everyone is just devastated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OKWU: Now cars and buses filed in this morning, many more so, I am told, because so many parents wanted to make sure to usher their kids in personally to school, including that woman you just heard from, who lives only several blocks away, and she is not atypical -- Paula.

Schools here are still in a code blue, which means that they are locked down in their classrooms. The windows are shut, the shades are drawn. They cannot walk in the hallways, unless they are accompanied by some sort of a school monitor or by a teacher, which, by the way, may not be enough for so many of the parents that I talked to yesterday. A handful of them told me they are seriously considering not bringing their kids to school, having them stay at home until the sniper is actually caught, which, of course, is a $10, 000 question at this point, and certainly the prayers of so many parents.

ZAHN: I have to confess, Michael, I missed the very top of your report. Is attendance off there in Fairfax County yet?

OKWU: We don't know about attendance at this point. It's still very early. If there is any indication -- if the traffic is any indication of attendance, it was fairly high here in Fairfax County.

Just to be clear about this, Fairfax County not Montgomery County. Montgomery County, where five of the first shootings occurred and yesterday morning's shootings occurred. We were there yesterday, Paula, and I can tell you that attendance was really, really low. In fact, one of the schools was really, really low, and I can tell you, one of the schools very close to the site of the shooting, attendance was down by 95 percent, and it was at that school and in that district that still many of the parents told me that they are seriously keeping their kids away from school until the sniper is caught -- Paula.

ZAHN: Thanks, Michael. Appreciate the update.

A ballistics test of yesterday's shooting in Silver Spring, Maryland could confirm today what authorities already believe, that the sniper return to where he began his campaign of terror. Now as residents enter their fourth week of living in the shadow of the sniper, expressions of anger and frustration are on the rise.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a terrible, terrible thing, because I have, you know, a kid on the way, I have a fiancee who is deathly afraid. She couldn't come out and walk our dog today because of this kind of nonsense. And that is what it is, it's nonsense.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was parked maybe two spaces in front of where the bus was. And I'm just thinking if I came out the house five minutes earlier, it could have been me. That's all I'm thinking all day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My daughter probably knows him. As soon as this happened, I got her out of here. She's in Takoma Park. Just I don't want her here. She's at my mom's.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: I think we can all relate to what all of those folks are saying.

Talk show host Michael Graham of WTNT Radio knows the pulse of the community. He joins us live from Rockville, Maryland. Good of you to join us this morning. Welcome.

MICHAEL GRAHAM, WTNT RADIO REPORTER: Glad to be here, Paula.

So, Michael, we talked with a number of guest who say they have did nothing to alter their lifestyle, they refuse to give into this psycho. And yet, I know you've talked with hundreds of people who have dramatically changed the way they live, the way they buy groceries, they way they get gas. Explain to us some of the strategies people are using now just to get through the day? ZAHN: Well, my callers on WTNT seem to be about evenly split. Half are terrified. In fact, we did a show one afternoon describe how you feel in one word for all of the people, like CNN, are talking about how you feel. Half of them were saying, I'm scared out of my mind, but the other half were defiant and angry. But you can see the effects of the fear with the reduced school attendance, of course. We have grocery services up here that normally are not particularly busy, that are now two or three days behind, their reporting.

People are swapping the sites of what they feel are sniper-free gas stations, the way you swap babysitters. Hey, I know a place on the corner, go try it out. And then people are also walking their kids to school instead of letting their kids ride the bus. Their fear is affecting them every day.

At the same time, there are defiant people. I had a caller yesterday saying I don't care what this guy does, I'm going to go out, I'm going to do what I want to do, I'm getting binoculars, I'm getting a camera; if I have to get gun training, I'll do it, but I'm not going to let the sniper win. And it's a conflict of knowing that you don't want let this guy run your life, but at the same time, you don't want to expose yourself to ridiculous danger that the people I talk to everyday on WTNT are fighting with.

ZAHN: We're hearing about so many parents now who are taking active roles at their schools, like you just said, this last guy using binoculars on the lookout for woods surrounding schools, mothers and fathers on cell phones, checking perimeter areas. What other action like that are you hearing about?

GRAHAM: It runs the gamut. Some people it's just simple things, like my kids come home and they play inside. Normally, I'd send them outside, now their inside. Other people are, you know, I want to get out of the community, I don't want my kids around. I've had people say to me, I don't care, they should just shut down schools if it takes a month, we can make it up at the end of the summer; it's worth that to keep ourselves safe.

The question I keep asking, though, is what can we do as parents? And I have two kids in school here in Montgomery County, fourth and second grade. What can we do as parents, what can we do as a community to stop or even affect the sniper? The sniper doesn't need a high school stadium full of kids. He doesn't need a parking lot full of people buying groceries; he needs one target, and there is a point where you have to ask yourself, what difference does it make, why not just live? Why not be defiant, and then count on the police to do the job they need to do to catch this guy?

