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CNN Saturday Morning News
Reporter's Notebook: Sniper On The Loose
Aired October 12, 2002 - 9:33 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.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: While we await official word on whether yesterday's fatal shooting in Fredericksburg, Virginia, is the latest in a string of sniper killings...
THOMAS ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, we have authorities intensifying their search for this killer, the serial sniper, the focus of this weekend's Reporter's Notebook. Call us now with your questions, that number, 1-800-807-2620.
Joining us this morning, CNN law enforcement analyst Mike Brooks, he's been talking with us, as well as Daryn Kagan. She joins us in Montgomery County to field these questions as well as these phone calls.
LIN: Yes, got some terrific questions.
Mike, let me start with you first. This is an e-mail from Joey, and he asks, "Has the media or any law enforcement agency made an attempt to ask the suspect to contact them to issue a public statement? It shows by the Tarot card that he has a message to tell."
MIKE BROOKS, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, I think initially Chief Moose was extremely upset because there had been some talk, unsubstantiated talk, I don't know, we don't know for sure, that there was -- instead of -- just -- or not -- in addition to "Dear Policeman, I am God," that was supposedly written on a Tarot card, there was another message that had -- that he was putting out there to try to attempt to contact police.
This hadn't been, hadn't been substantiated, and we don't know.
LIN: Right.
BROOKS: But to, you know, to say, Call us, I mean, he's way, he can call the 1-800 number, and, I mean, law enforcement would love to hear from him, he or she, whoever the shooter is. If that person's out there, want to call that 1-800 number, call 888-324-9800. Police would love to talk to him, but...
LIN: But what sort of a -- yes, but what sort of a deal would the police have to cut with this sniper in order to make this statement public? I mean, Joey is saying, he's got something he wants to say, let him say it.
BROOKS: Absolutely. But...
LIN: Would the police do that? BROOKS: Well, if he has something, if the shooter has something he -- to say to law enforcement if they want to contact law enforcement, he should contact law enforcement. You know, is law enforcement going go out there and say, Hey, call us? Probably not. You know, they're, because they're working on a number of clues and a number of tips and a number of leads right now.
But if the shooter wants to call law enforcement, I'm sure law enforcement would love to hear from them.
LIN: Yes.
ROBERTS: Daryn Kagan, our next question for you, it comes from Jay Jenkins in South Carolina. They're asking, "Why don't they have a lot of police choppers in the air to spot the sniper?" So do they use those to spot the sniper? And has weather really been a factor there, because it's been raining the past couple of days, right?
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, well, I would say the No. 1 thing to consider here, Thomas, especially with yesterday's incident, was the weather. Anybody that was with us live as we were covering that yesterday morning could see the weather was just miserable here in the Washington, D.C., area. So weather being a factor.
They are getting up the choppers when they can. A number of law enforcement agencies involved here, and they would have access to different types of aircraft. Perhaps Mike could talk about that.
But also, I would just like to add, having had a personal experience, having been in helicopters during searches, what seems to be so simple, if you just can get up in the air and look down you can see it, and perhaps Mike can talk about this too, even if you're out in the open desert and looking for somebody down on the ground, it can still be like looking for a needle in a haystack. It's not as easy as it sounds.
BROOKS: You're absolutely right, Daryn, it's not as easy. And it's -- we're talking about a large area. When it was concentrated in Montgomery County, there were helicopters that they were using to try to spot places around the area where the shootings were happening in Montgomery County. But now that it's into Prince George's County and the Bowie area and down into Spotsylvania County, it's extremely difficult to cover that much area with the few helicopters that they do have.
We've been seeing a blue helicopter's been flying around at some of the sites with spotters inside, that's from the FBI's hostage rescue team, they're also assisting with this search and pulling out all the resources they have.
There are some capabilities that those helicopters do have, and I don't want to give it away in case someone's listening, in case the shooter is listening. But they do have some capabilities that will assist law enforcement trying to catch us the shooter.
LIN: All right. We've got a caller, Mark in Florida. Mark, go ahead.
CALLER: Yes. If the theory is that there's two shooters, and they're using a white van, what's to say that the cannot -- they probably are using a white van, but another vehicle of a totally different description, meaning they're transporting the weapon away from the scene in the vehicle that's of a totally different description than this white van?
LIN: Ah, teaming up. Mike?
BROOKS: That's, that could be a very good possibility. And there's even talk of, is there a larger truck that they're driving this car into to drive away somewhere else, a tractor-trailer truck that wouldn't be spotted on an interstate? You know, three's all kinds of, all kinds of theories like that.
