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American Morning
Confirmation Expected on Sniper in Maryland Killing
Aired October 23, 2002 - 09:33 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: Confirmation -- he is expected today on what authorities already suspect, that the cold-blooded killer was behind yesterday's early morning shooting in Silver Spring, Maryland. Conrad Johnson, a 35-year-old bus driver and father of two, was shot and killed, as he was standing on a bus platform.
Bob Franken joins us now live from the scene to give us an idea of how the shooter might have pulled this off.
Good morning, Bob.
I don't even see you. Where are you?
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you will, in a second. Imagine that he has just fired the shot that killed Conrad Johnson, and how now he is scrambling out of wood, as I am doing now. He is now scrambling down this path, aiming toward what you're about to see, which is a bike path, a jogging trail right here. And we're going over to it, probably, as he came according to officials. Now he has several options, he could either go down that way, where it would be very easy to keep his car.
Over there is Connecticut Avenue, and there is a place where he could keep a car or other vehicle right there. It's probably 100 yards down the road, or he go up to Connecticut Avenue this way, because this is a circular path. It's maybe 50 yards up that way, and he would be able to disappear. Remember, this is going to be a thoroughfare, that although busy during the normal part of the day, was quiet, as it normally is at 6:00 in the morning, when this shooting occurred.
And just to give you some idea how close he is, up there, probably at the -- you can see the edge of the woods up there, maybe you can even see the basketball court, just beyond the basketball court, is where Conrad Johnson was standing. It's a staging area for buses, and was where he was shot down yesterday morning at 6:00 by somebody who has, very clearly, had an ability to methodically plan his escape, scout out an area, and to get away before anybody can think of looking past the horror that he has just visited on somebody -- Paula.
ZAHN: As I am hearing your descriptions, it just, I guess, makes it so abundantly clear to us just how much planning might have gone into this attack. I mean, you -- you would have had to have known where these paths are and it was pretty darn dark at that hour.
FRANKEN: Well, it's -- you know, what has been so interesting, all along, is the obvious meticulous planning. For instance, I mentioned this before, but it's worth talking about again, in Ashland, Virginia, they believed that he shot from an area behind the Ponderosa, where there was an access road, an access path, really, which was aiming towards a construction site. That would mean that he had done a considerable amount of scouting.
Now, this one is not obvious either. This would have been one that required either some scouting or knowledge of the area. Obviously, this is just one of the things that is really puzzling officials.
ZAHN: Bob Franken, thanks so much. Schools are opened today in Montgomery County, but noticeably emptier this morning in many parts of Washington, D.C. area, now that the sniper has issued a warning directed at children.
CNN's Michael Okwu is standing by at a high school in Fairfax County, Virginia. Good morning, Michael. What are you finding?
MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula. I'm finding that people are very, very scared, very, very concerned. As you mentioned, I am in Fairfax County, not far from the Home Depot here, where Linda Franklin, the FBI analyst, was shot and killed last week. So people here in Fairfax County are very much on edge and even more so, after the very threatening (inaudible) that was read by Police Chief Charles Moose yesterday.
Now this is something of a high school zone. There's an alternative high school just behind me. And just up the street, there is another high school. And all morning, as you know, Paula, we've been trying to give our viewers a sense of what the topography and the landscape is like over here. You can see just beyond this high school, there is a line of trees. There are buildings set along these line of trees and it's very, very typical of the high schools in the Washington, D.C. area.
Now, it's been such a long time now that this area's been associated with danger. Never before has so many -- have so many woods been associated with such danger.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I happen to know friends of mine who, like, have stayed away from schools on certain days, like when the gentleman was shot in Silver Spring, they didn't come. And I think -- we're talking about it a lot in my government class, you know. And a lot of kids are pretty put off by it. Plus, you know, all the football games canceled and stuff like that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OKWU: Now, the schools here are still in a Code Blue, which means that they are going to be locked down in their classrooms. They have the windows and the shades drawn. They cannot go walking into the hallways, unless they are with some sort of a school monitor, which may be enough, Paul, for some of the parents I've talked to because they say they will not bring their kids back to school, until the sniper is caught -- Paula.
ZAHN: And I'm sure the school district fearing that. Do we have any idea how many folks might make that -- take that option?
OKWU: Well, it's very unclear clear here in Fairfax County. We know that, just based on a very informal survey, if you will, back in Montgomery County, where the first five shootings occurred and, of course, where the bus driver was killed yesterday morning, that at least half a dozen parents that we spoke to say that they're seriously considering that as an option.
ZAHN: Wow!
OKWU: So, just based on an informal survey, you would think that that is really a significant number of people, Paula. And given the fact that some 95 percent of -- there was 95 percent attendance in one of the schools we spoke to yesterday, you know that the numbers are pretty low.
ZAHN: Wow, I guess we shouldn't be surprised by that.
