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CNN Saturday Morning News
Washington Area Police, Schools Remain on Edge, Alert
Aired October 12, 2002 - 09:01 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.
THOMAS ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: We want to get you back now to our top story, because in less than a half hour from now, police in Montgomery County will be talking to the media, filling us in on what they know about the other sniper investigation that's currently going on. According to "The Washington Post," though, ballistic tests have already linked yesterday's shooting to the sniper.
CNN's Daryn Kagan is in Montgomery County, the hub of the investigation, and joins now with the latest. Daryn, good morning.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Thomas.
Once again, this is the hour we've been waiting for. Not just getting the briefing that should be taking place just right over my right shoulder, we're getting this one in Montgomery County, also we'll be getting, we expect, within the hour another briefing from Spotsylvania County, and that is where yesterday's shooting took place.
In fact, almost 24 hours ago it was that Kenneth Bridges pulled into this gas station in Fredericksburg, Virginia, just to get gas, and that is where his life ended. We're going to be going to Charles Molineaux in just a minute, but just want to remind you that at the news briefings we'll be looking for a number bits of information.
No. 1, is it a ballistics match, the bullet used yesterday with the other sniper shootings? Also, all day yesterday we were hearing from right here in Montgomery County from Chief Moose that there was going to be some kind of graphic aid they were going to release. That was supposed to help the public come up with some kind of information and call into the tip line. That was never produced yesterday. It could be today.
We do want you to know that CNN has learned that graphic aid will show some type of vehicle, perhaps some type of vehicle that was used in the shooting or as a getaway, but something that will help people try to think of more information and call in to the tip lines.
So once again, the news conference here is to start in about a half hour. Within the hour, the new conference will begin in Spotsylvania County, the site of yesterday's shooting, and that's also where we find our Charles Molineaux, waiting for that and with more word of yesterday's shooting.
Charles, good morning.
CHARLES MOLINEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Daryn. We are standing by.
You know, the head of Virginia's state police says that even after a lightning-fast response to yesterday's shooting, the cops weren't quick enough, that is even though state troopers and the Spotsylvania sheriff's department moved in within minutes of the shooting of Kenneth Bridges of Philadelphia. Bridges was pumping gas at an Exxon station just off I-95 when he was shot and killed.
This happened right in front of a Virginia state trooper who was working on an accident on the scene right across the street at the time. The trooper ran to do what he could for Bridges and raised the alarm. Police blocked off Interstate 95 and looked for a white Astrovan that witnesses saw leaving the scene of the shooting. They ended up stopping hundreds of vans, but they didn't catch anyone.
This looks like the second time the sniper has hit here in Spotsylvania County, and this is especially scary for area schools. The sniper seems to like areas with easy access to major highways, and there are three schools along U.S. 1 right between two exits on I-95.
Already events are being postponed or canceled, like the SATs, which were supposed to happen today, and homecoming at Massaponax High, as school administrators try to reassure parents and kids.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: It's kind of freaky, but at the same time, it's just, you know...
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: It takes away a lot of fun. The game was a big deal, and the dance, just even bigger deal for everybody, and they...
JERRY HILL, SPOTSYLVANIA COUNTY SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT: We're going to continue to do everything physically possible that we can to ensure the safety of our students. We'll take every precaution we can possibly take.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOLINEAUX: Well, police say the fact that this killer went ahead and shot the victim yesterday right in plain sight of a uniformed state trooper shows that this is a very bold killer who just doesn't care, and a very dangerous person to be reckoned with, Daryn.
KAGAN: Charles Molineaux, live in Spotsylvania County. We'll be going back live to you when that news conference begins where you are sometime within the next hour.
Meanwhile, I want to go ahead and pick up on a point that Charles was making, and that is all the stress that this is putting on kids all across the Washington, D.C., area. As we've reported time and again, a number of activities have been canceled over the weekend, but even during the school week you see a number of schools on lockdown.
We sent our Jason Bellini into one of the schools here in the Washington, D.C., area to talk with the kids and see how they're coping.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), we have another incident (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What's going on? Let me follow you.
(voice-over): High tension, high alert. School's already out for the day, but one security guard at Wooten High School in Rockville, Maryland, has athletes and lingering students to worry about.
(on camera): Lock down the school? What does that mean?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Close all the doors, make sure they're all locked.
BELLINI (voice-over): What's going on, turns out, is a false alarm, not another sniper incident. And most everyone left on campus was already inside, including the athletes, who for more than a week now have been trying to practice outdoor sports in indoor confines.
(on camera): For this outsider, it seemed like not such a big deal. OK, so students aren't allowed to practice outside, so they have to wait inside for their parents to pick them up. But as their principal pointed out to me, this is their world, and the disruption is a serious one.