And I know law enforcement is looking at (UNINTELLIGIBLE) these theories. You know, the imagination is unbelievable, and they're trying to think, you know, get into the mind of the shooter and find out exactly, you know, what could this shooter be doing? What kind of other methods and operation, of operation could he or she be using?
LIN: Boy, that would be pretty elaborate, though.
BROOKS: It would be, but, you know, it's, you know, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) we talk about these different plans. You know, these farfetched plans. Right now, I think nothing is farfetched as try to catch this killer.
LIN: Right, you're right. Daryn?
KAGAN: Can I jump in here? Yes, one note on the white van. All day yesterday, I think you remember, we kept -- we heard starting early in the morning, Chief Moose coming out and saying that they're going to have a graphic aid that they were going to release, and not really describing what that was. There was a lot of confusion over that. Never came out yesterday.
What CNN has been able to find out, that graphic aid will be some kind of description or illustration of a vehicle. So perhaps we'll get more information about exactly what they think this white van looks like that they're searching for.
ROBERTS: We're going now to Tommy from Kentucky. He joins us on the line with a question. Tommy, go ahead.
CALLER: Yes, sir. I was just wondering for the last 10 days, I've just been wondering why they haven't used any of our surveillance satellites?
ROBERTS: Good question there. Do we know if they have?
LIN: Mike, yes. I mean, if a helicopter is sort of iffy, a needle in a haystack, what would a surveillance satellite do for them?
BROOKS: Yes, you know, because there were some -- I know (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in Afghanistan they were using surveillance satellites, and they -- to even read tag numbers. You know, are they pulling out all the stops? I don't know if they're using satellites or not. You know, there's a fine line between the military, using the military for civilian. I don't know if the posse comitatus law comes into play there.
But that's something good, and I'll be up in D.C. a little breast implant later on today, and said something, that's a great question, Tommy...
LIN: But what...
BROOKS: ... and ...
LIN: What would a satellite be able to key in on?
BROOKS: Well, it's a possibility the satellite could key in on maybe a shot, let's say, there's some technology out there right now that they can use in areas where there's a large number of shootings that they set up sensors in a certain area.
Now, we're talking about a large area right now, so it might not be completely applicable to this particular case, but there are sensors that pick up heat from different sources. And there, they, when a shot goes off. And they've been, they've used this in some cases in small jurisdictions to find out where different gunfire is coming from.
So, you know, could they use it in this? Could they use satellite imagery to try find out different heat sources? There's a possibility.
LIN: Interesting. Other crimes are also being committed in the meantime, so it could get confusing.
BROOKS: Right, the other day there was a shooting in Washington, D.C., in southeast Washington at fray (ph), in a high-rise, someone on a balcony. Come to find out it was coming, it came from inside the apartment. So it's very difficult to say if, you know, to try to pinpoint some of these things because we're talking about a large urban metropolitan area.
LIN: But what a great question, intriguing.
BROOKS: It is a great question.
ROBERTS: Good question.
Daryn, we have a good question for you coming to us out of Bel Air, Maryland.
KAGAN: Can I just jump in on, can I jump in on that last one for a second, though?
ROBERTS: Yes, absolutely, go ahead. KAGAN: Perhaps about the -- perhaps a surveillance question, or a tool that's actually closer to earth, since so many of these shootings have taken place either in parking lots or gas stations, these are all places that are equipped with video surveillance cameras, and I know that that is a tool that police are getting around to trying to look at those images, perhaps there'll be a vehicle that shows up time and time again, or a person.
And when I had a chance yesterday to talk to the spokesman for Exxon, this being this last shooting taking place at an Exxon gas station, she made it a point to say live on CNN that, in fact, Exxon was cooperating with police and they were going to be turning over all their video surveillance cameras and those images to police.
ROBERTS: And hopefully that will turn up something.
BROOKS: Yes, that's a great point, though, Daryn, because the highway now is with all the video cameras along the highways, ATM machines, there was an article in "The Washington Post" this morning that was talking about the FBI had approached a potential witness yesterday showing them a fuzzy image of someone, you know. Is this something that they've gleaned off of the video cameras? Possibly.
LIN: Great.
All right, guys, we're going to take a quick break right now, but we're going to be back with more questions and more telephone calls from you. So keep them coming in. Daryn and Mike are standing by. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: All right, this is our Reporter's Notebook segment, a popular segment on our show. We are back and talking about the sniper shootings.