ZAHN: There is certainly a lot of people that agree with you.

You happened to be on the air yesterday when Chief Moose made this extremely chilling announcement. Let's listen and allow our -- I guess we apparently don't have that. But he came out, and he released part of the text of that letter that was found in Ashland, Virginia from that murder scene on Saturday night.

And his exact words are -- or were -- "You're children are not safe anywhere, at any time."

GRAHAM: I don't know if you can hear a pin drop over the radio, but you could have. I mean, we were frozen. Callers were frozen. We were listening to that statement, that ominous statement. If it was in a movie script, you wouldn't sell it, it would be just too over the top, and this is our life here in Montgomery County. We could not get our minds around it. We didn't stop to think about, what does that mean? We thought my, gosh, there is somebody out there who wants to hurt our kids. Why?

ZAHN: And as a parent, when you heard that, how did it impact you?

I know you had to be on the air and you're supposed to be, you know, detached from the material you're covering, you're supposed to let your listeners speak, but come on.

GRAHAM: But, Paula, we're in the media business, and I hate to say it, but most of the times we like to inflate. If a hurricane is coming, we always anticipate the level 5 hurricane, and then it turns out to be a tropical storm, and we watch the same truck in a puddle for an hour.

But this time, it was real fear. There was goose bumps up my back while I was on the air. We were all together. We couldn't believe this guy was saying it, and we still couldn't figure it out. Let me say something about Montgomery County, very well educated people here, very affluent people here, people who are used to solve problems, used to hiring somebody to solve a problem. This is a problem without a solution, and it's driving a lot of people crazy. We don't know what to do about it, and they're used to being able to do something.

ZAHN: Michael Graham, we really appreciate you sharing some of your thoughts of your listeners with us, as well as your thoughts. We really appreciate your time. And we wish your community well and some peace.

GRAHAM: Thank 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 23, 2002 - 08:34   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Despite the chilling threat against children made by a person who authorities believe is a sniper, Washington-area schools are opening this morning.
Michael Okwu is at a school in the Washington area.

Good morning, Michael.

MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they're open, but there's certainly a lot of fear here. I'm standing in Fairfax County in something of a high school zone just over my shoulders, an alternative high school, and up the street is another high school, and I want to give you a sense of what the topography is here. This landscape is typical of high schools in the suburban Washington area. It's basically building set along a line of trees, and I was talking to parents and students this morning who all say that they think about that every day they come to school now. Never before has forestry been so deeply associated with danger.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's been devastating over the last past month. I've been driving my son to school every day, even though it's not that far. I won't let him walk anywhere. We don't go anywhere. I'm a school teacher. I've had all of my kids in. I've had them in for a month now. And they're scared. They don't want to walk outside. The patrols don't want to out the building, and you know, everyone is just devastated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OKWU: Now cars and buses filed in this morning, many more so, I am told, because so many parents wanted to make sure to usher their kids in personally to school, including that woman you just heard from, who lives only several blocks away, and she is not atypical -- Paula.

Schools here are still in a code blue, which means that they are locked down in their classrooms. The windows are shut, the shades are drawn. They cannot walk in the hallways, unless they are accompanied by some sort of a school monitor or by a teacher, which, by the way, may not be enough for so many of the parents that I talked to yesterday. A handful of them told me they are seriously considering not bringing their kids to school, having them stay at home until the sniper is actually caught, which, of course, is a $10, 000 question at this point, and certainly the prayers of so many parents.

ZAHN: I have to confess, Michael, I missed the very top of your report. Is attendance off there in Fairfax County yet?

OKWU: We don't know about attendance at this point. It's still very early. If there is any indication -- if the traffic is any indication of attendance, it was fairly high here in Fairfax County.

Just to be clear about this, Fairfax County not Montgomery County. Montgomery County, where five of the first shootings occurred and yesterday morning's shootings occurred. We were there yesterday, Paula, and I can tell you that attendance was really, really low. In fact, one of the schools was really, really low, and I can tell you, one of the schools very close to the site of the shooting, attendance was down by 95 percent, and it was at that school and in that district that still many of the parents told me that they are seriously keeping their kids away from school until the sniper is caught -- Paula.

ZAHN: Thanks, Michael. Appreciate the update.

A ballistics test of yesterday's shooting in Silver Spring, Maryland could confirm today what authorities already believe, that the sniper return to where he began his campaign of terror. Now as residents enter their fourth week of living in the shadow of the sniper, expressions of anger and frustration are on the rise.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a terrible, terrible thing, because I have, you know, a kid on the way, I have a fiancee who is deathly afraid. She couldn't come out and walk our dog today because of this kind of nonsense. And that is what it is, it's nonsense.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was parked maybe two spaces in front of where the bus was. And I'm just thinking if I came out the house five minutes earlier, it could have been me. That's all I'm thinking all day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My daughter probably knows him. As soon as this happened, I got her out of here. She's in Takoma Park. Just I don't want her here. She's at my mom's.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: I think we can all relate to what all of those folks are saying.

