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American Morning
Williams Sister Killed
Aired September 15, 2003 - 09:03 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A big development overnight in the shooting death of Yetunde Williams Price, the older sister of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams. Los Angeles County Police arrested a 24-year-old man in connection to the fatal shooting.
Joining us this morning from Los Angeles to talk about that arrest is lieutenant Dan Rosenberg of the L.A. County Sheriff's Department.
Lieutenant Rosenberg, nice to see you. Thanks for joining us.
LT. DAN ROSENBERG, L.A. COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: You're welcome, Miss O'Brien.
O'BRIEN: My understanding is there have been two arrests made, but the significant one is this gentlemen named Aaron Hammer. Tell me a little bit about him and what you think his link is to this case?
ROSENBERG: Well, actually what happened is, after the shooting occurred, the responding deputies realized this particular location was a problem location, not only for the citizens of the community, but the deputies as well. What they decided to do was contain it, and call all of the occupants out. When they did so, six occupants came out of the house. And as it turned out, Mr. Hammer was one of those occupants.
O'BRIEN: When you talk about a problem location, what does that mean? are you Saying there's a history of drug problems, just violence? What are you talking about?
ROSENBERG: Well, this particular location, yes, ma'am, there has been a history of both drugs and gang activity at the location. I don't know at this point in the investigation if it's relating to this particular homicide, but we do know it has been a problem in the past.
O'BRIEN: Some reports indicate that the shooting took place right after a dispute, and this takes place in Compton, which is the Williams' family former home, before they moved to Florida. Any information at this point about the circumstances? What Yetunde Williams Price was doing at this location?
ROSENBERG: You know, right now, we don't know what the motive is. Once again, we have one individual in custody. We're still looking for two, possibly more individuals, responsible for this tragic murder. And hopefully your viewers in the Los Angeles area can help us out today. O'BRIEN: I've heard there's a request for more information. Give me a sense of the number of people you think might have been involved? more than one shooter, you're saying?
ROSENBERG: Yes, ma'am. We believe there were three, possibly four shooters.
O'BRIEN: The family obviously devastated today. Have they been helpful at all in your investigation? Are they being cooperative?
ROSENBERG: Absolutely. We've been in touch with the family members, and obviously, they're very distraught. You can only imagine how tragic this would be to lose a sibling or a child, and we are working with the family.
O'BRIEN: That's got to be horrible. I know that they described Yetunde as the glue that held the family together. So what a huge loss for them.
Lieutenant Rosenberg, thanks for your time this morning and for updating us on the investigation. We sure appreciate it.
ROSENBERG: Thank you, ma'am.
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 September 15, 2003 - 09:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A big development overnight in the shooting death of Yetunde Williams Price, the older sister of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams. Los Angeles County Police arrested a 24-year-old man in connection to the fatal shooting.
Joining us this morning from Los Angeles to talk about that arrest is lieutenant Dan Rosenberg of the L.A. County Sheriff's Department.
Lieutenant Rosenberg, nice to see you. Thanks for joining us.
LT. DAN ROSENBERG, L.A. COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: You're welcome, Miss O'Brien.
O'BRIEN: My understanding is there have been two arrests made, but the significant one is this gentlemen named Aaron Hammer. Tell me a little bit about him and what you think his link is to this case?
ROSENBERG: Well, actually what happened is, after the shooting occurred, the responding deputies realized this particular location was a problem location, not only for the citizens of the community, but the deputies as well. What they decided to do was contain it, and call all of the occupants out. When they did so, six occupants came out of the house. And as it turned out, Mr. Hammer was one of those occupants.
O'BRIEN: When you talk about a problem location, what does that mean? are you Saying there's a history of drug problems, just violence? What are you talking about?
ROSENBERG: Well, this particular location, yes, ma'am, there has been a history of both drugs and gang activity at the location. I don't know at this point in the investigation if it's relating to this particular homicide, but we do know it has been a problem in the past.
O'BRIEN: Some reports indicate that the shooting took place right after a dispute, and this takes place in Compton, which is the Williams' family former home, before they moved to Florida. Any information at this point about the circumstances? What Yetunde Williams Price was doing at this location?
ROSENBERG: You know, right now, we don't know what the motive is. Once again, we have one individual in custody. We're still looking for two, possibly more individuals, responsible for this tragic murder. And hopefully your viewers in the Los Angeles area can help us out today. O'BRIEN: I've heard there's a request for more information. Give me a sense of the number of people you think might have been involved? more than one shooter, you're saying?
ROSENBERG: Yes, ma'am. We believe there were three, possibly four shooters.
O'BRIEN: The family obviously devastated today. Have they been helpful at all in your investigation? Are they being cooperative?
ROSENBERG: Absolutely. We've been in touch with the family members, and obviously, they're very distraught. You can only imagine how tragic this would be to lose a sibling or a child, and we are working with the family.
O'BRIEN: That's got to be horrible. I know that they described Yetunde as the glue that held the family together. So what a huge loss for them.
Lieutenant Rosenberg, thanks for your time this morning and for updating us on the investigation. We sure appreciate it.
ROSENBERG: Thank you, ma'am.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