ROBERTS: We're taking your calls and your questions via e-mail. The number, though, if you want to give us a ring, that number, 1-800- 807-2620.
Joining us again, CNN law enforcement Analyst Mike Brooks, as well as CNN's Daryn Kagan. She's standing by for us live in Montgomery County, Maryland.
And Daryn, we want to start with you on this one. It's one of the e-mails that we got coming in to us from Bel Air, Maryland, which is not too far away from you in your location there in Montgomery County.
It's from L. Thompson, and she's asking, "What if there's a voluntary media blackout in the immediate area about this guy? Do criminologists and journalists think that this would help, as the coverage is a constant ego trip for the sniper? Couldn't the media get by with just a brief weekly recap until he's captured?" What do you think on that? KAGAN: Well, this goes back to something that Mike was bringing up a just a few minutes ago, and an emotional outburst, you might say, by Chief Moose quite a few days ago, showing his frustration, and it had to do with the release of the Tarot card.
This is a balancing act here, frankly. And you have, yes, you have law enforcement officials who want to keep as much under wraps as possible. And no, we certainly do not want to stroke the ego of anybody who's out there doing these terrible things.
But you also have out there, you have millions of people here in the D.C. area who are hungry for information, because they're altering the way they lead their lives in light of all this news.
So I think it's a balancing act. We have to do what we can to help out law enforcement, but it's also as our job as journalists to get the information and get it out to folks so they can make decisions how they want to lead their lives, whether it's not going to a football game, or not taking your kids to school, or something, or not going to the gas station. They need that information, and they want it.
ROBERTS: As you point out, the voluntary blackout just would not work in this.
KAGAN: It just would, I mean, it's not going to happen. Just, we can leave it at that.
LIN: Yes, well, certainly calling him a coward and a terrorist is not exactly, I would say, hyping his reputation, which you might, Which is what I've been hearing him he's called.
All right, we've got Skip from Florida on the telephone line. Skip, go ahead.
CALLER: Yes, I was wondering whether this fellow's just using these white vans as a decoy, and as, you know, he sets up, and as the white van rolls by, he shoots, you know, who his target is. There's so many white vans around, you know, that this would throw them off. And it would be obvious that a white van would be in the vicinity.
BROOKS: Well, I think we've realized as a result of the shooting, how many white vans and how many white trucks there really are out there on the road. Thomas and I were talking earlier about, you know, the possibility of this, and, you know, again, make sure we do not focus too much on the white van. Hopefully, as Daryn was talking about later on today, the graphic that the special projects of the -- special projects unit of the FBI is going to, is working on to assist Montgomery County, and hopefully they'll put this out.
And as Daryn was saying, one of CNN's sources has said that this is going to be something to assist us on what kind of vehicle was being used. So hopefully we can clear that up today, and they can shed it a little more light on that.
ROBERTS: We want to go now to Vicki, she's joining us from... KAGAN: Another problem...
ROBERTS: Oh, Daryn, do you want to go ahead on that one?
KAGAN: Well, I was just going to say, yes, I was going to say, another problem they're having is to kind of relates to the white van in the tip line that when folks are seeing white vans around here, they're calling 911. And that's a problem for two reasons. One, it ties up the 911 line and it hurts people who need other types of help, and two, it's not the most efficient way for police to get the information about potential white vans.
So police really trying to make an effort to reiterate that if people do have any kind of information about this case, it's supposed to go to that 1-888 number tip line and not into 911.
ROBERTS: All right. We want to turn now to Vicki, she's joining us on the phone from North Carolina. Vicki, go ahead.
CALLER: Good morning.
ROBERTS: Good morning.
CALLER: I was just wondering if it's been considered that these sniper attacks might be a diversion to get the Washington, D.C., local law enforcement and all of the federal agencies to focus on this, and maybe drop their guard in the areas of a possible terrorist attack in Washington.
ROBERTS: Very good question.
BROOKS: There's been a lot of talk about this. And, you know, saying that, is this an al Qaeda-type, you know, diversion? Is this al Qaeda doing this? You know, is this related to terrorism? Especially with the warnings we've had out as of late, and the FBI put out another terrorist warning to law enforcement yesterday.
There's a possibility, I -- they're looking into that, you know, he's dead (ph), this person is definitely terrorizing the neighborhoods in and around Washington, D.C., we know. But this is -- but is this person doing this for political or social objectives? Which the main brunt of terrorism is done for. That remains to be seen.