REBECCA NEWMAN, HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL: This is their life. I mean, your job is your world of work. Your job are your friends. And they come here to see their friends, they come here as their world of work. This is their world.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Pay attention, this is a serious matter. Run it right. OK?
BELLINI: School athletics is something serious, something significant to many high school students, and the games they trained for all summer for now are canceled.
(on camera): How big a deal is that?
JUSTIN WAYNE, WOOTEN HIGH SCHOOL: It's actually a really big deal, because this game was our biggest rival. It was our favorite game, biggest game of the year for us.
UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT: Actually our game was today, and it's an important game to us. Last home game of the season for seniors.
BELLINI (voice-over): The reality of the situation, that there is no certain end to this, is starting to set in.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: What will happen is, the regular season will just be cut short. BELLINI: Around the Washington, D.C., area, homecoming dances, weekend SAT tests are off. And overreaction? Perhaps that's not for an outsider to judge.
(on camera): You know, I mean, it would be such an off-chance that an event would happen here.
NEWMAN: But if it's a chance, one in a million, we don't want to take that chance. I mean, my primary focus right now on a daily basis, normally it's instruction. Today and for the last seven days it's been safety primarily, and it's my job to make sure that students are safe.
BELLINI (on camera): This is getting crazy, huh?
(voice-over): It may sound like an exaggeration when a security guard says...
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Our freedom has been taken from us.
BELLINI: ... but for many in America, safety, security, and football are part of what it means to be free. And here, for now, they're restricted.
Jason Bellini, CNN, Rockville, Maryland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: And so the day is well underway here in the Washington, D.C., area. Not a normal Saturday by any means. We are standing by, waiting for the news conference to begin here in Montgomery County. Of course, you'll see that live here on CNN.
Also we know from watching our coverage, you have a lot of questions from viewers across the country. I'll be back in a few minutes to answer some of those questions in the Reporter's Notebook, also Mike Brooks, former Metro police officer and now our legal consultant, our -- one of our legal consultants here at CNN, will be along to answer your questions as well.
For now, back to you, Carol and Tom.
ROBERTS: Yes, Daryn, I already have in my hot little hand here a bunch of questions for you that we'll be talking about in the Reporter's Notebook. And as we can see behind you, it's starting to fill in there under the tents as the media prepares.
KAGAN: It is...
ROBERTS: As the media prepares.
KAGAN: It is indeed.
ROBERTS: All right, Daryn, we'll talk to you again soon. Thanks very much.
KAGAN: All right.
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 12, 2002 - 09:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THOMAS ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: We want to get you back now to our top story, because in less than a half hour from now, police in Montgomery County will be talking to the media, filling us in on what they know about the other sniper investigation that's currently going on. According to "The Washington Post," though, ballistic tests have already linked yesterday's shooting to the sniper.
CNN's Daryn Kagan is in Montgomery County, the hub of the investigation, and joins now with the latest. Daryn, good morning.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Thomas.
Once again, this is the hour we've been waiting for. Not just getting the briefing that should be taking place just right over my right shoulder, we're getting this one in Montgomery County, also we'll be getting, we expect, within the hour another briefing from Spotsylvania County, and that is where yesterday's shooting took place.
In fact, almost 24 hours ago it was that Kenneth Bridges pulled into this gas station in Fredericksburg, Virginia, just to get gas, and that is where his life ended. We're going to be going to Charles Molineaux in just a minute, but just want to remind you that at the news briefings we'll be looking for a number bits of information.
No. 1, is it a ballistics match, the bullet used yesterday with the other sniper shootings? Also, all day yesterday we were hearing from right here in Montgomery County from Chief Moose that there was going to be some kind of graphic aid they were going to release. That was supposed to help the public come up with some kind of information and call into the tip line. That was never produced yesterday. It could be today.
We do want you to know that CNN has learned that graphic aid will show some type of vehicle, perhaps some type of vehicle that was used in the shooting or as a getaway, but something that will help people try to think of more information and call in to the tip lines.
So once again, the news conference here is to start in about a half hour. Within the hour, the new conference will begin in Spotsylvania County, the site of yesterday's shooting, and that's also where we find our Charles Molineaux, waiting for that and with more word of yesterday's shooting.
Charles, good morning.
CHARLES MOLINEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Daryn. We are standing by.
You know, the head of Virginia's state police says that even after a lightning-fast response to yesterday's shooting, the cops weren't quick enough, that is even though state troopers and the Spotsylvania sheriff's department moved in within minutes of the shooting of Kenneth Bridges of Philadelphia. Bridges was pumping gas at an Exxon station just off I-95 when he was shot and killed.
This happened right in front of a Virginia state trooper who was working on an accident on the scene right across the street at the time. The trooper ran to do what he could for Bridges and raised the alarm. Police blocked off Interstate 95 and looked for a white Astrovan that witnesses saw leaving the scene of the shooting. They ended up stopping hundreds of vans, but they didn't catch anyone.