Talk show host Michael Graham of WTNT Radio knows the pulse of the community. He joins us live from Rockville, Maryland. Good of you to join us this morning. Welcome.

MICHAEL GRAHAM, WTNT RADIO REPORTER: Glad to be here, Paula.

So, Michael, we talked with a number of guest who say they have did nothing to alter their lifestyle, they refuse to give into this psycho. And yet, I know you've talked with hundreds of people who have dramatically changed the way they live, the way they buy groceries, they way they get gas. Explain to us some of the strategies people are using now just to get through the day? ZAHN: Well, my callers on WTNT seem to be about evenly split. Half are terrified. In fact, we did a show one afternoon describe how you feel in one word for all of the people, like CNN, are talking about how you feel. Half of them were saying, I'm scared out of my mind, but the other half were defiant and angry. But you can see the effects of the fear with the reduced school attendance, of course. We have grocery services up here that normally are not particularly busy, that are now two or three days behind, their reporting.

People are swapping the sites of what they feel are sniper-free gas stations, the way you swap babysitters. Hey, I know a place on the corner, go try it out. And then people are also walking their kids to school instead of letting their kids ride the bus. Their fear is affecting them every day.

At the same time, there are defiant people. I had a caller yesterday saying I don't care what this guy does, I'm going to go out, I'm going to do what I want to do, I'm getting binoculars, I'm getting a camera; if I have to get gun training, I'll do it, but I'm not going to let the sniper win. And it's a conflict of knowing that you don't want let this guy run your life, but at the same time, you don't want to expose yourself to ridiculous danger that the people I talk to everyday on WTNT are fighting with.

ZAHN: We're hearing about so many parents now who are taking active roles at their schools, like you just said, this last guy using binoculars on the lookout for woods surrounding schools, mothers and fathers on cell phones, checking perimeter areas. What other action like that are you hearing about?

GRAHAM: It runs the gamut. Some people it's just simple things, like my kids come home and they play inside. Normally, I'd send them outside, now their inside. Other people are, you know, I want to get out of the community, I don't want my kids around. I've had people say to me, I don't care, they should just shut down schools if it takes a month, we can make it up at the end of the summer; it's worth that to keep ourselves safe.

The question I keep asking, though, is what can we do as parents? And I have two kids in school here in Montgomery County, fourth and second grade. What can we do as parents, what can we do as a community to stop or even affect the sniper? The sniper doesn't need a high school stadium full of kids. He doesn't need a parking lot full of people buying groceries; he needs one target, and there is a point where you have to ask yourself, what difference does it make, why not just live? Why not be defiant, and then count on the police to do the job they need to do to catch this guy?

ZAHN: There is certainly a lot of people that agree with you.

You happened to be on the air yesterday when Chief Moose made this extremely chilling announcement. Let's listen and allow our -- I guess we apparently don't have that. But he came out, and he released part of the text of that letter that was found in Ashland, Virginia from that murder scene on Saturday night.

And his exact words are -- or were -- "You're children are not safe anywhere, at any time."

GRAHAM: I don't know if you can hear a pin drop over the radio, but you could have. I mean, we were frozen. Callers were frozen. We were listening to that statement, that ominous statement. If it was in a movie script, you wouldn't sell it, it would be just too over the top, and this is our life here in Montgomery County. We could not get our minds around it. We didn't stop to think about, what does that mean? We thought my, gosh, there is somebody out there who wants to hurt our kids. Why?

ZAHN: And as a parent, when you heard that, how did it impact you?

I know you had to be on the air and you're supposed to be, you know, detached from the material you're covering, you're supposed to let your listeners speak, but come on.

GRAHAM: But, Paula, we're in the media business, and I hate to say it, but most of the times we like to inflate. If a hurricane is coming, we always anticipate the level 5 hurricane, and then it turns out to be a tropical storm, and we watch the same truck in a puddle for an hour.

But this time, it was real fear. There was goose bumps up my back while I was on the air. We were all together. We couldn't believe this guy was saying it, and we still couldn't figure it out. Let me say something about Montgomery County, very well educated people here, very affluent people here, people who are used to solve problems, used to hiring somebody to solve a problem. This is a problem without a solution, and it's driving a lot of people crazy. We don't know what to do about it, and they're used to being able to do something.

ZAHN: Michael Graham, we really appreciate you sharing some of your thoughts of your listeners with us, as well as your thoughts. We really appreciate your time. And we wish your community well and some peace.

GRAHAM: Thank 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