So far, usually we usually see if a terrorist group is doing this, they want to get some sort of credit to kind of, you know, strike at the heart of America. They're doing, they're definitely striking at the heart of the people in the Washington metropolitan area and around the country, because everyone's tuning in to listen to what's going on in Washington, D.C.
But is this terrorism in a true sense of the word that we think of as with 9/11? That's yet to be determined, but law enforcement has not ruled that out totally.
LIN: Yes, it's really interesting, the sniper tactic in the case of war in a battlefield strategy, the sniper is used to demoralize a population and demoralize the enemy troops by taking out the leadership one at a time.
What's so frightening about snipers is that you don't know when they're going to strike or where they are.
ROBERTS: Right.
LIN: And so that sense of fear, the fear of the ultimate unknown, you just don't know when the...
ROBERTS: Absolutely. They have...
LIN: ... next attack is going to take place.
ROBERTS: They have the complete upper hand in all of this.
BROOKS: They do, and, you know, this...
LIN: So far.
BROOKS: ... the control and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the brazenness of this guy, or this woman, you know, yesterday with the state trooper 50 yards away from where, you know, where he took his last shot. It's just -- I -- it's not -- to me, it's unbelievable.
LIN: Yes, upping the ante. Mike...
BROOKS: Absolutely.
LIN: ... I've got one more e-mail for you. This is from J. Blackburn in Bristol, Tennessee. "Just wondering, since the Maryland police department have nothing to lose and everything to gain, what about bringing in a psychic to help with the investigation in an attempt to gain some knowledge of the sniper? I know some investigators have used them successfully."
BROOKS: They're -- psychics are sometimes thought of as some, by some investigators, charlatans. You know, they're -- they have been used as an investigative tool, normally not with much success. During the Chandra Levy case, just not in the Washington, D.C., area not too long ago, they had psychics calling in with different things about visions. And we've got, they've got psychics calling in to the hot line now. I mean, the number, the calls coming into the FBI hot line is, you know, are amazing.
But generally psychics are not thought to be of great investigative value, but it's something that's not totally out of the (UNINTELLIGIBLE), you know, out of the realm of possibility. I, you know, I, my myself, nothing's out of the realm of possibility.
LIN: Have you ever dealt with a psychic?
BROOKS: I've never -- I recommended a psychic, someone in the Washington area. There was a case back a number of years ago. Bill Clark, who is now one of the executive producers of "NYPD Blue," the television show that's on every week, he called down asking me if I knew about this person and asked about some locations. But the psychic didn't pan out. It didn't pan out with the use of a psychic.
LIN: All right. But sometimes, you know, any idea, any creative idea.
BROOKS: The supernatural? Who knows? Who's to say?
LIN: Well, yes.
ROBERTS: I think right now the main focus, though, is on the tip line, as we point out, that telephone number. And Daryn, I know that they've had a -- you know, much talk about the reward that's out there right now, up over $300,000. Am I correct on that?
KAGAN: Actually now I'm hearing word that it could be as close as, it's getting closer to $400,000.
ROBERTS: So that they're hoping that some, someone could call in using that tip line and give them something that they could effectively use, because, you know, guy's a psychic, may not give them the tip that they really need.
BROOKS: Absolutely.
KAGAN: Well, right, yes. Well, absolutely. And I think Mike will concur with this, that, I mean, it's fantastic that you have all these police agencies here, and of course you need that diligent police work. But in the end, I think, police know they're going to crack this case with the help of someone in the public who thinks of something and calls it in.
LIN: Someone knows and might be...
BROOKS: Exactly. And that tip line...
LIN: ... (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
BROOKS: ... is extremely important. And if we have that number, I'd like to put it up again, if possible. It's 888-324-9800. Anything at all that anyone sees that they feel is out of the ordinary, please call that number. Law enforcement definitely needs your help.
LIN: Mike Brooks, thank you so much. Daryn Kagan, thank you so much, reporting...
BROOKS: Thank you, Carol.
KAGAN: Sure.
LIN: ... live from Montgomery County.
ROBERTS: We also just want to pass along this reminder, you know, we're waiting another live news conference coming your way here just in about 10 minutes or so. LIN: That's right. Officials in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, are expected to speak at 10:00 a.m. Eastern, 7:00 a.m. Pacific. CNN will carry the news conference live. And also following that, about 15 minutes later at 10:15, you'll hear from the officials in Montgomery County.
ROBERTS: That's at Daryn's location.
LIN: That's right, Daryn's location.