This looks like the second time the sniper has hit here in Spotsylvania County, and this is especially scary for area schools. The sniper seems to like areas with easy access to major highways, and there are three schools along U.S. 1 right between two exits on I-95.
Already events are being postponed or canceled, like the SATs, which were supposed to happen today, and homecoming at Massaponax High, as school administrators try to reassure parents and kids.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: It's kind of freaky, but at the same time, it's just, you know...
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: It takes away a lot of fun. The game was a big deal, and the dance, just even bigger deal for everybody, and they...
JERRY HILL, SPOTSYLVANIA COUNTY SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT: We're going to continue to do everything physically possible that we can to ensure the safety of our students. We'll take every precaution we can possibly take.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOLINEAUX: Well, police say the fact that this killer went ahead and shot the victim yesterday right in plain sight of a uniformed state trooper shows that this is a very bold killer who just doesn't care, and a very dangerous person to be reckoned with, Daryn.
KAGAN: Charles Molineaux, live in Spotsylvania County. We'll be going back live to you when that news conference begins where you are sometime within the next hour.
Meanwhile, I want to go ahead and pick up on a point that Charles was making, and that is all the stress that this is putting on kids all across the Washington, D.C., area. As we've reported time and again, a number of activities have been canceled over the weekend, but even during the school week you see a number of schools on lockdown.
We sent our Jason Bellini into one of the schools here in the Washington, D.C., area to talk with the kids and see how they're coping.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), we have another incident (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What's going on? Let me follow you.
(voice-over): High tension, high alert. School's already out for the day, but one security guard at Wooten High School in Rockville, Maryland, has athletes and lingering students to worry about.
(on camera): Lock down the school? What does that mean?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Close all the doors, make sure they're all locked.
BELLINI (voice-over): What's going on, turns out, is a false alarm, not another sniper incident. And most everyone left on campus was already inside, including the athletes, who for more than a week now have been trying to practice outdoor sports in indoor confines.
(on camera): For this outsider, it seemed like not such a big deal. OK, so students aren't allowed to practice outside, so they have to wait inside for their parents to pick them up. But as their principal pointed out to me, this is their world, and the disruption is a serious one.
REBECCA NEWMAN, HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL: This is their life. I mean, your job is your world of work. Your job are your friends. And they come here to see their friends, they come here as their world of work. This is their world.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Pay attention, this is a serious matter. Run it right. OK?
BELLINI: School athletics is something serious, something significant to many high school students, and the games they trained for all summer for now are canceled.
(on camera): How big a deal is that?
JUSTIN WAYNE, WOOTEN HIGH SCHOOL: It's actually a really big deal, because this game was our biggest rival. It was our favorite game, biggest game of the year for us.
UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT: Actually our game was today, and it's an important game to us. Last home game of the season for seniors.
BELLINI (voice-over): The reality of the situation, that there is no certain end to this, is starting to set in.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: What will happen is, the regular season will just be cut short. BELLINI: Around the Washington, D.C., area, homecoming dances, weekend SAT tests are off. And overreaction? Perhaps that's not for an outsider to judge.
(on camera): You know, I mean, it would be such an off-chance that an event would happen here.
NEWMAN: But if it's a chance, one in a million, we don't want to take that chance. I mean, my primary focus right now on a daily basis, normally it's instruction. Today and for the last seven days it's been safety primarily, and it's my job to make sure that students are safe.
BELLINI (on camera): This is getting crazy, huh?
(voice-over): It may sound like an exaggeration when a security guard says...
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Our freedom has been taken from us.
BELLINI: ... but for many in America, safety, security, and football are part of what it means to be free. And here, for now, they're restricted.
Jason Bellini, CNN, Rockville, Maryland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: And so the day is well underway here in the Washington, D.C., area. Not a normal Saturday by any means. We are standing by, waiting for the news conference to begin here in Montgomery County. Of course, you'll see that live here on CNN.
Also we know from watching our coverage, you have a lot of questions from viewers across the country. I'll be back in a few minutes to answer some of those questions in the Reporter's Notebook, also Mike Brooks, former Metro police officer and now our legal consultant, our -- one of our legal consultants here at CNN, will be along to answer your questions as well.
For now, back to you, Carol and Tom.
ROBERTS: Yes, Daryn, I already have in my hot little hand here a bunch of questions for you that we'll be talking about in the Reporter's Notebook. And as we can see behind you, it's starting to fill in there under the tents as the media prepares.
KAGAN: It is...
ROBERTS: As the media prepares.
KAGAN: It is indeed.
ROBERTS: All right, Daryn, we'll talk to you again soon. Thanks very much.
KAGAN: All right.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