Michael Okwu, thanks. Appreciate it.
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 - 09:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Confirmation -- he is expected today on what authorities already suspect, that the cold-blooded killer was behind yesterday's early morning shooting in Silver Spring, Maryland. Conrad Johnson, a 35-year-old bus driver and father of two, was shot and killed, as he was standing on a bus platform.
Bob Franken joins us now live from the scene to give us an idea of how the shooter might have pulled this off.
Good morning, Bob.
I don't even see you. Where are you?
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you will, in a second. Imagine that he has just fired the shot that killed Conrad Johnson, and how now he is scrambling out of wood, as I am doing now. He is now scrambling down this path, aiming toward what you're about to see, which is a bike path, a jogging trail right here. And we're going over to it, probably, as he came according to officials. Now he has several options, he could either go down that way, where it would be very easy to keep his car.
Over there is Connecticut Avenue, and there is a place where he could keep a car or other vehicle right there. It's probably 100 yards down the road, or he go up to Connecticut Avenue this way, because this is a circular path. It's maybe 50 yards up that way, and he would be able to disappear. Remember, this is going to be a thoroughfare, that although busy during the normal part of the day, was quiet, as it normally is at 6:00 in the morning, when this shooting occurred.
And just to give you some idea how close he is, up there, probably at the -- you can see the edge of the woods up there, maybe you can even see the basketball court, just beyond the basketball court, is where Conrad Johnson was standing. It's a staging area for buses, and was where he was shot down yesterday morning at 6:00 by somebody who has, very clearly, had an ability to methodically plan his escape, scout out an area, and to get away before anybody can think of looking past the horror that he has just visited on somebody -- Paula.
ZAHN: As I am hearing your descriptions, it just, I guess, makes it so abundantly clear to us just how much planning might have gone into this attack. I mean, you -- you would have had to have known where these paths are and it was pretty darn dark at that hour.
FRANKEN: Well, it's -- you know, what has been so interesting, all along, is the obvious meticulous planning. For instance, I mentioned this before, but it's worth talking about again, in Ashland, Virginia, they believed that he shot from an area behind the Ponderosa, where there was an access road, an access path, really, which was aiming towards a construction site. That would mean that he had done a considerable amount of scouting.
Now, this one is not obvious either. This would have been one that required either some scouting or knowledge of the area. Obviously, this is just one of the things that is really puzzling officials.
ZAHN: Bob Franken, thanks so much. Schools are opened today in Montgomery County, but noticeably emptier this morning in many parts of Washington, D.C. area, now that the sniper has issued a warning directed at children.
CNN's Michael Okwu is standing by at a high school in Fairfax County, Virginia. Good morning, Michael. What are you finding?
MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula. I'm finding that people are very, very scared, very, very concerned. As you mentioned, I am in Fairfax County, not far from the Home Depot here, where Linda Franklin, the FBI analyst, was shot and killed last week. So people here in Fairfax County are very much on edge and even more so, after the very threatening (inaudible) that was read by Police Chief Charles Moose yesterday.
Now this is something of a high school zone. There's an alternative high school just behind me. And just up the street, there is another high school. And all morning, as you know, Paula, we've been trying to give our viewers a sense of what the topography and the landscape is like over here. You can see just beyond this high school, there is a line of trees. There are buildings set along these line of trees and it's very, very typical of the high schools in the Washington, D.C. area.
Now, it's been such a long time now that this area's been associated with danger. Never before has so many -- have so many woods been associated with such danger.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I happen to know friends of mine who, like, have stayed away from schools on certain days, like when the gentleman was shot in Silver Spring, they didn't come. And I think -- we're talking about it a lot in my government class, you know. And a lot of kids are pretty put off by it. Plus, you know, all the football games canceled and stuff like that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OKWU: Now, the schools here are still in a Code Blue, which means that they are going to be locked down in their classrooms. They have the windows and the shades drawn. They cannot go walking into the hallways, unless they are with some sort of a school monitor, which may be enough, Paul, for some of the parents I've talked to because they say they will not bring their kids back to school, until the sniper is caught -- Paula.
ZAHN: And I'm sure the school district fearing that. Do we have any idea how many folks might make that -- take that option?
OKWU: Well, it's very unclear clear here in Fairfax County. We know that, just based on a very informal survey, if you will, back in Montgomery County, where the first five shootings occurred and, of course, where the bus driver was killed yesterday morning, that at least half a dozen parents that we spoke to say that they're seriously considering that as an option.
ZAHN: Wow!
OKWU: So, just based on an informal survey, you would think that that is really a significant number of people, Paula. And given the fact that some 95 percent of -- there was 95 percent attendance in one of the schools we spoke to yesterday, you know that the numbers are pretty low.
ZAHN: Wow, I guess we shouldn't be surprised by that.
Michael Okwu, thanks. Appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