ROBERTS: So we'll be covering that live as well.
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Aired October 12, 2002 - 9:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: While we await official word on whether yesterday's fatal shooting in Fredericksburg, Virginia, is the latest in a string of sniper killings...
THOMAS ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, we have authorities intensifying their search for this killer, the serial sniper, the focus of this weekend's Reporter's Notebook. Call us now with your questions, that number, 1-800-807-2620.
Joining us this morning, CNN law enforcement analyst Mike Brooks, he's been talking with us, as well as Daryn Kagan. She joins us in Montgomery County to field these questions as well as these phone calls.
LIN: Yes, got some terrific questions.
Mike, let me start with you first. This is an e-mail from Joey, and he asks, "Has the media or any law enforcement agency made an attempt to ask the suspect to contact them to issue a public statement? It shows by the Tarot card that he has a message to tell."
MIKE BROOKS, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, I think initially Chief Moose was extremely upset because there had been some talk, unsubstantiated talk, I don't know, we don't know for sure, that there was -- instead of -- just -- or not -- in addition to "Dear Policeman, I am God," that was supposedly written on a Tarot card, there was another message that had -- that he was putting out there to try to attempt to contact police.
This hadn't been, hadn't been substantiated, and we don't know.
LIN: Right.
BROOKS: But to, you know, to say, Call us, I mean, he's way, he can call the 1-800 number, and, I mean, law enforcement would love to hear from him, he or she, whoever the shooter is. If that person's out there, want to call that 1-800 number, call 888-324-9800. Police would love to talk to him, but...
LIN: But what sort of a -- yes, but what sort of a deal would the police have to cut with this sniper in order to make this statement public? I mean, Joey is saying, he's got something he wants to say, let him say it.
BROOKS: Absolutely. But...
LIN: Would the police do that? BROOKS: Well, if he has something, if the shooter has something he -- to say to law enforcement if they want to contact law enforcement, he should contact law enforcement. You know, is law enforcement going go out there and say, Hey, call us? Probably not. You know, they're, because they're working on a number of clues and a number of tips and a number of leads right now.
But if the shooter wants to call law enforcement, I'm sure law enforcement would love to hear from them.
LIN: Yes.
ROBERTS: Daryn Kagan, our next question for you, it comes from Jay Jenkins in South Carolina. They're asking, "Why don't they have a lot of police choppers in the air to spot the sniper?" So do they use those to spot the sniper? And has weather really been a factor there, because it's been raining the past couple of days, right?
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, well, I would say the No. 1 thing to consider here, Thomas, especially with yesterday's incident, was the weather. Anybody that was with us live as we were covering that yesterday morning could see the weather was just miserable here in the Washington, D.C., area. So weather being a factor.
They are getting up the choppers when they can. A number of law enforcement agencies involved here, and they would have access to different types of aircraft. Perhaps Mike could talk about that.
But also, I would just like to add, having had a personal experience, having been in helicopters during searches, what seems to be so simple, if you just can get up in the air and look down you can see it, and perhaps Mike can talk about this too, even if you're out in the open desert and looking for somebody down on the ground, it can still be like looking for a needle in a haystack. It's not as easy as it sounds.
BROOKS: You're absolutely right, Daryn, it's not as easy. And it's -- we're talking about a large area. When it was concentrated in Montgomery County, there were helicopters that they were using to try to spot places around the area where the shootings were happening in Montgomery County. But now that it's into Prince George's County and the Bowie area and down into Spotsylvania County, it's extremely difficult to cover that much area with the few helicopters that they do have.
We've been seeing a blue helicopter's been flying around at some of the sites with spotters inside, that's from the FBI's hostage rescue team, they're also assisting with this search and pulling out all the resources they have.
There are some capabilities that those helicopters do have, and I don't want to give it away in case someone's listening, in case the shooter is listening. But they do have some capabilities that will assist law enforcement trying to catch us the shooter.
LIN: All right. We've got a caller, Mark in Florida. Mark, go ahead.
CALLER: Yes. If the theory is that there's two shooters, and they're using a white van, what's to say that the cannot -- they probably are using a white van, but another vehicle of a totally different description, meaning they're transporting the weapon away from the scene in the vehicle that's of a totally different description than this white van?
LIN: Ah, teaming up. Mike?
BROOKS: That's, that could be a very good possibility. And there's even talk of, is there a larger truck that they're driving this car into to drive away somewhere else, a tractor-trailer truck that wouldn't be spotted on an interstate? You know, three's all kinds of, all kinds of theories like that.
