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American Morning
Ohio Shootings Case
Aired December 08, 2003 - 07:18 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The reward for information in the Ohio shootings case is now doubling to $20,000. Since May, there have been 14 shootings, including one fatal on or near Interstate 270 around Columbus, Ohio. A portion of that highway was closed for about two hours Saturday night so that investigators could take ballistic measurements.
With us now from Columbus, Bruce Cadwallader, senior political reporter for the "Columbus Dispatch," back with us here on AMERICA MORNING.
Bruce, thanks for getting up early for us this morning under some pretty difficult weather conditions there. Tell us about the testing over the weekend. What were they looking for?
BRUCE CADWALLADER, "COLUMBUS DISPATCH": Well, there were red laser beams coming from the car that Gail Knisley was sitting in -- those red laser beams spread into the night into a wooded area north of the freeway, where those shootings have occurred. They hope to get some measurements from that and find out where exactly that fatal bullet was fired.
HEMMER: Tell us about the car. Was it exactly the car that was hit back in late November?
CADWALLADER: Yes. Gail was with her best friend, Mary Cox (ph), and they used that car with that bullet hole to conduct their tests.
HEMMER: I know they're not giving up a whole lot of information so far, but are they saying what they have found, anything that may take them in one direction or other right now in this investigation?
CADWALLADER: Well, another interesting development over the weekend was they fanned out into a neighborhood of houses. Forty officers went door-to-door, and they were asking some very pointed questions of where these people work and where they live and what their habits were. They think the shooter lives amongst them, and that may be a developing story that we're going to follow all week.
HEMMER: Yes, one other town we're learning a lot about is Obetz, the town that apparently a lot of officers went to over the weekend. Was that the town you just mentioned? And if so, why do they believe this might be the area of concern?
CADWALLADER: Well, we know two of those five confirmed bullets landed in Obetz. So, that is an area of concern, yes. HEMMER: Yes, what about a surveillance camera, any videotape camera? Was it set up over the weekend while the highway was shut down?
CADWALLADER: That's the first question we're going to ask today, Bill. As you know, the freeway was shut down. There was no media access. But from our observation points, we could tell they were working through the woods, and they may have left some things behind.
HEMMER: All right. One other question here for you. There seems to be some reports that there might be a tie-in with recent cases in the neighboring state of West Virginia. What can you add on that, Bruce?
CADWALLADER: Well, this task force locally has consulted West Virginian officials, because four people were killed in West Virginia around the same times the shootings started here. There could be a connection, but we don't know yet. No one has seen our shooter.
HEMMER: Listen, I know you've got a lot of questions for later today, and so do we. Thanks for sharing this morning. Bruce Cadwallader from the "Columbus Dispatch" there in Columbus, Ohio. Thank you, Bruce.
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 8, 2003 - 07:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The reward for information in the Ohio shootings case is now doubling to $20,000. Since May, there have been 14 shootings, including one fatal on or near Interstate 270 around Columbus, Ohio. A portion of that highway was closed for about two hours Saturday night so that investigators could take ballistic measurements.
With us now from Columbus, Bruce Cadwallader, senior political reporter for the "Columbus Dispatch," back with us here on AMERICA MORNING.
Bruce, thanks for getting up early for us this morning under some pretty difficult weather conditions there. Tell us about the testing over the weekend. What were they looking for?
BRUCE CADWALLADER, "COLUMBUS DISPATCH": Well, there were red laser beams coming from the car that Gail Knisley was sitting in -- those red laser beams spread into the night into a wooded area north of the freeway, where those shootings have occurred. They hope to get some measurements from that and find out where exactly that fatal bullet was fired.
HEMMER: Tell us about the car. Was it exactly the car that was hit back in late November?
CADWALLADER: Yes. Gail was with her best friend, Mary Cox (ph), and they used that car with that bullet hole to conduct their tests.
HEMMER: I know they're not giving up a whole lot of information so far, but are they saying what they have found, anything that may take them in one direction or other right now in this investigation?
CADWALLADER: Well, another interesting development over the weekend was they fanned out into a neighborhood of houses. Forty officers went door-to-door, and they were asking some very pointed questions of where these people work and where they live and what their habits were. They think the shooter lives amongst them, and that may be a developing story that we're going to follow all week.
HEMMER: Yes, one other town we're learning a lot about is Obetz, the town that apparently a lot of officers went to over the weekend. Was that the town you just mentioned? And if so, why do they believe this might be the area of concern?
CADWALLADER: Well, we know two of those five confirmed bullets landed in Obetz. So, that is an area of concern, yes. HEMMER: Yes, what about a surveillance camera, any videotape camera? Was it set up over the weekend while the highway was shut down?
CADWALLADER: That's the first question we're going to ask today, Bill. As you know, the freeway was shut down. There was no media access. But from our observation points, we could tell they were working through the woods, and they may have left some things behind.
HEMMER: All right. One other question here for you. There seems to be some reports that there might be a tie-in with recent cases in the neighboring state of West Virginia. What can you add on that, Bruce?
CADWALLADER: Well, this task force locally has consulted West Virginian officials, because four people were killed in West Virginia around the same times the shootings started here. There could be a connection, but we don't know yet. No one has seen our shooter.
HEMMER: Listen, I know you've got a lot of questions for later today, and so do we. Thanks for sharing this morning. Bruce Cadwallader from the "Columbus Dispatch" there in Columbus, Ohio. Thank you, Bruce.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
