I-270 Shootings (Columbus, OH) - Highway shootings linked

Shooting locations Law-enforcement officials are investigating whether 11 shootings on or near I-270 in southern Franklin County are related. One, on Nov. 25, killed a woman. Locations for nine of the shootings are shown; locations for two others are unclear.

Law-enforcement officials confirmed yesterday that this week’s shooting death of Gail Knisley is connected to at least one other deliberate shooting on the Outerbelt.

"Based on ballistics results, we are able to say that at least one other reported case has been positively linked to Mrs. Knisley’s death," Chief Deputy Steve Martin of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office said at a news conference yesterday morning.

In addition, two other Outerbelt shootings show similarities based on an analysis of bullets and bullet fragments, but haven’t definitively been connected, Martin said.

Updates of law-enforcement records yesterday brought to 11 the number of shootings that officials confirm as occurring on or around I-270 in southern Franklin County.

All but two have been in October or November, including two now confirmed as occurring within five hours of Knisley’s death.

The update added some shootings to the list that previously hadn’t been reported and removed others.

Knisley, 62, was shot and killed Tuesday morning as she rode with a friend on I-270 near I-71 and Grove City.

Investigators think the shooter is "comfortable" operating in southern Franklin County, Martin said. The person might live, work or drive through the area on a regular basis, he said.

Martin is spokesman for a task force investigating the shootings. On the force are members of the sheriff’s office, FBI, Columbus police and State Highway Patrol.

A special phone line to take calls about the shootings has received more than 150 tips since it was set up a few days ago, Martin said.

Now, Martin is asking the person or people responsible for the shootings to call.

"We desire to open a dialogue with you. Please contact the tip line at 614-462-4646 so that arrangements can be made to establish communication," he said yesterday.

Martin refused to use the word sniper in connection with the shootings. But others question whether a killer is preying on motorists from somewhere along the freeway.

"You just can’t believe someone would be sick enough to be shooting at cars," said Missi Knisley of Washington Court House, Mrs. Knisley’s daughterin-law. "It’s a nightmare."

Mrs. Knisley, also of Washington Court House, was killed when a bullet pierced the driver’s door, crossed the lap of her friend and hit Mrs. Knisley in the left side.

An initial theory, which was quickly discounted, was that it was a hunting accident.

"I don’t know how many times I’ve passed up shots because I didn’t know what was on the other side," said Mike Sturgeon, who was buying a rifle yesterday at Fisherman’s Warehouse on Williams Road, a few miles from where Knisley was shot.

"And I don’t think anyone who is a safe hunter would be that close to the freeway."

Instead, hunters who will be out for the start of deer-gun season Monday could help serve as eyes and ears for investigators, said Jim Lehman, the Division of Wildlife’s district manager for central Ohio.

"There aren’t going to be very many woodlots where something goes on and somebody isn’t there to see it," he said.

"As I’m driving, I’m glancing side to side and thinking what I would do if I saw someone."

The back windows of her home on Cabin Road face the on-ramp from I-71 southbound as it merges with I-270 east.

"I’m raising my grandkids and I’m afraid to let them out," Williams said. "We actually heard shots about a month ago."

She said the two shots were separated by a 10-second pause and sounded much louder than the target practice she sometimes hears from a neighbor.

Here's the latest from the Fox News website. Please keep all of us here in the central Ohio area in your prayers.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Investigators have linked 12 shootings that have terrorized drivers and a community along a five-mile stretch of interstate this year, police said Tuesday.

Four of the shootings -- three at vehicles and one at an elementary school last month -- were from the same gun, Franklin County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Steve Martin said Tuesday.

Although ballistics tests could not link the rest of the shootings along Interstate 270 (search), investigators said they "are comfortable" saying all 12 are connected, he said. He would not elaborate.

Authorities have received more than 500 tips, but would not speculate about who the shooter might be and would not release the type of weapon.

"Collectively, we think it's not good for us to put that information out," Martin said.

The shootings began in May along Interstate 270, the freeway that circles Columbus. Many were not reported until after Nov. 25, when 62-year-old Gail Knisley (search) was killed by a bullet that pierced the side of a car driven by a friend.

The latest shooting linked to the spree was a Nov. 11 shooting at Hamilton Central Elementary (search) in Obetz, about two miles from the freeway.

Superintendent Bill Wittman said he believes the shooting was not meant to harm anyone because it happened overnight, but nervous parents expressed concern.

Tiffany Ellis, 32, said her son's second-grade classroom faces the front of the school, where the bullet struck.

"It makes me angry to be honest with you, that I have to drive down the road worrying about getting shot," Ellis said Tuesday.

She said she plans to call Wednesday to see what precautions the district is taking, and may avoid her own living room, which also faces the two-lane road.

"That's kind of scary to think someone could shoot through your window like that," Ellis said.

Greg Mellon said his 8-year-old son "ducked down in the car" on the way to his recreation league basketball practice at the school Tuesday night. "Of course he's thinking about it," Mellon said.

A house was shot at Tuesday near the freeway, but Martin said investigators have not linked it to the other shootings.

Local businesses have established a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

Criminal behavior experts have varying opinions on who's behind the attacks. Jack Levin, a Northeastern University criminologist, believes two people could be responsible.

"When I see a crime like this it's almost always two friends who probably wouldn't do this separately, but when they're together there's a certain chemistry, a certain insanity," said Levin, director of Northeastern's Brudnick Center on Violence.

"How do you share the joy of killing or causing problems if you're alone? You can't brag about it or someone will turn you in," he said.

But N.G. Berrill, a psychologist who profiles killers at his New York forensic consulting firm, said the shooter is probably a young male who feels frustrated and generally powerless in his life.

"It's almost an infantile rage is the way I would describe it," he said.

Berrill said the shootings were the work of a person who loves the thrill of causing panic, although he may not intend to kill.

The shooter is likely someone from the surrounding community, said Lou Palumbo, a retired police investigator who runs a private security and investigation organization called The Elite Agency Limited.

"He didn't have to travel far. He's got a certain comfort level with that landscape which could be what's allowing him to be drawn back to the same location of the shootings," Palumbo said.

Martin, the chief deputy, said investigators are not relying on a profile and are exploring all possibilities.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Highway shootings linked

Eleven cases now under investigation