And I know law enforcement is looking at (UNINTELLIGIBLE) these theories. You know, the imagination is unbelievable, and they're trying to think, you know, get into the mind of the shooter and find out exactly, you know, what could this shooter be doing? What kind of other methods and operation, of operation could he or she be using?
LIN: Boy, that would be pretty elaborate, though.
BROOKS: It would be, but, you know, it's, you know, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) we talk about these different plans. You know, these farfetched plans. Right now, I think nothing is farfetched as try to catch this killer.
LIN: Right, you're right. Daryn?
KAGAN: Can I jump in here? Yes, one note on the white van. All day yesterday, I think you remember, we kept -- we heard starting early in the morning, Chief Moose coming out and saying that they're going to have a graphic aid that they were going to release, and not really describing what that was. There was a lot of confusion over that. Never came out yesterday.
What CNN has been able to find out, that graphic aid will be some kind of description or illustration of a vehicle. So perhaps we'll get more information about exactly what they think this white van looks like that they're searching for.
ROBERTS: We're going now to Tommy from Kentucky. He joins us on the line with a question. Tommy, go ahead.
CALLER: Yes, sir. I was just wondering for the last 10 days, I've just been wondering why they haven't used any of our surveillance satellites?
ROBERTS: Good question there. Do we know if they have?
LIN: Mike, yes. I mean, if a helicopter is sort of iffy, a needle in a haystack, what would a surveillance satellite do for them?
BROOKS: Yes, you know, because there were some -- I know (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in Afghanistan they were using surveillance satellites, and they -- to even read tag numbers. You know, are they pulling out all the stops? I don't know if they're using satellites or not. You know, there's a fine line between the military, using the military for civilian. I don't know if the posse comitatus law comes into play there.
But that's something good, and I'll be up in D.C. a little breast implant later on today, and said something, that's a great question, Tommy...
LIN: But what...
BROOKS: ... and ...
LIN: What would a satellite be able to key in on?
BROOKS: Well, it's a possibility the satellite could key in on maybe a shot, let's say, there's some technology out there right now that they can use in areas where there's a large number of shootings that they set up sensors in a certain area.
Now, we're talking about a large area right now, so it might not be completely applicable to this particular case, but there are sensors that pick up heat from different sources. And there, they, when a shot goes off. And they've been, they've used this in some cases in small jurisdictions to find out where different gunfire is coming from.
So, you know, could they use it in this? Could they use satellite imagery to try find out different heat sources? There's a possibility.
LIN: Interesting. Other crimes are also being committed in the meantime, so it could get confusing.
BROOKS: Right, the other day there was a shooting in Washington, D.C., in southeast Washington at fray (ph), in a high-rise, someone on a balcony. Come to find out it was coming, it came from inside the apartment. So it's very difficult to say if, you know, to try to pinpoint some of these things because we're talking about a large urban metropolitan area.
LIN: But what a great question, intriguing.
BROOKS: It is a great question.
ROBERTS: Good question.
Daryn, we have a good question for you coming to us out of Bel Air, Maryland.
KAGAN: Can I just jump in on, can I jump in on that last one for a second, though?
ROBERTS: Yes, absolutely, go ahead. KAGAN: Perhaps about the -- perhaps a surveillance question, or a tool that's actually closer to earth, since so many of these shootings have taken place either in parking lots or gas stations, these are all places that are equipped with video surveillance cameras, and I know that that is a tool that police are getting around to trying to look at those images, perhaps there'll be a vehicle that shows up time and time again, or a person.
And when I had a chance yesterday to talk to the spokesman for Exxon, this being this last shooting taking place at an Exxon gas station, she made it a point to say live on CNN that, in fact, Exxon was cooperating with police and they were going to be turning over all their video surveillance cameras and those images to police.
ROBERTS: And hopefully that will turn up something.
BROOKS: Yes, that's a great point, though, Daryn, because the highway now is with all the video cameras along the highways, ATM machines, there was an article in "The Washington Post" this morning that was talking about the FBI had approached a potential witness yesterday showing them a fuzzy image of someone, you know. Is this something that they've gleaned off of the video cameras? Possibly.
LIN: Great.
All right, guys, we're going to take a quick break right now, but we're going to be back with more questions and more telephone calls from you. So keep them coming in. Daryn and Mike are standing by. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: All right, this is our Reporter's Notebook segment, a popular segment on our show. We are back and talking about the sniper shootings.
