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American Morning
Ohio Shootings
Aired December 04, 2003 - 07:32 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.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right, let's go down to Ohio and the investigation of the shootings that have terrorized the Columbus area. Authorities are now consulting with other law enforcement jurisdictions, including some who were involved in probing the D.C. area sniper shootings just last year. Police believe 12 shootings around Columbus since May are linked, including a woman who was riding in a car on an interstate.
Kris Osborn is live in Columbus with more -- good morning, Kris.
KRIS OSBORN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Anderson.
Well, they won't say whether or not there is a person of interest on their radar screen. But they will say pretty clearly they do not have a suspect, at least not one that they're willing to talk about.
However, there is a massive search under way. They are talking to people along areas on either side of I-270, as well as combing other areas, particularly areas surrounding that elementary school where the bullet was found not long ago.
Now, I can tell you that these patrols include choppers in the area, include sheriffs cars on the streets. And there have been a number of investigative tactics where they have gone and talked to individuals who might live in the area to get some sense of whether they saw anything, do they know anyone, is there something they might be able to help authorities with.
All of this while, of course, security is improved in residential areas and in places like elementary schools. Yesterday those kids at that elementary school didn't go outside for recess because, of course, teachers and parents were a bit concerned about bullets that were found fired through the window.
All of this while at the same time law enforcement will not discuss a profile.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF DEP. STEVE MARTIN, FRANKLIN COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: To try and categorically say that the individual or individuals involved in these shootings are of a certain race, age or have a particular background is something we believe to be irresponsible and would only hinder this investigation.
(END VIDEO CLIP) OSBORN: But one thing investigators will say is they are trying to figure out whether this person or persons responsible for this string of shootings was simply trying to terrorize drivers or was actually targeting individuals. If someone didn't want to kill someone, of course, they wound up killing Gail Knisley -- Anderson.
COOPER: Hey, Kris, have police talked at all about why is it so difficult for them to get a break in this case?
OSBORN: Yes, they have to some extent. One of the things that they'll talk about is it's very difficult to get a sense of the angle of trajectory or where these bullets might have been fired from. They look very much at the diameter of the bullet hole in some of the cars. They're going back and taking a closer look at a lot of the evidence that might be available from the 10 shootings prior to Knisley's death.
But in many cases, one source told me, for example, you have a bullet that simply went all the way through a car. So there isn't any bullet fragment or there isn't a shell in the vicinity, which, of course, can help further their investigation.
COOPER: All right, Kris Osborn, thanks very much.
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 December 4, 2003 - 07:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right, let's go down to Ohio and the investigation of the shootings that have terrorized the Columbus area. Authorities are now consulting with other law enforcement jurisdictions, including some who were involved in probing the D.C. area sniper shootings just last year. Police believe 12 shootings around Columbus since May are linked, including a woman who was riding in a car on an interstate.
Kris Osborn is live in Columbus with more -- good morning, Kris.
KRIS OSBORN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Anderson.
Well, they won't say whether or not there is a person of interest on their radar screen. But they will say pretty clearly they do not have a suspect, at least not one that they're willing to talk about.
However, there is a massive search under way. They are talking to people along areas on either side of I-270, as well as combing other areas, particularly areas surrounding that elementary school where the bullet was found not long ago.
Now, I can tell you that these patrols include choppers in the area, include sheriffs cars on the streets. And there have been a number of investigative tactics where they have gone and talked to individuals who might live in the area to get some sense of whether they saw anything, do they know anyone, is there something they might be able to help authorities with.
All of this while, of course, security is improved in residential areas and in places like elementary schools. Yesterday those kids at that elementary school didn't go outside for recess because, of course, teachers and parents were a bit concerned about bullets that were found fired through the window.
All of this while at the same time law enforcement will not discuss a profile.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF DEP. STEVE MARTIN, FRANKLIN COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: To try and categorically say that the individual or individuals involved in these shootings are of a certain race, age or have a particular background is something we believe to be irresponsible and would only hinder this investigation.
(END VIDEO CLIP) OSBORN: But one thing investigators will say is they are trying to figure out whether this person or persons responsible for this string of shootings was simply trying to terrorize drivers or was actually targeting individuals. If someone didn't want to kill someone, of course, they wound up killing Gail Knisley -- Anderson.
COOPER: Hey, Kris, have police talked at all about why is it so difficult for them to get a break in this case?
OSBORN: Yes, they have to some extent. One of the things that they'll talk about is it's very difficult to get a sense of the angle of trajectory or where these bullets might have been fired from. They look very much at the diameter of the bullet hole in some of the cars. They're going back and taking a closer look at a lot of the evidence that might be available from the 10 shootings prior to Knisley's death.
But in many cases, one source told me, for example, you have a bullet that simply went all the way through a car. So there isn't any bullet fragment or there isn't a shell in the vicinity, which, of course, can help further their investigation.
COOPER: All right, Kris Osborn, thanks very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