ROBERTS: We're taking your calls and your questions via e-mail. The number, though, if you want to give us a ring, that number, 1-800- 807-2620.
Joining us again, CNN law enforcement Analyst Mike Brooks, as well as CNN's Daryn Kagan. She's standing by for us live in Montgomery County, Maryland.
And Daryn, we want to start with you on this one. It's one of the e-mails that we got coming in to us from Bel Air, Maryland, which is not too far away from you in your location there in Montgomery County.
It's from L. Thompson, and she's asking, "What if there's a voluntary media blackout in the immediate area about this guy? Do criminologists and journalists think that this would help, as the coverage is a constant ego trip for the sniper? Couldn't the media get by with just a brief weekly recap until he's captured?" What do you think on that? KAGAN: Well, this goes back to something that Mike was bringing up a just a few minutes ago, and an emotional outburst, you might say, by Chief Moose quite a few days ago, showing his frustration, and it had to do with the release of the Tarot card.
This is a balancing act here, frankly. And you have, yes, you have law enforcement officials who want to keep as much under wraps as possible. And no, we certainly do not want to stroke the ego of anybody who's out there doing these terrible things.
But you also have out there, you have millions of people here in the D.C. area who are hungry for information, because they're altering the way they lead their lives in light of all this news.
So I think it's a balancing act. We have to do what we can to help out law enforcement, but it's also as our job as journalists to get the information and get it out to folks so they can make decisions how they want to lead their lives, whether it's not going to a football game, or not taking your kids to school, or something, or not going to the gas station. They need that information, and they want it.
ROBERTS: As you point out, the voluntary blackout just would not work in this.
KAGAN: It just would, I mean, it's not going to happen. Just, we can leave it at that.
LIN: Yes, well, certainly calling him a coward and a terrorist is not exactly, I would say, hyping his reputation, which you might, Which is what I've been hearing him he's called.
All right, we've got Skip from Florida on the telephone line. Skip, go ahead.
CALLER: Yes, I was wondering whether this fellow's just using these white vans as a decoy, and as, you know, he sets up, and as the white van rolls by, he shoots, you know, who his target is. There's so many white vans around, you know, that this would throw them off. And it would be obvious that a white van would be in the vicinity.
BROOKS: Well, I think we've realized as a result of the shooting, how many white vans and how many white trucks there really are out there on the road. Thomas and I were talking earlier about, you know, the possibility of this, and, you know, again, make sure we do not focus too much on the white van. Hopefully, as Daryn was talking about later on today, the graphic that the special projects of the -- special projects unit of the FBI is going to, is working on to assist Montgomery County, and hopefully they'll put this out.
And as Daryn was saying, one of CNN's sources has said that this is going to be something to assist us on what kind of vehicle was being used. So hopefully we can clear that up today, and they can shed it a little more light on that.
ROBERTS: We want to go now to Vicki, she's joining us from... KAGAN: Another problem...
ROBERTS: Oh, Daryn, do you want to go ahead on that one?
KAGAN: Well, I was just going to say, yes, I was going to say, another problem they're having is to kind of relates to the white van in the tip line that when folks are seeing white vans around here, they're calling 911. And that's a problem for two reasons. One, it ties up the 911 line and it hurts people who need other types of help, and two, it's not the most efficient way for police to get the information about potential white vans.
So police really trying to make an effort to reiterate that if people do have any kind of information about this case, it's supposed to go to that 1-888 number tip line and not into 911.
ROBERTS: All right. We want to turn now to Vicki, she's joining us on the phone from North Carolina. Vicki, go ahead.
CALLER: Good morning.
ROBERTS: Good morning.
CALLER: I was just wondering if it's been considered that these sniper attacks might be a diversion to get the Washington, D.C., local law enforcement and all of the federal agencies to focus on this, and maybe drop their guard in the areas of a possible terrorist attack in Washington.
ROBERTS: Very good question.
BROOKS: There's been a lot of talk about this. And, you know, saying that, is this an al Qaeda-type, you know, diversion? Is this al Qaeda doing this? You know, is this related to terrorism? Especially with the warnings we've had out as of late, and the FBI put out another terrorist warning to law enforcement yesterday.
There's a possibility, I -- they're looking into that, you know, he's dead (ph), this person is definitely terrorizing the neighborhoods in and around Washington, D.C., we know. But this is -- but is this person doing this for political or social objectives? Which the main brunt of terrorism is done for. That remains to be seen.
So far, usually we usually see if a terrorist group is doing this, they want to get some sort of credit to kind of, you know, strike at the heart of America. They're doing, they're definitely striking at the heart of the people in the Washington metropolitan area and around the country, because everyone's tuning in to listen to what's going on in Washington, D.C.
But is this terrorism in a true sense of the word that we think of as with 9/11? That's yet to be determined, but law enforcement has not ruled that out totally.
LIN: Yes, it's really interesting, the sniper tactic in the case of war in a battlefield strategy, the sniper is used to demoralize a population and demoralize the enemy troops by taking out the leadership one at a time.
What's so frightening about snipers is that you don't know when they're going to strike or where they are.
ROBERTS: Right.
LIN: And so that sense of fear, the fear of the ultimate unknown, you just don't know when the...
ROBERTS: Absolutely. They have...
LIN: ... next attack is going to take place.
ROBERTS: They have the complete upper hand in all of this.
BROOKS: They do, and, you know, this...
LIN: So far.
BROOKS: ... the control and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the brazenness of this guy, or this woman, you know, yesterday with the state trooper 50 yards away from where, you know, where he took his last shot. It's just -- I -- it's not -- to me, it's unbelievable.
LIN: Yes, upping the ante. Mike...
BROOKS: Absolutely.
LIN: ... I've got one more e-mail for you. This is from J. Blackburn in Bristol, Tennessee. "Just wondering, since the Maryland police department have nothing to lose and everything to gain, what about bringing in a psychic to help with the investigation in an attempt to gain some knowledge of the sniper? I know some investigators have used them successfully."
BROOKS: They're -- psychics are sometimes thought of as some, by some investigators, charlatans. You know, they're -- they have been used as an investigative tool, normally not with much success. During the Chandra Levy case, just not in the Washington, D.C., area not too long ago, they had psychics calling in with different things about visions. And we've got, they've got psychics calling in to the hot line now. I mean, the number, the calls coming into the FBI hot line is, you know, are amazing.
But generally psychics are not thought to be of great investigative value, but it's something that's not totally out of the (UNINTELLIGIBLE), you know, out of the realm of possibility. I, you know, I, my myself, nothing's out of the realm of possibility.
LIN: Have you ever dealt with a psychic?
BROOKS: I've never -- I recommended a psychic, someone in the Washington area. There was a case back a number of years ago. Bill Clark, who is now one of the executive producers of "NYPD Blue," the television show that's on every week, he called down asking me if I knew about this person and asked about some locations. But the psychic didn't pan out. It didn't pan out with the use of a psychic.
LIN: All right. But sometimes, you know, any idea, any creative idea.
BROOKS: The supernatural? Who knows? Who's to say?
LIN: Well, yes.
ROBERTS: I think right now the main focus, though, is on the tip line, as we point out, that telephone number. And Daryn, I know that they've had a -- you know, much talk about the reward that's out there right now, up over $300,000. Am I correct on that?
KAGAN: Actually now I'm hearing word that it could be as close as, it's getting closer to $400,000.
ROBERTS: So that they're hoping that some, someone could call in using that tip line and give them something that they could effectively use, because, you know, guy's a psychic, may not give them the tip that they really need.
BROOKS: Absolutely.
KAGAN: Well, right, yes. Well, absolutely. And I think Mike will concur with this, that, I mean, it's fantastic that you have all these police agencies here, and of course you need that diligent police work. But in the end, I think, police know they're going to crack this case with the help of someone in the public who thinks of something and calls it in.
LIN: Someone knows and might be...
BROOKS: Exactly. And that tip line...
LIN: ... (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
BROOKS: ... is extremely important. And if we have that number, I'd like to put it up again, if possible. It's 888-324-9800. Anything at all that anyone sees that they feel is out of the ordinary, please call that number. Law enforcement definitely needs your help.
LIN: Mike Brooks, thank you so much. Daryn Kagan, thank you so much, reporting...
BROOKS: Thank you, Carol.
KAGAN: Sure.
LIN: ... live from Montgomery County.
ROBERTS: We also just want to pass along this reminder, you know, we're waiting another live news conference coming your way here just in about 10 minutes or so. LIN: That's right. Officials in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, are expected to speak at 10:00 a.m. Eastern, 7:00 a.m. Pacific. CNN will carry the news conference live. And also following that, about 15 minutes later at 10:15, you'll hear from the officials in Montgomery County.
ROBERTS: That's at Daryn's location.
LIN: That's right, Daryn's location.
ROBERTS: So we'll be covering that live as well.
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